The next kingdom to answer the summons was not one ruled by crown or sword....
...but by faith.
The Chapel of Light, center of the human dominion, was built on ancient ruins where they claimed the gods first walked. Its priests had always preached of purity, order, and "the cleansing flame" but they had long since forgotten who the flame truly belonged to.
Now, they called Seraphira a heretic.
A shadow-child.
A bride of the Devil.
And yet, she came.
🜃 The chapel sat atop the city of Lys, its marble towers glimmering like ivory blades against the sky.
Elena rode beside her, hands white-knuckled on the reins.
They'll try to kill you the moment you enter.
Let them try, Seraphira said.
Inside the Grand Hall…
The High Cardinal stood at the altar, surrounded by guards in mirrored armor. His robe shimmered with gold thread, embroidered with suns, but his eyes were ice.
You walk in defiance of all that is holy, he said when Seraphira entered. You wear the mark of the unclean. You speak of unity with demons.
I speak of truth, Seraphira replied. You speak of fear.
He raised his staff. You were cast out by the witches. Disowned by your kin. And now, Kaelreth calls you Queen. What, then, are you?
Seraphira stepped forward until the firelight touched her boots.
"I am the flame you've stolen. The light you twisted into dogma. I am not your heretic, I am your reckoning."
The guards unsheathed their blades.
Elena moved to defend her, but Seraphira held up a hand.
The spiral on her palm burned bright.
And the stained-glass windows behind the altar depicting angels and saints shattered inward as if struck by thunder.
Sunlight poured through the ruin.
And in its center, ash fell like snow.
Chaos erupted.
Guards lunged. Fire answered.
But it wasn't Seraphira who struck first.
It was the chapel itself.
The carvings on the pillars once thought holy erupted in flame, revealing hidden sigils older than the chapel itself. Symbols of the Spiral Flame. Of the Queen long denied.
A roar of wind howled through the nave.
And the altar split down the middle.
When the dust settled, the Grand Hall lay in ruin.
The High Cardinal lay unconscious beneath a beam of broken stone.
No priests moved.
No guards stood.
Only Seraphira, breathing hard, surrounded by firelight and ash.
Later…
In the ruined chapel, Elena found her kneeling at the cracked altar, staring at what remained.
They'll never forgive this, Elena whispered.
I didn't come for forgiveness, Seraphira said.
Elena knelt beside her. What did you come for?
Seraphira reached out and lifted a small, blackened stone from the rubble.
It bore the spiral mark.
I came to remind them, she said. The light they claim was always born of fire.
🌑 In the Underworld…
Kaelreth watched the flames in his scrying mirror swirl with golden ash.
She has burned the Chapel, Malkor said. The world will fear her.
Kaelreth's gaze darkened.
"Good."
"Let them fear their salvation."