The sun had barely risen, casting a cold amber glow across the forest clearing where the Grove ended. The scent of scorched bark still lingered from Kael's appearance. Though he had vanished, the damage—physical and emotional—remained.
Alex sat alone on a rock by a river's edge, watching the water flow. His reflection stared back at him, fractured and distorted by the rippling current.
He had seen his other self. Heard his voice. Felt his presence in his bones.
Kael.
A version of him that had fallen.
A version he feared he might still become.
Behind him, Eira's footsteps rustled the grass. She stopped just short of him.
"You didn't sleep."
Alex shook his head. "Didn't feel like dreaming tonight."
She sat beside him, silent at first. Then, softly: "Do you believe what he said? That a Guardian still remembers you from the first era?"
Alex frowned. "I don't know. The First Guardian's memories inside me… they're incomplete. Fragmented. But sometimes, I see faces. Faint, flickering. Regretful."
Eira placed a hand on her bow. "Whoever this Guardian is, if they've survived this long with that kind of hatred... they're not ordinary."
Before Alex could reply, a pulse of light shimmered in the trees to their west. A warm, golden glow that didn't match the cold dawn.
Kairo's voice echoed from afar. "Over here!"
They ran.
In a small clearing, surrounded by shattered ruins, Kairo stood pointing toward an orb of flame hovering inches above the ground. Inside it, a shape—small and curled, like a seed—burned with ethereal energy.
"What… is that?" Alex asked, approaching.
"I think it's a memory fragment," Kairo said. "A Guardian's."
Without hesitation, Alex extended his hand.
As soon as his fingers touched the edge of the flame, the world flashed white.
---
He stood on a battlefield of fire.
Two figures clashed in midair, blades of pure energy singing with power. One wore armor of brilliant gold—the First Guardian. The other cloaked in storm-gray and embers—a woman with eyes like molten lava.
"You betrayed us, Raelira!" the First Guardian's voice boomed.
"You betrayed me first!" she screamed, her fury igniting the sky.
Alex staggered as the memory surged through him.
This was the woman Kael warned about.
Raelira.
A Guardian… and a former ally.
Their battle raged through the skies, destroying entire mountains. But in a final desperate strike, the First Guardian sealed her away—within a burning tomb of eternal slumber.
---
Alex gasped, falling back as the vision ended.
"What did you see?" Eira asked, catching him.
"A name. Raelira. She was once like us… until the First Guardian sealed her away." He looked at his palm. "I saw her eyes. And I don't think she's forgotten."
Suddenly, the orb pulsed again.
The flame cracked.
Then shattered.
From the center, a woman's voice rang out—not echoing, not distorted, but real.
"You… are not him. But you wear his face."
A shockwave rippled through the trees, and a figure emerged from the ashes of the orb.
She was tall. Her hair burned like fire. Her eyes glowed with rage and sorrow. Her armor was ancient—cracked, scorched, and beautiful.
Raelira had awakened.
Eira's breath caught in her throat.
Kairo drew his blade. "Alex—"
But Alex stepped forward, eyes locked with Raelira's.
"I'm not the one who sealed you."
Her lips curved into something between a smirk and a snarl.
"No. But you carry his burden."
Raelira raised her hand—and the trees behind her ignited in flame.
"I'll give you one chance, Echo of the Past. Prove you are not him. Or I will burn this world before it falls to betrayal again."