Morning in the Pierce estate came quietly—but not peacefully.
Aaron awoke with the faint scent of burnt linen clinging to his sheets. The scorch marks on his palms were no longer fresh, but the skin still tingled, as if a phantom flame pulsed just below the surface.
He didn't speak to Kain when he passed him in the hall. The servant only gave him a brief, acknowledging nod. No scolding. No warning. Just a single look that said: You've stepped past the line now. There's no return.
Aaron spent the morning cleaning the lanterns in the garden corridors, but his mind was elsewhere. The words from the mirror in the chamber beyond the blue door still rang through his bones.
> "You are the last Lineborn of the Sky Flame."
He didn't even know what that meant. Not really.
And yet… he felt it.
Something had awakened inside him.
---
Later that day, as the sun dipped behind the silver willows in the eastern courtyard, Lord Frankfurt Pierce summoned him.
Aaron stood once more in the Red Salon, now lit with low candlelight. The room smelled faintly of ink and smoke. Frankfurt was seated near the fireplace, holding a book with no title.
"You opened the door," he said simply, eyes not leaving the pages.
Aaron hesitated. "Yes."
A pause. Then Frankfurt closed the book with a gentle snap.
"Describe what you saw."
Aaron took a breath and relayed everything: the glyphs, the circular chamber, the mirror, the older version of himself, and the voice that called him Lineborn.
When he finished, Frankfurt rose and walked to the window. He placed one hand on the glass, as if feeling for something beyond the garden wall.
"So… it begins again," he murmured.
Aaron blinked. "What does?"
Frankfurt turned, and his eyes looked older than ever. "The last time the Sky Flame awakened, an entire kingdom burned. And that was with three of you. Now, there's only one."
Aaron's blood ran cold. "What exactly is the Sky Flame?"
Frankfurt stepped forward, lowering his voice. "A gift from the stars. A power older than magic, older than gods. It chooses a vessel every few centuries—always one born under rare signs, always one with the eyes of the sky."
He paused, then added, "It is also… a curse."
Aaron frowned. "What kind of curse?"
Before Frankfurt could answer, the doors burst open.
Kain entered, for once visibly alarmed. His usually stoic face was tight, and his gloves were streaked with dust and ash.
"My lord," he said. "There's been an incident in Takoba."
Frankfurt's brow furrowed. "Explain."
Kain held up a small silver token, marked with the royal crest—burnt at the edges.
"One of the scouts stationed near the market district witnessed a burst of unnatural blue fire… from a child. Sky-colored eyes. No known family. The child vanished before they could make contact."
Aaron's breath caught.
Another one?
Frankfurt took the token and examined it carefully. "This is no coincidence. Either the bloodline wasn't as extinct as we believed… or something is awakening them."
Aaron stepped forward. "What do we do?"
Frankfurt gave him a sharp look. "We? No, Aaron. You will stay here. You've just begun to awaken. You're unstable, untrained."
Aaron's voice was firm. "But if there's another one out there—someone like me—shouldn't I… help?"
Frankfurt said nothing for a long moment. Then, at last, he nodded.
"Kain will accompany you. You'll go to Takoba at dusk. Find the child. If it is what we fear… bring them here. Quietly."
Aaron's heart raced.
He was leaving the estate. For the first time since arriving, he would walk among the city again—but now, not as a lost boy, but as something else.
Something powerful.
As he turned to leave, Frankfurt called after him.
"And Aaron—"
He looked back.
"Do not use the flame. Not yet. Not until you understand what it will cost you."
---
That night, Aaron stood at the iron gates of the Pierce estate once again—only this time, they opened for him.
Beside him, Kain adjusted his gray cloak and fastened a silver blade to his belt.
"You nervous?" he asked, voice neutral.
Aaron exhaled. "Yes."
Kain smirked faintly. "Good. Fear means you're still human."
And with that, they descended the stone steps into the fog of Gizana—toward the streets of Takoba, and the spark of something greater than either of them could imagine.