Chapter 43
The final torch flickered.
Then settled—Gold.
The crowd stood still, breathless.
A single flame wouldn't have meant much.
But this was all of them.
From the mothers who'd once buried sons under silver skies,To the elders who remembered the smell of ash,To the children who had never known truth—only what they were told to believe.
Now they remembered her.
Not perfectly. Not painlessly.But truly.
And that was enough.
The Mirror stood frozen.
Her silver fire danced higher in defiance, as if resisting the outcome. But her eyes—her mirror-eyes—were cracking.
Hairline fractures ran across her cheek.
No blood. Just reflected light breaking apart.
Eliendara stepped forward, the Heartgate pulsing behind her like a second sun.
"It's done."
The Mirror trembled. "They chose wrong."
"No," Eliendara said softly. "They chose real."
The Mirror's smile returned—but this time, it was thin. Hollow.
"Then I'll unmake them."
Kael moved immediately, stepping in front of Eliendara.
But the Mirror raised no hand. She simply looked to the sky—And screamed.
Not a cry of rage.
A command.
And the Seventh Gate—forgotten, buried deep in the spine of the world—answered.
Mountains cracked.
Seas hissed steam.
And beneath the capital, the land broke open.
From it rose not soldiers. Not demons.
But Versions.
Reflections of Eliendara from worlds that never were—Each twisted by regret, by temptation, by fear.
One bore a crown of ice.Another, wings of obsidian.Another, blood-stained hands and an empty smile.
A thousand possibilities, all pulled from the gate of endings—
And every single one of them wanted to live.
The Mirror turned to Eliendara.
"If I cannot be chosen…Then I will ensure no one is.Let the world choke on its infinite versions of you."
And with that—
She shattered.
The Mirror's body split into shards of light, each becoming a portal—each birthing a new False Flame.
Kael shouted, drawing his blade.
Ravien stepped from the shadows, magic burning in both palms.
But Eliendara stood still.
Watching as every piece of her past, future, and could-have-been rose to consume her.
Then she closed her eyes.
And whispered to the Heartgate.
"One truth.One story.One flame."
The Gate burst open behind her.
And for the first time—
She didn't resist it.
She walked into it.
And vanished.
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 44: The One Flame That Must Return
Eliendara has entered the core of the Heartgate—Where all her versions war to become the last.
But only one will return.
And whoever it is…Will rewrite the fate of the world.