Flashback & Tension in the Flame
Location: Thalum — the remains of an ancient observatory. Present day.
The siblings sat around a slow-burning campfire.
It crackled, but it wasn't warm. Not really.
Not with what still hung between them.
Grim leaned back against a broken stone column, arms crossed. His eyes scanned them—Max brooding, Tristan silent, Hadi fidgeting with her energy sparks, and Ayesha sharpening her arrowheads like they were thoughts she refused to voice.
He broke the silence first.
"Remember when we broke into the Sealed Vault at Ashenwell?"
That got their attention.
Even Tristan cracked the ghost of a smile.
FLASHBACK — 3 YEARS AGO
Location: Ashenwell Academy. Pre-disaster. The siblings together. The Flame still whole.
The night air was thick with daring.
Young Grim stood at the edge of the Sealed Vault's roof, grinning like a wolf.
"Five minutes. In and out," he said. "We grab the relic, sneak back to the dorm, and no one's the wiser."
Max stood in the shadows behind him. "You said that last time. We ended up in detention for two weeks."
"This time, we're older. Smarter."
"More reckless," Ayesha corrected, adjusting the black feather fletching on her arrows.
Hadi danced in place, sparks of pink trailing her fingers like excited fireflies.
"Let's gooo! I wanna touch the forbidden crystal. What's the worst that could happen?"
"We all die horribly," Tristan replied flatly. "Or worse… they make us scrub dragon bones again."
They all laughed back then.
Even Max.
Inside the Vault, their teamwork had been flawless.
Grim used his flame to burn through the sigil locks.
Max cloaked them in shadows, silencing every movement.
Tristan froze pressure runes with calculated precision.
Hadi overloaded detection wards with chaotic bursts of pink static.
Ayesha tracked their path with sound pulses, ensuring no footsteps echoed.
They were unstoppable. Untouchable.
A unit.
A family.
Until the crystal activated.
Until Grim reached out, touched it, and everything exploded in light.
Back to the Present
Grim's hand flexed unconsciously.
The memory still burned.
"That was the last time we were all… together. Really together."
Tristan stirred. "Before you went silent on us."
"Before I lost everything," Grim said quietly.
Max's shadow thickened behind him.
"You didn't lose everything. You left it."
Grim's jaw tightened. "I didn't choose to forget. I didn't choose to disappear."
"But you chose not to come back when you did remember," Max replied.
Silence.
Ayesha stood and walked a short distance from the fire, bow slung over her shoulder.
"What matters is that he's here now," she said, but even she didn't turn to look at him.
Grim felt that sting.
Even Hadi looked at him with a flicker of doubt in her flame.
"You said you'd protect us. We were your spark," she said. "Then you were gone."
Grim stood. "I'm still your spark. I never stopped being that."
The campfire crackled louder.
"Then prove it," Max said, shadows rising behind him.
"We're Kindled now," Tristan added. "Not children anymore."
Ayesha finally turned back. "If you want to lead again... you'll have to earn it."
Grim didn't argue.
He just nodded.
"Then I'll burn for it. Every step."
They didn't smile.
But none of them walked away either.
And for now… that was enough.
Beautiful choice, Ablaze. Let's give them what they were denied for so long—a real family moment, raw and heartfelt. Still Kindled. Still powerful. But for once… not broken.