The mountain quaked with fury as fire and stone warred for dominance. Screams echoed through the corridors as Flamebound warriors surged from hidden tunnels, setting the stronghold ablaze from within. Eira's heartbeat roared in her ears as she pushed through the chaos, her eyes frantically searching for the obsidian dagger—her dagger—now in the priestess's hands.
Each flame that erupted down the hallway whispered her name. Kael was already engaged in a brutal fight with Talon, blades clashing with bone-shaking force. Sparks flew from every blow, but it wasn't just the physical battle that waged between them. It was blood versus betrayal.
"Eira!" Alara's voice cut through the smoke as she slid across the stone floor, dual blades drawn. "The inner sanctum is compromised! The elders—"
A shockwave rocked the chamber, sending both of them tumbling. The walls split with heat, and from the flames stepped the Flamebound priestess, still impossibly calm.
"You were never meant to be buried in stone," she said to Eira, holding up the blood dagger. "You belong to fire."
Eira stood, blood trickling from her temple. "I don't belong to anyone."
"Then let's see what the fire decides."
She threw the dagger—not at Eira, but into the blazing floor at her feet. The obsidian blade stabbed into the stone and pulsed, once. Then again. And the fire around it obeyed.
It formed a perfect ring around Eira, isolating her in a cage of flame. Kael, still locked in combat, shouted her name—but his voice sounded far away now.
Within the ring, Eira heard only one sound—the whisper of a thousand voices in her mind.
"We are the Flame. Burn or be broken."
Her knees hit the ground as visions overtook her. She saw the Flamebound city—not in ruins, but alive, its towers lit with golden fire. She stood at the center of it all, ruling, not fleeing.
She saw wolves kneeling before her—Virek, Shadowclaw, others still unknown. And beside her, not Kael. Talon. He held her hand. He was her mate.
The vision shattered. Eira gasped and jerked upright. The fire around her had extinguished. The dagger pulsed in the floor. And Kael stood just outside the scorched circle, blood dripping from a gash across his chest.
"Eira," he said, breathing hard. "Come back."
But when she looked up, her eyes shimmered with gold and orange. The fire had marked her. And she could still feel Talon—in her mind.
Somehow, the dagger had connected them.
Hours later, the surviving Virek warriors regrouped in the southern tunnels. Alara tended to Kael's wound while Lucan examined the dagger, which Eira now refused to part with.
"We need to leave the mountain," Lucan said. "Head to the Council, whether they like it or not."
"They'll try to cage her," Alara warned.
"Let them try," Kael muttered. "We need to bring this into the open. We need to know who our enemies really are."
Eira sat apart from them, staring into the fire. But she wasn't thinking about the Council. She was thinking about Talon.
Because when the dagger had linked her to him… she'd seen something she wasn't supposed to. A hidden chamber. A child. A child with her mother's eyes.
And Talon had whispered: The Flamebound don't kill their heirs. They hide them.
Eira's chest tightened. Her mother—long believed dead—was alive. And Talon had her.
The next day, the group rode toward the neutral lands where the Council of Elders held court. Smoke from the burning mountain followed them like a second shadow.
As they reached the marble cliffs of Caer Velas, the Council guards stepped forward, scowling.
"The Alpha has no jurisdiction here," the commander barked.
Kael didn't dismount. "I'm not here as Alpha. I'm here as witness."
Eira stepped forward, eyes blazing. "And I'm here as truth."
The guards hesitated. Then opened the gates.
Inside the high halls of the Council, the elders sat on their crescent thrones, draped in silver and scarlet. Eira's presence drew immediate murmurs.
Kael stood beside her, refusing to let her face them alone. Lucan spoke first.
"There's more at work than prophecy and rebellion. The Flamebound are not a forgotten order—they are building an empire."
One of the elders scoffed. "And you bring her, a living flame, into our sanctum?"
Another narrowed his eyes at Eira. "She carries a cursed blade."
Eira stepped forward, voice calm. "I also carry your survival."
"You are the reason we're at war," an old woman sneered. "Your very blood is a threat."
But before Kael could respond, a third elder stood. He was younger, his eyes sharp.
"Perhaps we should hear what she saw when she held the dagger."
The chamber went still. Eira lifted her chin.
"I saw a city built by wolves and flame. I saw an army ready to conquer us all. But I also saw something else."
She locked eyes with the Council.
"I saw my mother. Alive. Hidden. Held by Talon and the Flamebound."
Gasps erupted. Kael stepped forward.
"You said her mother was lost in the fire."
The elder woman's face paled.
Lucan turned slowly. "You lied."
The elder's voice was low. "She was too dangerous to protect. The Flame had to be extinguished before it consumed us all."
Kael's fury boiled. "You didn't protect her. You abandoned her."
Eira stepped closer to the high dais.
"If you won't help me rescue her, then get out of my way."
The youngest elder gave her a slow, thoughtful nod.
"Very well," he said. "Then it is no longer a trial."
He turned to the others.
"It is war."
The chamber erupted into chaos, with the elders arguing among themselves. Kael stood tall, his eyes fixed on Eira.
"We will not back down," he said. "We will fight for the truth."
Eira nodded, her heart pounding with determination.
Together, they would face whatever lay ahead, armed with the power of the dagger and the truth about Eira's mother.
The war was far from over, but one thing was certain: Eira would not be silenced. She would fight for her mother's freedom, and for the future of the realm.
As the Council chamber descended into chaos, Eira stood tall, her eyes blazing with determination.
She knew that she had the power to change the course of history. And she was ready to use it.
The fate of the realm hung in the balance, and Eira was determined to tip the scales in her favor.
With Kael by her side, she would face whatever challenges lay ahead, armed with the power of the dagger and the truth.
The war would be fierce, but Eira was ready. She would fight for her mother, for Kael, and for the future of the realm.
And she would not be defeated.