Chapter 2: Threads of Fire
The wind howled across the cliffs of Fenghua. Mei Lin stood near the edge, eyes closed, arms outstretched. The fire in her dream had not faded—it lingered like an ember beneath her skin.
Below the cliff, villagers whispered of her strangeness. How sometimes the wind bent toward her. How flames danced in her presence, even when there was no spark. They called her gifted. Others… called her cursed.
Mei Lin knew neither name fit.
Master Yao, her guardian, stepped forward. "The dreams are returning, aren't they?"
She nodded. "Clearer. Stronger. I see a face now. His face."
Master Yao's eyes darkened. "Then it has begun."
---
In the royal city, Fu Gui stood before the sealed Hall of Echoes. The place where his parents once fought for the fate of the world. The air shimmered with faint, ancient energy.
His fingertips brushed the stone gate. "You're hiding something from me," he murmured. "I can feel it."
Behind him, the wind stirred violently, and the crimson lotus sigil pulsed beneath his palm. His blood awakened it.
Suddenly, an image burst into his mind—a girl standing in fire, wings of light curled protectively around her.
Her name... Mei Lin.
---
That night, they both dreamed of one another. Not as strangers, but as something older.
In a time before time, where phoenix wings met divine swords—and promises were made in starlight.
And now, fate had begun to rewrite itself.
The seal was weakening.
And love, once broken, would soon rise again.