POV: Lyra
The forest was too quiet.
No birds. No wind. Just her pulse and Kairo's footsteps behind her.
He'd brought her to the edge of the borderlands, where the trees twisted like they'd been burned and regrown too fast. The air shimmered with latent magic , old, wild, watching.
She tried not to shake.
You said we were training, Lyra muttered, scanning the woods. Not playing hide-and-seek with ghosts.
This place will teach you more than I ever could, Kairo said from behind her. That's why I brought you here. It remembers what your mother did.
She turned. You never talk about her.
Because it hurts, he admitted.
She blinked.
He never said things like that.
Never cracked open the door to what he really felt.
That's why I need you to be better than her, Lyra, he added quietly. She fought like a weapon. You need to fight like you're alive.
Alive hurts.
Good. Now fight through it.
A movement in the shadows — a flicker of light — made Lyra spin, instinctively raising her hands.
Flame exploded around her.
A phantom burst forward made of ash and teeth. A shadow-beast conjured by the magic of the training field. It lunged at her, screeching.
She dodged. Barely.
Another strike — this time she responded with a direct flame blast, but it sputtered. Her hands trembled.
Focus, Kairo barked. You don't need more power you need to trust it.
I'm trying!
Then stop trying. Start remembering.
That word hit her like lightning.
Because the fire didn't just burn this time — it whispered.
It showed her something.
A child. Screaming. In a ring of flame.
A woman , her mother? dragging her out.
Someone else… watching from the shadows.
Someone with red eyes.
Lyra gasped, stumbling to her knees.
Her flames died.
Kairo caught her before she hit the ground.
What did you see?
A memory, she whispered. One I didn't know I had.
He steadied her, his grip tight on her arms.
Was it them? The Emberbloods?
I don't know. But… they were there. That thing inside me it knew them.
Kairo cursed under his breath.
You're remembering too fast. The bond, your powers — it's all pulling the truth out before you're ready.
Then make me ready.
His jaw tightened. If I do this… we don't stop. We don't pull back.
Then don't.
Silence hung between them. She realized just how close they were — how close he always seemed to be. His scent wrapped around her, dark and addictive.
She reached up, touching his face.
You're the only thing that keeps me grounded, Kairo.
And you're the only thing that makes me lose control, he whispered.
Then maybe we're each other's test.
Maybe we fail together.
He looked like he might kiss her.
And maybe he would have.
If the ground hadn't cracked open behind them.
Another shadow-beast. This one real.
Eyes like molten stone.
Kairo pushed Lyra behind him.
Run. Now.
No.
He looked back. Lyra...
She stepped forward.
Let me fight.
Kairo didn't move.
She closed her eyes.
The fire rose around her not wild, not out of control.
But alive.
And when she opened her eyes again, they glowed like gold turned to flame.
She wasn't afraid anymore.
Not of herself.
Not of what was coming.
She burned.
And the world trembled.