The candle-bearer's hands shook as they lifted the flame higher. What had been a trembling light now surged like a miniature sun, casting spears of brilliance across the void.
The shadows screamed, dissolving under its touch. Every flicker seared holes in their endless ranks, leaving only vapor and ash behind.
Kaelen's heart hammered. "It's not just a shield… it's a blade."
Lyra smirked grimly as she gunned down the stragglers trying to dart away from the blaze. "About time the board learned what it feels like to burn."
The bearer's eyes glowed faintly in the firelight. They were no longer stumbling, no longer fragile. The flame seemed to move with their will, pulsing to their heartbeat, answering them as though alive.
The eye above howled in fury.
"Unstable. Wrong. The flame is not for war."
Kaelen spat on the tiles. "Too late. It's for freedom now."
The bearer thrust the candle forward. Fire erupted in a tidal wave, sweeping across the board. Titans staggered back, serpents curled and withered, and the swarm of mist shrieked before evaporating into nothingness. The grid itself trembled, lines of light flickering violently as if the rules could no longer contain what had been unleashed.
Lyra shielded her face from the brilliance, but she was grinning. "Kaelen… they're terrified. The board is actually afraid."
The King, distant but watching, tilted its fractured crown. For the first time, its posture shifted—not arrogant, but wary.
And then—something changed.
The bearer gasped, staggering, the flame in their hands shaking wildly. The fire wanted more—too much more. It wasn't satisfied with shadows; it reached for the tiles, the board, the sky itself. The candle wax ran faster, melting like a flood, dripping onto the tiles, sizzling as though the very game couldn't contain its heat.
Kaelen lunged forward, grabbing the bearer's arm. "Steady! You can't let it consume you!"
The bearer's voice cracked. "It's not me—it's the flame! It wants… everything!"
The light flared dangerously, a storm in the shape of fire, threatening to consume both enemy and ally alike.
The eye above whispered in a voice like breaking glass:
"Flame uncontrolled is ruin. Flame uncontrolled is mine."
Kaelen's knuckles whitened on the relic, sweat stinging his eyes. They had unlocked the weapon—but if they couldn't tame it, the board wouldn't have to destroy them. The fire would do it for them.
Lyra stepped closer, voice sharp and urgent. "Kaelen! Either you bind that flame—or it burns us all down."
Kaelen raised the relic, his decision heavy in his chest. To bind the flame meant containing it, risking dulling its new strength. But to leave it unbound meant unleashing a power that might kill everything—including them.
The bearer's scream echoed across the endless board as the fire roared higher, licking the stars.