to the jagged cliffs like ghost-skin, curling around every tree and crevice, swallowing the winding path ahead. The ai

said nothing

had killed the shadowmancer that night-she'd seen it happen just before they fled-b

his kind of

ne. Before them stood a ruined archway, half-buried in snow and vine. Ancient carvings t

e," Sarthos said. "T

hat doesn't sound

he said. "

tongue. The runes flared with pale blue light-and the mountain itself shifted. The sto

ed. "Is th

he said. "And a

The temperature dropped quickly. Elira could see her breath. Torches along the walls bur

he stepped into a chamber unlik

f warriors, their stone blades crossed above. The ceiling stretched so high it disappeared into shadow. In

uspended in mid

supports. Ju

s place?"Eli

hold of the Firebound Order. Guardians of the flame. They forged weapons

rned

ssel here. A boy named Va

wed hard. "W

gave

d with pyrocrystal-stone that stores energy. The Firebound used it to t

at rolled off it, despite being co

vo

e... here I

d. "I don't

a soul-forge. It draws out what lies deepest within you. It

not r

ne ev

began th

a whisper. The flame surged up, golden-white and st

ty. You must step into it. And whatever you see-whatever wear

ry. "You're asking m

you to walk i

parted, inviting. She closed her e

. And th

d and lavender. People laughing. Her mother and father alive again, wa

ther said, ope

shed to

er mother's s

ames flickered in their mouths. Her father spli

" he rasped. "Yo

hispered, s

ses. The fields turned to

ll to he

around her. Her voice-but deeper, wrong.

epped from

was

ildfire. Her skin cracked with heat

t the world kneel. You don't have to

ike you,"

other said. "You w

nched. "Maybe I was born with fir

ughed-then lunged,

hed in an

met

ht me

all, Elira felt somethin

lln

raged within the forge-chamber, hotter tha

at shook the entire m

that echoed through

fire

ra step

reaks of ember-gold. Her eyes burned softly be

walked like someone no

tood. "Yo

The version of me that w

ze. "And what

er no."

To be con