Lyena had just turned five.
She woke quietly in the small house, the morning light slipping through the cracks in the wooden walls. The room felt empty.
She stepped out of her room.
On the table lay a folded note.
I went to the village to buy food. I'll be back soon.
Lyena stared at it.
Before she could think more, the door creaked open.
An old man stood there, breathless, eyes wide with fear.
"Lyena," he said urgently. "Mira… Mira is in trouble."
Lyena's heart skipped.
"Where?" she asked.
"Outside the village," he said. "Hurry."
Lyena ran.
The path through the woods was familiar, but today it felt longer. Her small legs burned as she ran, branches scraping her arms, breath tearing from her chest.
Then she saw them.
Men.
Children in chains.
And Mira—standing alone in front of them.
"Let them go," Mira said. "They're just children."
One of the men laughed.
"And you're just a woman
Mira didn't flinch.
They moved.
The clash was sudden and brutal. Steel flashed. The ground cracked beneath their feet. Mira fought them head-on, forcing them back again and again.
Then one man lifted his hand
Everything changed.
Mira was lifted off the ground. His hand dropped and her body was slammed down hard
The earth shook.
She was lifted again.
Slammed.
Again.
And again.
Cracks spread beneath her body.
One of the men whistled.
"Your gravity powers are terrifying."
The man laughed.
"It's not."
And that was when he noticed Lyena.
She was running straight toward him.
"No!" Mira shouted.
Too late.
A man moved.
He vanished.
And appeared behind Lyena and grabbed her head.
And smashed it into the ground.
Pain exploded.
The world went white.
Lyena didn't scream.
She couldn't.
Her body went limp.
The man with gravity powers lost focus.
Mira ran toward her.
She forced herself forward, ignoring the pain, ignoring the blood.
The man with gravity powers raised his arm slowly.
Time stopped.
Just for a breath.
Mira kept moving.
A man suddenly stepped in front of her and kicked her.
She blocked it instinctively.
The man with gravity powers frowned.
"What was that?"
"She stopped time," the attacker said, startled.
The gravity wielder grew angry
He lifted a single finger.
Gravity surged.
Mira was ripped off the ground again.
Her body slammed down.
Then lifted.
Then crushed.
She screamed
Then he jumped backward.
Ice erupted from the ground.
He landed hard, one knee striking the dirt first. His upper body pitched forward as he caught himself with one hand, barely keeping his balance.
Blood fell onto the ground.
Ice struck his shin, cutting deep.
He screamed and staggered.
More ice surged forward, cradling Mira gently and lowering her to the ground as if she were weightless.
A distant voice echoed, cold and calm.
"Let the little girl go."
The man holding Lyena did not have time to react.
Ice pierced straight through his chest.
He collapsed.
Another man tried to flee.
Ice came from behind him and cut him down.
The man with gravity powers staggered back, fear finally breaking through his expression.
Then something else arrived.
Not ice.
Not magic.
A pressure.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
Endless.
Every man still standing collapsed instantly.
Mira's vision blurred.
Lyena's body went still.
The world dimmed.
Everyone, friend and enemy alike, fell unconscious.
Silence returned to the clearing.
The sky did not answer.
The forest did not move.
And whatever had passed through that place left no name behind.
End of Chapter 12 – The Fire Beneath the Sky