The world exploded into chaos.
Cloaked figures surged forward, blades glinting in the moonlight. Eli barely had time to react before the stranger shoved him backward.
"Stay behind me!"
Eli stumbled, catching himself on a tree trunk. His heart hammered so loudly he could barely hear anything else — except the hiss of steel, the thud of footsteps, the sharp crack of branches snapping under sudden movement.
The stranger moved like a storm.
One moment he was still, the next he was a blur of motion — blade slicing through the air with deadly precision. Two attackers fell before they even realized he'd moved.
But there were too many.
Eli's breath caught as another masked figure lunged at the stranger's blind side.
"Behind you!"
The man spun, blocking the strike just in time. Sparks flew as metal clashed. The force of the blow pushed him back a step — the first sign that even he could be overwhelmed.
Eli's pulse spiked. He couldn't just stand here. He couldn't watch someone fight and bleed for him while he hid like a frightened child.
His hand brushed against the small knife in his satchel.
He pulled it out.
It felt too light. Too small. Too useless.
But it was all he had.
Another attacker broke from the circle, sprinting straight toward him. Eli froze — every instinct screaming at him to run, to hide, to disappear.
But he didn't move.
He lifted the knife, hands shaking.
The masked figure raised their blade—
A flash of silver cut between them.
The stranger.
He blocked the strike meant for Eli, pushing the attacker back with a brutal kick. "I told you not to run," he growled.
"I wasn't going to," Eli said, voice trembling.
The stranger glanced at him — just for a heartbeat — and something flickered in his eyes. Approval. Fear. Both.
"Good," he said. "Then listen carefully."
He grabbed Eli's wrist, guiding the knife to a defensive position.
"If they reach you, you strike. Not to warn. Not to scare. To survive."
Eli swallowed hard. "I don't know how."
"You will," the man said. "Because you must."
Another wave of attackers rushed them.
The stranger pushed Eli aside and met the charge head-on. Steel clashed, bodies collided, and the clearing filled with the sound of violence.
Eli backed up until his shoulders hit a tree. His breath came in sharp, uneven bursts. His vision blurred at the edges.
Then he felt it.
A heat.
Low at first, then rising — curling through his chest, spreading down his arms, pooling in his palms.
The same heat from the ruins.
The same heat that had answered the phoenix.
Eli gasped, clutching his wrist. The knife trembled in his hand as the warmth intensified, pulsing like a heartbeat.
No — not warmth.
Power.
A masked figure broke through the fight, sprinting toward him with terrifying speed.
Eli raised the knife, but the attacker was too fast.
Too close.
Too—
The heat surged.
A burst of golden light erupted from Eli's palm, slamming into the attacker like a shockwave. The figure flew backward, crashing into a tree with a sickening thud.
Silence fell.
Even the stranger froze.
Eli stared at his hand, chest heaving. The glow faded slowly, leaving only trembling fingers and the faint smell of smoke.
"What… what was that?" Eli whispered.
The stranger stepped toward him, eyes wide with something Eli had never seen in him before.
Awe.
"Your birthright," the man said. "The phoenix answered you."
Eli's knees nearly buckled. "I didn't mean to—"
"You saved your life," the stranger said. "And mine."
Before Eli could respond, the leader of the Order stepped forward, mask cracked from the blast.
Their voice was colder than the night air. "So, the rumors were true. The heir carries the flame."
The stranger raised his blade. "Stay back."
But the leader didn't move. They simply tilted their head, studying Eli with unsettling calm.
"These changes nothing," they said. "We will find you again, Lior Aurelio . And next time, you will not escape."
They vanished into the shadows, their remaining followers retreating with them.
The clearing fell silent.
Eli collapsed to his knees, breath shaking. The stranger knelt beside him, gripping his shoulder.
"You did well," he said quietly.
Eli shook his head. "I almost died."
"But you didn't," the man replied. "And now you understand why they fear you."
Eli looked at his hand — the hand that had unleashed something he didn't understand.
Something inside him.
Something ancient.
"I don't want this," he whispered.
The stranger's voice softened. "Destiny doesn't care what you want. But you're not facing it alone."
Eli closed his eyes, letting the words settle.
For the first time, he wasn't sure if that comforted him… or terrified him.