Night fell heavy over the Ashvault.
Kael was asleep—or pretending to be. Jackie stood just outside the campfire's glow, heart pounding like a war drum. Her mind echoed with Jazira's voice:
> "Let them fear me."
And she couldn't stop asking herself:
> What did they do to her to make her say that?
The answer waited in the shard Kael said she couldn't see.
So she returned.
---
The Ashvault greeted her with silence.
The runes recognized her immediately now. No hand needed. The doors opened for her like an old friend coming home.
She descended alone.
Past the quiet archives.
Back to the deepest chamber.
The final memory shard pulsed gently, like a heartbeat. It stood taller than the others—encased in Rift-glass laced with gold veins. Her reflection shimmered across its surface… but her eyes didn't look like hers anymore.
They looked like Jazira's.
She stepped forward.
And touched it.
---
✨ Final Memory Shard: Year 7 AR – The Day It Ended
The sky was bleeding.
Dragons—dozens of them—were tearing at the fabric of the Rift, trying to seal it. Above them, floating alone, was Jazira.
Older now. Tired. Her scales were cracked. Her wings—torn.
And behind her, the Wardens.
Hundreds of them. In formation. Blades drawn. Led by a young man with silver eyes and a flaming sword.
Kael.
Younger. Hard-eyed. Fear in his voice, masked with righteousness.
> "You've gone too far, Jazira. You've become what we were created to stop."
She didn't speak. She just looked down at him. And for a moment, her eyes—Jackie's eyes—were human again.
> "You never wanted peace. You wanted control," she said. "You were afraid of what I might become… so you made me become it."
She opened her arms.
Fire erupted around her. But not rage. It was… warmth.
She wasn't attacking.
She was absorbing the Rift.
> "If I die… the world survives. But they'll remember you as heroes."
> "And me as the monster you needed."
The young Kael hesitated—just for a second.
And then… he threw the blade.
The memory went white.
---
Jackie flew backward from the shard, landing hard against the stone wall.
Her chest burned.
Tears were already falling—but not from pain. From recognition.
> She didn't lose control.
She chose to sacrifice herself.
They killed her because they were afraid of a power they couldn't understand. Because it was easier to destroy than trust.
The truth settled into Jackie's bones like ash.
She wasn't just carrying Jazira's flame.
She was carrying her unfinished fight.
---
Back at camp, Kael stirred as she returned. She didn't say a word. Just stood over him, watching.
> "You saw it," he said quietly, eyes still closed.
She nodded.
> "You lied."
He opened his eyes. "I was told not to show you. That memory was sealed. Not even I was allowed to see it."
She knelt beside him, voice low.
> "She wasn't the threat. You were."
Kael didn't deny it.
> "And now I'm her again."
He looked up, finally. "No. You're more than her. You still have a choice."
Jackie stood.
> "Then I choose this—no more running. No more hiding. No more lying."
She turned her back on him.
> "If I burn, Kael… it's going to be for the truth."