POV: Lyra
I didn't speak to Kairo the rest of the night.
I didn't go back to the tower either.
Instead, I found a hollowed-out corridor above the forge, tucked behind old stonework and smoke. The heat kept me grounded. The silence helped me think.
I replayed his silence over and over again.
"Would you still love me if the bond was gone?"
He hesitated.
That hesitation said everything.
I wasn't sure which hurt more — not knowing the truth, or knowing he didn't either.
By morning, a message came.
Council summons.
Immediate.
No detail. No request.
Just a command.
The guards that escorted me weren't cruel, but they weren't kind either. They looked at me like I was something sharp, something dangerous. Something about to ignite.
The Council chamber was nothing like I imagined.
No grand thrones. No endless rows of high-ranking wolves staring down.
Just a circular room, polished obsidian floors, and a single chair at the center — made of ashwood and steel.
I didn't sit.
"You've grown since the last time I saw you," a voice said from the shadows.
I turned.
An Elder stepped forward.
Tall. Ancient. Cloaked in ceremonial gray with eyes like burning coal.
But what chilled me wasn't his presence.
It was the way he looked at me.
Like he knew me.
"Kairo said nothing of this meeting," I said.
"That's because Kairo is… conflicted."
He circled me slowly, like a serpent considering its prey.
"You've been dreaming," he said. "Seeing pieces of her."
"My mother," I said quietly.
He gave a faint smile. "Syris was powerful. Reckless. But you... you are more. Because you were born after the fire."
"What does that mean?"
He stopped in front of me.
"Do you know the name she almost gave you?"
I blinked.
"No."
He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a seal — half-burnt, half-gold. Magic shimmered through it as he whispered a word that made the air vibrate.
Then he said it aloud.
"Emberlyn."
My knees nearly gave out.
"She named you Lyra to hide you. But the name written in fire was always Emberlyn."
"Why does that matter?"
"Because only the one who carries the fireborn legacy can open the gate. And only the Key can close it once the fire spreads."
I stepped back. "I'm not opening anything—"
"You already have."
I froze.
"What?"
The Elder's expression didn't change.
"You touched the seal. You entered the Sanctuary. You activated the prophecy the moment you stepped through flame and survived."
"No," I whispered. "No, I didn't mean to—"
"It doesn't matter what you meant. The world doesn't bend to intent. It bends to blood."
My body trembled.
The flames I'd kept suppressed surged beneath my skin, aching to break free.
"And Kairo?" I asked. "What happens to him?"
The Elder's smile faded.
"When the bond completes," he said, "he dies."
I staggered back, heart crashing in my chest.
"No."
"It's written in the old script. The Key breaks when the flame ignites."
"But it hasn't completed," I whispered. "There's still time—"
"Time for what?" His voice darkened. "To run? To choose love over fate? You think this is a love story?"
I met his eyes, fire sparking behind my own.
"No," I said. "It's a war."
And I turned and walked out of the chamber before he could see how badly I was shaking.
But the echo of the name followed me with every step.
Emberlyn.
And for the first time in my life...
I wondered if Lyra ever really existed at all.