The fire no longer feared her.
It waited.
Ariana stood barefoot on the obsidian platform at dawn, the mountain air thin and sharp, her palm lifted. The flames she summoned danced between her fingers like silk threads—flickering, twining, listening.
Around her, a protective circle of ancient Eldareth runes glowed faintly. Kairo observed from the edge, eyes narrowed with concern and admiration.
"You're not just conjuring it anymore," he said. "You're speaking to it."
"No," Ariana corrected, voice calm. "I am it."
The Training Grounds Beneath the Temple
After their discovery of the Temple of Cyndara, Ariana had returned each day to train. The Eldareth crystals embedded in the chamber walls amplified her connection to the old flame—an ancient magic her mother once wielded.
Today, Kairo pushed her harder.
He sent sparks flying at her with the flick of his blade, and Ariana, focused, twisted the flames in the air mid-strike, bending them to her will—sending them back toward him in a spiral of gold and crimson.
He blocked them with a barrier rune and smirked. "You're learning."
She panted, sweat trailing down her neck. "It's not learning, Kairo. It's remembering. Like it was always there."
Then she closed her eyes.
And summoned the fire not with rage—but with intention.
A column of flame erupted in a ring around her, not burning, but glowing like the heart of the sun. In the center, Ariana hovered, her eyes glowing molten.
Kairo shielded his face. "Gods…"
Elsewhere: Selene Watches
Far above the mountain, in the palace of Virelia, Princess Selene stood at her window, jaw clenched, watching the red flickers far in the distance.
She had sent spies after Ariana. Two never returned. The third reported what Selene feared most:
"She's training beneath the old temple. The fire answers to her now."
Selene smashed a crystal goblet against the wall.
"She's a servant," she snarled. "A bastard no one claimed. And now the fire bows?"
Behind her, a shadow stirred.
A man in dark robes—the same emissary from the Circle of Ash who had once warned Damian of his bloodline—stepped forward. His voice was cold.
"You said you wanted to destroy her."
Selene turned, eyes gleaming. "Can you help me?"
"I can give you what Ariana refuses to take—the forbidden flame. But it comes with a price."
"I'll pay anything."
He smiled slowly. "Even your soul?"
Selene didn't flinch.
"I already sold that the day Damian chose her."
Return to the Temple: A Breakthrough and a Warning
That evening, Damian arrived at the temple grounds, cloaked in black.
He watched Ariana from the shadows, awe written across his face. Her power pulsed in time with her breath. Every movement now deliberate, dangerous, divine.
She turned before he even spoke. "You're late."
"I didn't know you'd become a goddess," he murmured, stepping closer.
Ariana rolled her eyes—but her lips twitched. "Still mortal enough to sweat."
He came to her side, brushing a stray curl from her cheek. "You scare me sometimes, Ariana."
"I scare myself sometimes."
Then her tone shifted.
"I saw something in the mirrors," she said. "A woman with golden eyes. She wasn't my mother—she was something older. I think… she's watching me."
Damian frowned. "A being from the old flame?"
Kairo stepped into the firelight, arms crossed. "Or a warning. The Eldareth fire isn't only power. It's hunger. It chooses, but it also consumes."
Ariana's hand trembled.
"Then I need to master it before it masters me."
Selene's Move Begins
That night, far from the temple, Selene stood in a secret chamber of the palace, kneeling before an obsidian basin.
The emissary poured something into the water—thick and red.
"Speak her name," he said.
Selene whispered, "Ariana."
The water hissed.
Flames rose from it—green flames.
Dark, venomous, sickly.
Selene leaned in. "Burn her. Strip her of power. Let the fire that made her… destroy her."
The emissary nodded.
"The corrupted flame has heard your wish."
And deep in the heart of the Eldareth temple,
as Ariana slept—the fire inside her shuddered.
Something foreign had touched it.
A whisper of darkness.
A promise of ruin.