The morning was unnaturally quiet.
Hine sat by the edge of the sanctuary's pond, watching ripples chase each other along the surface. The reflection staring back at her was unfamiliar. Her amber eyes, once soft and hesitant, now carried a sharp edge, as though the flame she had unlocked within her refused to rest.
The Silent Soul lingered behind her, motionless as always, a presence that neither comforted nor frightened her anymore. Instead, it had become something constant, like the quiet hum of wind across a cliff's edge.
"You are thinking," the Silent Soul said, its voice as calm as still water. "But your thoughts are not enough. Resolve is forged through will, not reflection."
Hine looked over her shoulder, meeting the pale glow where its eyes might have been. "I am trying," she said, her voice softer than she intended. "But everything is… too much. The ruins, the murals, the things you keep saying. It feels like the world expects me to be someone I am not."
"You are wrong," the Silent Soul replied. "The world expects nothing. It simply moves. It is you who must decide if you wish to move with it, or be crushed beneath it."
Its words carried no malice, only fact, but they struck deeper than any blade. Hine turned back to the pond, her hands gripping the damp grass beneath her. Images flooded her mind: the ruins where the murals spoke of forgotten rulers, the astral guardians testing her with unrelenting ferocity, the oracle whispering of deaths without end. And then Ronova, her mysterious presence in the dream, looking at her as if expecting something… more.
"Do you even understand what you're asking of me?" Hine's voice trembled, though not from fear. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know if I'm ready."
The Silent Soul took a step closer. The air shifted with a subtle weight, and the leaves above rustled though there was no wind.
"You do not need to know," it said. "You only need to choose. Power is meaningless without intent. And intent is forged in the fire of what you are willing to protect."
Hine swallowed hard, her throat tight. She thought of her mother's voice, soft and distant like a fading memory. She thought of the promise she made to herself that day by the cliffs, when everything she loved was taken from her. She had been running from that promise ever since, but the Silent Soul was right. Running would not save her.
"What if I fail?" she whispered.
"Then you rise again," the Silent Soul answered. "Or you burn, and in burning, become something greater."
A small spark flickered in her palm, so faint it almost went unnoticed. She stared at it, the tiniest ember dancing on her skin before fading into nothingness. Her heart skipped a beat.
"I felt it," she said, her voice barely audible.
"You are beginning to feel the flame," the Silent Soul said. "But feeling is not enough. The journey ahead will not wait for you to find your courage. The next steps will be harder. Blood will spill. And hesitation will kill you."
The weight of those words settled heavy on her shoulders. Yet, beneath the heaviness, a strange clarity began to take shape. It was as if the fear that had always clouded her thoughts was being burned away, leaving only the raw core of who she was and who she needed to be.
Hine rose slowly to her feet, her reflection breaking in the pond below. "Then teach me," she said, her voice steady now. "Teach me to control it. Teach me to make sure the next time I stand in that fire, I don't falter."
The Silent Soul tilted its head, as if measuring her conviction. "Resolve is not taught. It is lived. But I will show you how to temper your strength."
The air around them shifted, thickening with energy. The stillness of the sanctuary cracked like glass, and the ground pulsed faintly beneath her feet. Somewhere in the distance, a bird took flight, startled by the sudden change.
"This place will not remain untouched," the Silent Soul warned. "The moment you touched the ruins, the moment you awakened your flame, eyes turned to you. Some will seek to guide you. Others will seek to claim you. You must decide which you will allow."
"I will not be claimed," Hine said, surprising even herself with the sharpness in her tone. She clenched her fists, the faint ember returning, brighter now, swirling like molten gold around her fingers. "Not by them. Not by anyone."
The Silent Soul regarded her silently for a long moment. "Then you are ready to walk forward. But do not mistake readiness for safety. The journey ahead will test every part of you. Your strength. Your mind. Even your heart."
Hine met its gaze, her pulse steady despite the storm gathering in her chest. "Then let it test me."
The sanctuary grew quiet again, though the silence now carried a sense of anticipation, as though the world itself had paused to witness her decision. A breeze stirred the grass and rippled across the pond, carrying with it the faint scent of ash, though there was no fire nearby.
For the first time since this journey began, Hine felt something other than fear or confusion. She felt… grounded. The path ahead was still shrouded in uncertainty, but her footing no longer wavered.
"We leave at dawn," the Silent Soul said, its tone final. "Rest while you can. The next horizon will not be forgiving."
Hine nodded, though sleep was the last thing on her mind. She stood at the edge of the sanctuary until the moon rose high above the treetops, her thoughts sharper than they had been in days. Every sound, every shift of the night air, felt like a reminder that the world was waiting for her to step into it.
As she finally turned toward the small fire she had built near the pond, a single thought burned in her mind, quiet but unyielding.
There is no going back.