The mountains were silent.
Aria stood at the edge of a jagged cliff, wind tugging at her cloak. Below lay a deep valley, filled with silver mist that moved like it breathed. This was the final path — the last location of the third Flame Beacon. A place even Kael had only heard of in whispers.
The Path of Echoes.
"I thought it was just a legend," Kael muttered.
"It feels... alive," Aria replied, the bracelet on her wrist glowing faintly.
They began their descent.
Each step was steep and treacherous, the stones brittle and sharp. Strange whispers drifted through the fog. Some sounded like memories. Others — like cries of pain.
Suddenly, Aria froze.
A voice had echoed from the mist.
"Aria..."
She spun around — but no one was there.
Then again — louder:
"Aria, it's me."
Her heart dropped.
It was Ethan's voice — her third brother, the most distant and mysterious of the three. His soul had always been the hardest to reach. And now... he was calling her?
Kael pulled her back. "It's not real. This path plays with your mind."
"No," she said. "That was him."
She closed her eyes, focusing on the bracelet. The crystal flickered, and her surroundings shifted. Suddenly, she stood in a forest — a memory of the past, glowing softly.
There, beneath a tall willow tree, sat Ethan — older, with white streaks in his dark hair, his back against the trunk, looking up at the sky.
"Aria," he said again, without looking at her. "You made it."
She stepped closer. "Is this really you?"
"A part of me," he replied. "The rest is... fading."
He turned to her, his eyes sharp but tired. "The third beacon is hidden in pain. Not fire, not strength. Emotion. You'll need more than magic to claim it."
Suddenly the memory began to collapse — the forest dissolving into black ash.
"No!" Aria shouted, reaching for him.
Ethan touched her hand — and something passed between them. A memory. A flash.
A battlefield. A loss. A truth.
Then — she was back on the rocky path. Kael holding her steady.
"You disappeared for a second," he said, concerned. "Where were you?"
"I saw Ethan," she whispered. "He's trapped... and he's hurting."
They moved forward, deeper into the mist, until a ruined temple came into view — carved with symbols of sorrow and flame.
Inside, the air turned heavy. A great stone pillar stood in the center, and at its base, a heart-shaped crystal — blackened, cracked.
"The third Flame Beacon," Kael said. "But it's dying."
Aria stepped forward, and the bracelet on her wrist pulsed violently. It drew in the sorrow from the air, the pain echoing in the stone, the weight of forgotten souls.
She reached out and placed her palm on the crystal.
The pain hit her like a storm. Visions of loss, fear, betrayal — not hers, but Ethan's. His burden. His silence. His sacrifice.
Tears poured from her eyes.
But she did not let go.
Instead, she whispered: "You're not alone anymore."
The crystal glowed red.
Then — burst into pure flame, rising like a phoenix, burning away the sorrow in the room. The third beacon awakened.
As the light settled, Aria collapsed into Kael's arms, drained but alive.
"You did it," he whispered.
But she didn't smile.
Because in her mind, Ethan's voice remained:
"Now you know the truth. But can you face what comes next?"