The Mirror Gate was a forbidden place—ancient, silent, and half-forgotten even by most of the royal archives. It stood beyond the outer gardens of Solvyris, where the palace grounds fell away to cliffs and wind-scoured stone. Few ventured there. Fewer returned with their minds intact.
Seris had only seen it once as a child. The memory haunted her: a towering arch of silver obsidian, covered in runes that flickered faintly in the moonlight. It was said the gate had once connected the realms of elemental magic, a passage for those attuned to more than one bond—a myth. Or so she had believed.
Now, drawn by a whisper in the dark, she returned.
The path was overgrown, but her fire guided her—a warm flicker in her chest pulling her forward like a compass. Moonlight painted everything in blue-silver hues, and the air grew still, as if the world itself were holding its breath.
Kaelen was already there.
He stood at the base of the gate, cloak fluttering, his hand resting lightly on the runed stone. The silver lines under his skin shimmered faintly in the moonlight—sky magic, ancient and foreign, pulsing like starlight through his veins.
"You came," he said without turning.
"You're lucky I didn't bring the Ember Guard."
"I suspected you wouldn't."
She stepped closer. "You broke into my mind."
"I whispered. You listened."
She didn't like that answer—and yet, she had listened. Because deep down, she wanted to.
The Mirror Gate loomed above them. Its archway was filled with a dark, rippling surface that did not reflect the world around it. Instead, it shimmered with flashes of other places—glimpses of wind-torn cliffs, endless skies, and firelit ruins.
"What is this?" she asked.
Kaelen turned to face her fully now, and something in his expression softened.
"This," he said, "is where it began."
She raised a brow. "Where what began?"
"The break between our realms. Fire, Air, Earth, Water—once, they were one. The Mirror Gate was the link. A place where chosen emissaries passed between worlds, forging pacts, sharing gifts. But the gate was sealed during the Sundering, when the first betrayal fractured the elemental accords."
"Why show it to me?"
"Because it's waking. Just like you."
Her breath caught.
Kaelen moved closer, slow and deliberate. "Your dreams. The fire calling. The visions of me. They're not coincidence. The gate is tied to bloodlines—powerful ones. Yours. Mine."
Seris narrowed her eyes. "You think we're bound by destiny?"
"I know we are."
She looked up at the swirling surface of the gate. Her reflection didn't appear—only fire. Flickering, whispering, alive.
"I should walk away," she whispered.
"You won't."
She met his gaze. "You're arrogant."
"Only because I've seen what happens if we don't act."
He raised his hand. The air around them trembled, and the gate pulsed in response.
Then he held it out to her—palm up.
"Let me show you."
Seris hesitated. Everything in her life had been dictated: her path, her power, her duty. But this moment—this choice—felt like hers alone.
She reached out.
Their hands met.
At once, the Mirror Gate flared with light, and the world around them vanished.
---
She was falling.
Not down—but through.
Flashes of other realms blurred past her vision: a sea kingdom beneath a glacier; a forest of glass and stone; a sky palace suspended in lightning. She felt everything—wind, flame, earth, tide—flood her senses.
And then—
A battlefield. Smoking. A black banner torn in two. And at the center—
Her.
Crowned. Cloaked in fire.
And beside her—Kaelen.
But he was dying.
She screamed.
---
Then it was gone.
They crashed back into the garden clearing, collapsing onto the stone steps of the Mirror Gate. Seris gasped, clutching her chest, heart hammering.
Kaelen was breathing hard too, eyes wide.
"You saw it," he whispered. "Didn't you?"
She nodded. "Was that the future?"
"A future," he said. "Unless we stop it."
Silence stretched between them.
Seris's voice was barely a whisper. "You die in it."
"I know."
"And I become—"
"More than queen," Kaelen said. "You become the flame that either saves the world… or burns it to ash."
Seris sat there, stunned.
She had always feared the fire inside her. Now it seemed it wasn't just power—it was fate.
And Kaelen Thorne wasn't a stranger anymore.
He was her mirror.