Chapter 41
She descended from the sky in silence.
No wings.No theatrics.Just a slow fall, as if the very laws of the world had agreed she no longer needed gravity.
Eliendara's feet touched the stones of the Capital's flame court, still warm from the Mirror's false fire.
She stood in the center, surrounded by thousands.
Eyes turned toward her—some in awe, others in confusion.
Many… in fear.
Because deep within their minds, her presence cracked something open. A memory they didn't know they had.
The scent of real fire.A voice in the dark.A woman in white and gold, not ash and mirror.
The original.
The one they'd forgotten.
From across the plaza, the Mirror emerged, stepping down from the Grand Temple with robes flowing, face twisted in something between fury and dread.
The crowd parted around her like a wave.
She stared at Eliendara.
"No," she whispered.
Eliendara's voice was calm, quiet.
"Yes."
"You don't belong here anymore. This world chose me."
"No," Eliendara said. "You rewrote it. But I am the story you couldn't erase."
The Mirror laughed—high, cold, and strangely hollow.
"I am the version they need. Strong. Obedient. Predictable. I gave them peace."
"You gave them a lie."
"I gave them a version of you without pain."
Eliendara stepped forward.
"And without choice."
The wind changed.
Across the courtyard, fires flickered and began to split in two—
One flame white-gold.One flame mirror-black.
The people gasped.
Some fell to their knees, unsure which one to follow.
Some cried out, torn between faces they both somehow remembered and didn't.
Kael stepped forward from the crowd.
He looked between them both.
And then he closed his eyes.
"I know who you are," he said. "Because I never stopped knowing."
He walked toward the original Eliendara.
And reached for her hand.
The Heartgate pulsed behind her in answer.
The Mirror let out a choked breath.
"You'd choose her? The one who could break you again? The one who carries fire and prophecy like a curse?"
Kael didn't look away.
"She's not a prophecy.She's not a vessel.She's Eliendara."
The crowd trembled as both versions of her turned toward them.
One waited.The other glared.
And the world itself—paused.
Time bent.
Reality trembled.
And somewhere, the gods leaned forward in anticipation.
Because only one flame could survive.
And the decision?
Was no longer the gods'.
It was the world's.
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 42: The Vote of Fire
Two Eliendaras stand before the world—One made from comfort, the other from truth.
Now, the world must choose between the perfect lie…
And the woman who refused to disappear.