The stone wall shifted with a low groan, revealing a hidden corridor bathed in flickering red light. Celeste took a step forward, heat rolling out to meet her. It wasn't oppressive. It was familiar. Like the warmth of a memory just out of reach.
Lucien stayed at her side, silent, as she walked into the hidden passage. The walls were covered in more of the glowing fire sigils symbols of her bloodline, though she couldn't yet read their meaning.
At the end of the corridor was a room unlike the rest. The floor was etched with concentric circles, each layered with ancient runes. In the center was a dais, and on it, a pedestal held a stone tablet glowing with dormant heat.
"This is it," Lucien said. "The Flameblood Prophecy."
Celeste reached for it. Her mark flared the moment her fingers touched the stone. The tablet came alive with golden fire.
Words formed.
Not in ink.
In flame.
"When the Veil is thinnest and the blood of the Flame awakens, one will rise bearing fire and memory," she read aloud. "She shall walk the line between light and shadow, and in her hands shall burn the fate of realms."
Lucien exhaled slowly. "It speaks of you."
Celeste stepped back, heart pounding. "It doesn't say what I have to do."
"No," Lucien said. "Prophecies never do. They offer warnings. Possibilities."
She stared down at the final line: She will not walk alone.
"What does that mean?" she whispered.
Before Lucien could answer, a sound echoed through the corridor.
A voice.
"Celeste?"
She froze.
No. It couldn't be.
Lucien stiffened beside her, already drawing his blade.
The voice came again, closer this time.
"Celeste! Are you in there?"
She turned, pulse racing, and rushed back through the corridor.
Standing at the chamber entrance was her brother.
Matthew.
He was out of breath, wearing the jacket she'd last seen him in before she disappeared. Dirt on his jeans. Leaves tangled in his hair. His expression flipped between relief and confusion.
"Thank God," he said. "I've been looking for you for two days."
"Matthew?" Her voice cracked.
Lucien stepped in beside her. "He shouldn't be here."
Matthew's eyes locked onto Lucien. "Who the hell are you?"
Celeste stepped between them. "Matthew, what are you doing here?"
"You vanished. No calls. No texts. Then I found that old book in your room symbols, weird drawings I tracked them to this forest. You've got some serious explaining to do."
Celeste's stomach twisted. He couldn't know. Not yet. Not like this.
"You followed a cursed grimoire into the Veilwoods?" Lucien muttered. "Brilliant."
"I didn't know it was cursed!" Matthew snapped. "I thought she was in trouble."
Lucien turned to Celeste, face tight. "We have to move. The prophecy's activation lit a beacon. The Shades will come."
Matthew frowned. "Shades?"
Celeste grabbed Matthew's hand. "We don't have time to explain. Just trust me. Please."
He hesitated, then nodded. "I do. Always."
They ran.
Through the tunnel, back out into the dead forest. The wind cut sharp against their faces, and already the ground trembled. Lucien led them through a second warded path, hidden under a thicket of brambles.
"They're close," he growled.
Celeste looked behind. Nothing yet but the shadows felt heavier.
They burst into a clearing.
And the Shades descended.
Darkness peeled from the trees like smoke. Hollow faces, shrieking mouths. Matthew screamed, stumbling back.
Lucien's blade met shadow.
Celeste turned, raising her hand.
The mark erupted in flame.
Golden fire surged across the clearing, wrapping around her brother without burning him,shielding him. The Shades recoiled.
Lucien cut through three, but another lunged from behind.
Celeste moved on instinct. Fire shot from her palms, blasting the Shade into ash.
Lucien turned, his expression something between pride and awe.
They fought together Lucien with blade, Celeste with flame until the last of the creatures melted into smoke.
Matthew stared at her, eyes wide with terror.
"What… what was that?"
Celeste's fire dimmed. Her heart broke at the look on his face.
"I can't explain it. Not all of it. But you need to trust me."
"You—you were glowing."
Lucien stepped forward, his voice firm. "You want her to live? Then stop asking questions. For now."
Matthew's mouth opened, then closed. He nodded once.
They moved again. Deeper into the forest, away from the ruins and the ashes.
When they finally stopped to rest, night had fallen.
Matthew sat apart, silently processing.
Celeste sat with Lucien by the edge of a spring, her heart raw.
"I should send him back," she whispered.
"You can't," Lucien said. "He's seen too much. He's marked now."
Celeste leaned into her knees. "I didn't want this life for him."
Lucien glanced at her. "You didn't want this life at all."
She looked at him.
And in the firelight, he looked human.
"Thank you," she said.
"For what?"
"For standing with me. Even when I don't know who I am."
Lucien reached for her hand. "You're not alone. Not anymore."
Their fingers laced together.
The mark pulsed between them.
And somewhere in the distance, something ancient stirred.
The hunt had begun again.
---
They camped that night beneath the canopy of burnt trees, the embers of Celeste's magic still warm in the dirt. Lucien kept watch, his blade always within reach. Matthew finally broke the silence.
"I thought I knew everything about you," he said, eyes fixed on the dying fire. "But this? This is something else."
Celeste hesitated before speaking. "I didn't know either. Not until recently."
"You're not… possessed, are you?"
She huffed a laugh. "No. Just… reborn, I guess. Something ancient woke up inside me."
Matthew studied her. "Does Mom know?"
Celeste shook her head. "She doesn't remember anything. I think… I think someone made her forget. All of it."
Lucien turned slightly, his voice a low murmur. "The ones who erased the Flameblood line didn't stop at fire and blade. They used memory magic. Blood curses. They wanted your kind forgotten."
Matthew ran a hand through his hair. "This is insane."
Celeste reached into her satchel, pulling out the flame-scorched page she'd torn from the prophecy tablet. It still glowed faintly. She handed it to him.
He studied it, awe creeping into his expression. "You were always strange, you know. Talking to trees, sensing storms before they hit. I thought it was just intuition."
"I didn't know what it was either," she said softly. "Now I do."
They sat in quiet for a while. The wind had stilled, but the forest never truly slept.
Lucien eventually stood, brushing ash from his coat. "We head to the Monastery at dawn. There's more buried there. Secrets you both need to see."
Celeste stood as well. "And the ones chasing us?"
"They'll keep coming," Lucien said. "But next time, you'll be ready."
Matthew looked up, exhaustion in his eyes. "So what now? We become some kind of demon-fighting family?"
Celeste grinned faintly. "Let's just start with surviving the night."
Lucien moved toward the shadows, eyes scanning the dark horizon. The flame in Celeste's blood pulsed softly, warming her from the inside.
The prophecy had begun.
And they were no longer walking toward destiny.
They were racing it.