POV: Lyra
The moment my fingers touched the mural, everything around me vanished.
The forest. The ruin. The present.
Gone.
I wasn't standing anymore — I was floating, suspended in time, watching a life that didn't belong to me.
But it felt like it did.
I saw Emberlyn — younger than I imagined, maybe fifteen — standing barefoot in the same ruin, flames flickering along her wrists like bracelets of gold.
She was surrounded.
Five cloaked figures circled her, chanting in an ancient tongue I didn't recognize — but my heart reacted, pounding with an old fear buried deep in my chest.
"You must choose," one of them said.
"I didn't ask to be born this way," Emberlyn snapped.
"You were not born. You were forged."
A sword of flame rose from her palm.
And then everything went white.
I gasped — eyes snapping open, back in the ruin, my heart racing like I'd just sprinted through time.
The mural was glowing.
And I wasn't alone.
I turned.
A figure stood near the edge of the chamber — tall, draped in a black cloak stitched with ancient runes. His hood was up, but I could feel his eyes watching me.
"You remember now," he said. His voice was like gravel dipped in honey.
"Who are you?" I stepped back instinctively.
"I am the Keeper," he said. "And you are the Flame Returned."
"Flame returned…" I whispered. "What does that mean?"
"It means the prophecy lives again. And this time, you must finish what Emberlyn started."
"I don't even know what that is."
He tilted his head. "You will. The bond between you and the Alpha… it is not just desire or fate. It is the lock and key to the realm beyond."
My pulse thudded.
"Beyond what?"
"Beyond this world. Beyond death."
I backed away. "No. I'm not ready for this. I didn't ask for this."
He stepped forward — but didn't threaten. Just… observed.
"She ran too," he said softly. "The first time. But fire doesn't care if you're ready. Fire consumes."
And with that, he vanished.
No smoke. No sound.
Just gone.
I collapsed to my knees, breath shallow.
The bond pulsed in my chest, stronger than ever.
And for the first time, I didn't feel like it was Kairo's bond.
I felt like it was mine.