When Serenya awoke, the cave was no longer cloaked in darkness.
Pale morning light streamed through the ivy curtain at the entrance, dappling the stone walls in shifting patterns. Her muscles ached from the run, and her throat felt dry as sand.
Kaelen sat a few paces away, sharpening a curved dagger on a whetstone. His cloak was gone, revealing black leather armor etched with faint silver runes. She realized he hadn't slept at all.
"You're awake," he said without looking up. "Good. Eat."
He tossed her a cloth-wrapped bundle. Inside was hard bread, a strip of smoked meat, and a small pear. She ate slowly, though every bite felt heavy in her mouth.
For a long while, neither spoke. The distant sound of rushing water filled the silence.
Finally, Serenya broke it. "Last night… what you said about the Starfire—explain it. All of it."
Kaelen's hand paused mid-sharpening. His gaze met hers, steady and unreadable. "What do you know of it?"
"Stories," she said. "Tales told to children. That the gods forged a flame to light the First Dawn, and when they left the world, they hid it in the heart of a mortal. But it's just a myth."
"Most myths," Kaelen said, "are truths buried under too many tongues." He set the dagger aside. "The Starfire was real. It was the gods' greatest gift and their final curse. For centuries, it was passed through a chosen bloodline—always one bearer at a time. The last was said to have died a thousand years ago."
Serenya frowned. "And now you think… I'm the next?"
Kaelen leaned forward. "The flame doesn't pass by blood alone. It chooses. Last night, when you faced the Covenant's Seeker, it woke in you. You felt it—heat that wasn't heat. Power that wasn't yours."
Her fingers curled in her lap. She remembered the silver flame, the hum in the air, the way it had felt alive in her hand. "If it's so powerful, why haven't I felt it before?"
"Because power that great," Kaelen said, "stays silent until it's needed… or threatened."
Serenya's mind spun. "If the Covenant wants it… what happens if they get it?"
Kaelen's jaw tightened. "They will burn kingdoms to ash. The Starfire can create life—or unmake it. With it, they could end this age and forge the next in their image."
A shiver ran through her, not from the cold. "So you're saying I have something that could destroy the world."
"And save it," Kaelen replied. "But first, you'll have to survive long enough to learn how."
He rose to his feet, crossing to the cave wall where strange symbols had been carved into the stone. They glowed faintly in the dim light. Serenya recognized some from old market charms, though these felt older—sharper, like they remembered their purpose.
"These are remnants of the First Tongue," Kaelen said, running a hand over them. "Every bearer of the Starfire must master it. It's the only language that can command the flame."
Serenya stood, stepping closer. "You want me to… read that? I can't even read half the books in the Sunspire archives."
"You will," he said. "But not today. First, you learn to listen."
"To listen to… stone?"
"To the flame," Kaelen corrected. He gestured for her to sit opposite him. "Close your eyes."
She hesitated but obeyed, crossing her legs on the cool floor.
"Breathe," Kaelen said softly. "Feel the air. Listen for the hum."
At first, she heard nothing—only the faint drip of water somewhere in the cave. Then, as her heartbeat slowed, the hum returned. The same deep, thrumming vibration from the bridge. It wasn't in the stone or the air. It was inside her, steady and patient.
She focused on it, and the hum deepened until it was a pulse, matching her own.
Warmth bloomed in her chest, curling down her arms. Her palms tingled. When she opened her eyes, silver light danced faintly across her fingertips.
Kaelen watched her with an expression she couldn't read—part pride, part worry. "Good. But remember—magic is alive. If you try to command it without respect, it will consume you."
The silver light flickered and died, leaving her fingers bare. Serenya let out a slow breath. "So what now?"
Kaelen's gaze shifted toward the cave mouth. "Now, we keep moving. The Covenant's hunters don't stop for daylight."
By midday, they had left the forest behind, the land opening into rolling hills dotted with wildflowers. In the distance, jagged peaks split the sky, their snowy crowns gleaming in the sun.
"That's the Spine," Kaelen said, nodding toward the mountains. "We cross it, we reach the Free Cities. The Covenant has no power there."
"And if we don't make it?" she asked.
He didn't answer.
They traveled until the sun dipped low, painting the world in gold and crimson. Serenya's legs ached, but she kept pace, her mind tangled in questions she didn't dare ask aloud. Who had her mother really been? Why had the Starfire chosen her? And what would it demand before the end?
As they crested a ridge, Kaelen froze. His hand went to his dagger.
Below them, in the valley, black smoke curled from a small village.
And moving through the smoke—too fast, too silent—were shapes that did not belong to any living thing.
Kaelen's voice was a whisper. "The Covenant is ahead of us."