Chapter 57
The chamber roared with heat and despair.
Kael writhed on the floor, his bloodfire lashing out in violent pulses—twisting between red and black, light and shadow.
Eliendara stood frozen for a moment, her heart screaming louder than the fire.
This wasn't just pain.
It was possession.
She rushed to his side, but the voidflame snapped like a beast, slicing the air between them.
Still, she reached out—her hand trembling, her bond surging.
"Kael. It's me."
For a second, his eyes flickered.Black… then brown.Then black again.
"I… I can't hold it…"
His voice was laced with something deeper.Not fear.But guilt.
From behind her, Ravien shouted, "Break the bond! Before it takes you too!"
The elders flooded into the sanctum, bloodfire shields raised.
But Eliendara didn't move.
"Do it!" Matira warned. "If Valtheron consumes him, he'll consume you too."
"I know!" Eliendara cried, clutching her burning chest.
"I know what it'll cost—but I won't leave him!"
The bond between them sparked wildly—alive with every shared memory.
The first time he smiled at her, covered in ash.The way he said her name like it was a promise.The way he stood beside her when gods demanded she kneel.
And beneath it all…The thing inside him that was not Kael.
Valtheron's voice echoed in the flames.
"Love is weakness.Bonds are chains.Let him go—and live."
Eliendara's eyes narrowed.
"I'd rather burn."
She pressed her hand to Kael's chest—
And poured her fire into him.
Not to destroy the darkness.
But to remind him of who he was before it came.
His body convulsed.
The crown on her head flared white-hot.
The voidfire screamed—then faltered.
Kael gasped, grabbing her wrist.
"I see it now…"
His voice was his own again—but hollow.
"There's something in me. Something… old. Older than him."
She froze.
"What?"
Kael looked up slowly, pain shadowing his face.
"It's not just Valtheron, Elie. There's a second name in the void…"
His lips trembled as he whispered:
"And it's mine."
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 58: The Name Beneath the Ash
Kael's fire hides an ancient truth—A forgotten identity sealed before time remembered.
As Eliendara fights to hold the bond intact,Kael begins to awaken something even Valtheron feared.
Because maybe the flame inside him…Was never mortal to begin with.