Kira's POV
"Sky People? Here?"
Explosions rock the mountain. The ground beneath us shakes so hard I fall to my knees. Vaelor catches me, pulling me close as volcanic rock cracks and dust rains from the ceiling.
"They've never attacked the citadel directly before." His voice is tight with fear. "The volcanic terrain is too dangerous for their ships."
Another explosion. Closer this time.
"They must be desperate," I gasp. "Or they found new weapons."
Vaelor's eyes meet mine, and I see the terrible realization dawn in them at the same moment it hits me:
They're here for my family. For Dad.
"We have to get to them." I try to pull away, but Vaelor holds firm.
"Wait. Listen."
I force myself to be still. Through the alarms and distant explosions, I hear something else—screaming. Battle cries. The clash of weapons.
"The outer walls," Vaelor says grimly. "They're fighting at the outer walls."
Which means my family is trapped inside the guest quarters. Unprotected. Surrounded by Ash People who already hate us.
"I have to go—"
"No." Vaelor grips my shoulders. "You go running through those corridors now, and someone will kill you thinking you're the threat. Stay here. I'll bring your family to you."
"I'm not hiding while—"
"You're not hiding. You're surviving." His golden eyes bore into mine. "Trust me, Kira. Please."
The word "please" from a crown prince stops my argument cold.
He releases me and runs toward the tunnels. "Lock yourself in the caldera chamber! Don't come out until I return!"
Then he's gone, and I'm alone with the Eternal Flame and the sound of war closing in.
I should listen to him. Should hide like he said.
But hiding didn't save Neteyam. And it won't save my family now.
I run in the opposite direction, following the pull in my chest that always leads me toward the people I love. The mountain shakes again. Lava veins in the walls pulse brighter, hotter, responding to the violence.
"KIRA!"
Tuk's scream cuts through everything.
I sprint around a corner and see them—my family being herded by Ash warriors toward the throne room. Not gently. Dad has a cut above his eye. Mom's hands are bound. Lo'ak is fighting two guards while Spider tries to protect Tuk.
"Let them go!" I shout.
Everyone freezes. The warriors turn, weapons raised.
"The forest witch," one spits. "The one who brought this attack on us."
"I didn't—"
"Sky People demand we surrender Jake Sully's family. They followed you here!" Another warrior steps forward, hate burning in his coal-bright eyes. "You brought death to our doorstep."
"We didn't know they'd track us," Dad says firmly. "We would never—"
An explosion blasts through the wall to our left. Fire and volcanic rock spray everywhere. I throw up my arms instinctively, and something impossible happens:
Eywa's power explodes from my hands.
Green vines shoot up from cracks in the floor, wrapping around my family like a protective cocoon. The flames and debris bounce off the living shield, leaving them untouched.
Everyone stares in shock.
"She's using dark magic!" a warrior shouts. "Kill her before—"
"STOP!"
Vaelor's voice booms through the corridor. He appears with more warriors, including Korven, and the fury on his face makes everyone step back.
"Anyone who touches her dies. That's a command from your prince."
The hostile warriors hesitate, looking between Vaelor and their prey.
"But the Sky People—" one protests.
"—are MY problem. Not yours." Vaelor stalks forward. "Get to your battle stations. Protect the citadel. I'll handle the forest family."
"Prince Vaelor, your father ordered us to bring them to the throne room for judgment."
"My father isn't thinking clearly right now. And neither are you if you think executing our guests during an attack will help anything." Vaelor's hand moves to his weapon. "Go. Now. Or test me."
The warriors exchange glances, then reluctantly back away and run toward the battle sounds.
Vaelor immediately moves to my family. "Are you hurt?"
"We're fine," Dad says carefully. "But your people think we brought the Sky People here."
"Did you?" Vaelor's question is blunt.
"Of course not!" Mom's eyes flash with anger. "We've been running from them for months. We would never—"
Another explosion. Closer. The mountain groans like a wounded beast.
"We need to get everyone to the safe chambers," Korven says urgently. "The deep tunnels where the heat vents are. Sky People can't reach them."
"Agreed." Vaelor starts herding my family down a side corridor. "Move. Now."
But as we run, I feel something wrong. A pulling sensation different from the one that leads me to people I love. This one is cold. Dark. Wrong.
"Wait," I gasp. "Something's happening to the Eternal Flame."
Vaelor stops. "What?"
"I can feel it. Like it's calling for help." I close my eyes, trying to understand the sensation. "The explosions... they're not random. They're targeting something specific."
"The volcanic vents." Vaelor's face goes pale. "If Sky People destabilize the vent system, the whole mountain could erupt."
Horror floods through me. "They're willing to kill everyone? Even themselves?"
"They don't care about the Ash People. They just want to eliminate the one place we could hide from them." Dad's voice is grim. "Scorched earth tactic. If they can't have these territories, no one can."
"We have to stop them," I say.
"We?" Vaelor looks at me. "You're not a warrior."
"No. I'm Eywa's seed." I meet his eyes. "And if what you said is true—if the volcanic system is destabilizing—then maybe I can help stabilize it. The way I made vines grow in dead rock. The way I survived the flame."
"That's insane," Lo'ak says. "You don't even know if it will work."
"It's the only chance we have."
Vaelor stares at me for a long moment. Then: "Korven, take the Sully family to the deep tunnels. Keep them safe."
"What about you?" Korven asks.
"I'm going with her." Vaelor's jaw sets stubbornly. "If she's insane enough to try this, I'm insane enough to protect her while she does."
"Vaelor—" I start.
"No arguing. You said Eywa sent you here for a reason. Maybe this is it. Maybe you're meant to save my people from more than just spiritual death." His golden eyes burn with intensity. "But you're not doing it alone."
Mom grabs my arm. "Kira, please. Don't do this. We've already lost Neteyam. I can't lose you too."
"You won't lose me, Mom." I hug her fiercely. "I promise."
Another lie. But sometimes love needs lies.
Korven leads my protesting family away. Vaelor and I run toward the Eternal Flame chamber, toward the heart of the mountain where explosions are getting louder and the ground shakes harder with each step.
"Tell me you have a plan," Vaelor says as we run.
"Not really. Just... trust Eywa?"
"That's a terrible plan."
"Got a better one?"
He almost laughs. Almost. "You're either the bravest person I've ever met or the most reckless."
"Can't I be both?"
We burst into the caldera chamber and stop dead.
The Eternal Flame is dying.
Not going out completely, but flickering. Struggling. And around it, the volcanic rock is cracking open—not with vines, but with magma. Slow-moving rivers of liquid fire seeping up from below.
"The vent system is rupturing," Vaelor breathes. "If it completely breaks—"
"The whole mountain erupts. I know." I move toward the flame, feeling its pain like my own. "It's trying to hold the pressure back. But it can't do it alone anymore."
"What can we do?"
I turn to him. "Remember when we touched before? At the border? The flame responded. It recognized our connection somehow."
Understanding dawns in his eyes. "You think if we both—"
"—together, we might be able to help it. Balance fire with forest. Destruction with growth. Ash with seed."
"Or we both die horribly."
"Probably that too." I hold out my hand. "But I'd rather die trying than live knowing I could have helped."
Vaelor stares at my outstretched hand. This is more than accepting my help. This is accepting everything—faith in Eywa, faith in me, faith in impossible things.
He takes my hand.
The moment our skin connects, power explodes through us. The Eternal Flame surges upward, brighter than ever. The cracks in the rock stop spreading. And between our joined hands, that glowing seed appears again—pulsing with both our heartbeats.
"Now what?" Vaelor gasps.
"Now we trust."
I pull him forward, straight into the Eternal Flame.
The world becomes fire and light and power and pain and impossible beauty all at once.
Through the flames, I see a vision: the mountain's heart, veins of magma running through stone like blood through a body. And the Sky People's explosives, lodged deep in critical points, about to trigger catastrophic collapse.
"I see them," I tell Vaelor. "The explosives. Three of them."
"Can you reach them?"
"No. But the flame can. If we—"
A scream cuts through our connection.
Not any scream. Tuk's scream.
Through the flames, I see her running into the caldera chamber, Sylara dragging her by the arm. My little sister's face is bruised. Terrified.
"NO!" I try to pull away from Vaelor, but the flame holds us locked.
Sylara's beautiful face is twisted with madness. "You want to save everyone? Then choose, forest witch!"
She holds a knife to Tuk's throat.
"Save the mountain and your sister dies. Save your sister and the mountain erupts, killing everyone—including your precious prince." Sylara's eyes gleam with insane triumph. "So what will it be? Your family? Or his people?"
The flames roar around Vaelor and me. The mountain groans. The explosives tick down.
And I have to choose who lives and who dies.