POV: Kairo
I felt it before anyone else.
A flare in the ley lines beneath the mountain. A heat too focused, too wild, too... hers.
It wasn't the Council's magic.
It wasn't a threat from outside the walls.
It was Lyra.
And she was deep beneath the fortress.
Where no one should be.
My wolf rose instantly, muscles tight with instinct.
She's not safe.
I ran.
Down past the war hall, through the silent corridors where no one dared walk at this hour. When I reached the edge of the sealed stone vault, I didn't hesitate.
I threw my palm against the rune-lock.
It didn't open.
Not until the mark on my chest — the one I hadn't seen burn in years — lit up with fire.
The stone groaned. The ancient gate cracked open.
And then I saw her.
She stood in the center of the sanctuary — the old one — wrapped in golden light, the fire at her fingertips dancing in slow, delicate spirals.
But her eyes weren't on the flames.
They were on the statue.
Two figures, frozen in tragedy.
One cloaked in flame.
The other in shadow.
They almost looked like us.
Her hair was loose around her shoulders, wild with static. Her chest rose and fell in deep, uneven breaths.
I took one step forward.
She didn't flinch.
"Who brought you here?" I asked quietly.
She didn't turn.
"I followed the pull," she said. "I think… I've been here before."
That hit me like a punch to the ribs.
Because part of me believed it, too.
"I read the runes," she said. "They spoke of a Key. Of a bond that would either save the world or end it."
Her voice cracked. "It's you, isn't it?"
I hesitated.
And that hesitation was answer enough.
She finally turned.
Her eyes were glowing.
Not gold.
Not brown.
But pure fire.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered.
I couldn't lie to her. Not here. Not anymore.
"Because I only just found out. And because if I had told you… you'd run."
"I still might."
That hurt more than it should've.
"I didn't ask for this," she said. "I didn't ask to be fireborn, or bonded, or hunted, or chosen. I wanted a life. A normal one. But I can't even trust my own heartbeat without wondering if it's mine or the bond's."
I took a slow breath. "Then break it."
Her eyes widened.
I stepped forward, into the firelight.
"If this bond is a curse," I said, voice low, "you can break it. I won't stop you."
She looked at me like she was trying to find the boy I'd once been. Or the monster I might become.
"You wouldn't fight it?"
I shook my head.
"I'd rather lose the bond… than lose your trust."
Tears shimmered at the corners of her eyes. But she blinked them away, like fire hardening into steel.
And then she asked the question I feared most.
"Would you still love me if the bond was gone?"
My answer was a heartbeat late.
And that silence…
That single breath of hesitation…
Was enough to crack something between us.
The chamber shuddered.
A pulse of power flared from the walls, from her hands, from the statue itself.
And then the flames vanished.
Her expression went blank. As if something inside her had shut down.
She turned and walked away without another word.
I didn't stop her.
Because the truth was —
I didn't know the answer to her question.
And that terrified me more than any prophecy ever could.