The Frozen Gate slowly calmed.
The shaking stopped.The symbols dimmed.The air grew still again.
But the silence that followed was not peaceful.It was the silence after a storm—heavy, waiting, watching.
Aethren lowered his hands, breathing hard. Frost clung to his fingers. His face looked older, lines of exhaustion etched into his skin.
Lira stood very still, her eyes fixed on the glowing symbols inside the ice.
Kael stepped in front of her."Don't look at it," he whispered.
Lira blinked. "I… I wasn't looking at it. It was looking at me."
Aethren winced."Then we have less time than I hoped."
A Memory Surfaces
Lira touched her chest—right over her heart.
"Kael… something inside me is moving."
Kael grabbed her hand. "Tell me what you feel."
She closed her eyes."It feels like light," she whispered. "But it's trapped. And the more I get close to this place, the more it pushes against me… like it wants to escape."
Aethren nodded quietly."That light is the Heart Fragment."
Kael frowned. "Heart Fragment?"
"The core of the Star Being," Aethren said. "The piece that contains its purpose, its power… and its memories."
Lira's fingers trembled.
Kael tightened his jaw."If it's inside her, then we take it out."
Aethren looked at him sharply."No. Removing it would kill her instantly."
Kael froze.
Lira opened her eyes. "So I'm… stuck with it?"
Aethren nodded. "You are its last refuge. Without you, it cannot survive. Without it, you cannot survive."
Kael put an arm around her.Lira leaned into him slightly, but her eyes remained on the gate.
A Shocking Truth
Aethren continued.
"The Star Being did not trust the world with its heart. So before it shattered, it placed the Heart Fragment inside a soul that was pure enough to carry it."
Lira gave a hollow laugh."Pure. Me? That seems wrong."
"You misunderstand," Aethren said gently. "Pure does not mean perfect. It means honest. Open. Brave."
He looked at her with a strange sadness.
"You were all of those things… long before this lifetime."
Kael shook his head. "You're saying she lived before? In a different life?"
Aethren nodded."Many souls are born and reborn. Most forget. But you, Lira… you made a choice in another time. You agreed to hold the Heart Fragment until the world was safe."
Lira wrapped her arms around herself.
"Then why don't I remember any of this?"
"Because forgetting was part of the protection," Aethren replied. "If you remembered too early, the other fragments would find you."
Kael narrowed his eyes."What fragments?"
Aethren turned to the mountains.
"Pieces of the Being that became twisted after the shattering. Hungry pieces. Dangerous pieces."
Kael felt his chest tighten."So they're alive?"
"Some," Aethren said. "Others sleep. Others drift between worlds. But all of them search for completeness. For the missing heart."
Kael looked at Lira with fear he tried to hide.
She was a target.A beacon.A key.
And she didn't even choose this life consciously.
The Gate Calls Again
Lira took one step toward the Frozen Gate.
Kael moved quickly, holding her arm."Lira. Don't."
She didn't look at him.Her voice was distant.
"I hear something."
Kael felt dread wash over him."What do you hear?"
Lira tilted her head slightly, listening to something only she could sense.
"A heartbeat," she whispered.
Aethren's face went pale.
Kael's grip tightened."Your heartbeat?"
"No," Lira murmured. "Something behind the ice."
The Frozen Gate pulsed faintly, like a giant frozen chest rising and falling with breath.
Aethren rushed forward."Step back. Both of you!"
But Lira didn't move.
Her eyes were wide, glowing faintly—just like the symbols.
Kael shook her gently."Lira! Look at me!"
Her voice trembled."It's calling my name."
"What name?" Kael demanded.
She swallowed.
"Not Lira."
The Forgotten Name
Aethren's expression darkened."That name must not be spoken."
Kael glared. "She deserves to know who she is!"
Aethren's voice cracked like ice."If she speaks her true name, the Gate will break."
Lira's breath hitched.Something inside her chest burned—like a star trying to burst free.
"I… I can almost hear it," she whispered.
Kael held her face in both hands."Lira. Stay with me. You are Lira. You are my Lira."
Her breathing steadied slightly.
But the Frozen Gate did not calm.
It throbbed harder.Brighter.Louder.
A deep, low hum filled the air—like the sound of a cosmic heartbeat.
Aethren lifted a hand toward the gate."We must leave. Now!"
Lira stepped back finally, eyes still glowing faintly.
Kael wrapped his arm around her, turning her away from the ice.
The humming slowly faded.
The symbols dimmed.
The heartbeat disappeared.
Lira shivered.
Kael whispered, "Are you okay?"
She nodded."I think so."
Aethren approached with heavy steps.
"You must understand," he said, looking at Lira, "the closer you come to remembering, the closer the Gate comes to opening."
Lira hugged herself."So what am I supposed to do?"
Aethren answered in a voice soft as snow:
"You must learn to control the heart inside you…before the heart controls you."
A Hard Road Ahead
The wind howled through the cliffs.
Kael looked at Lira, worry filling every corner of his mind.
Lira looked at the Frozen Gate, fear and curiosity battling in her eyes.
Aethren stood between them and the glowing ice—just one man against an ancient power.
"You two must rest," he said. "Tomorrow, the real training begins. You must learn to listen without answering. To remember without awakening. To hold the heart without letting it burn you."
Kael placed a protective hand on Lira's back.
She whispered:
"What if I'm not strong enough?"
Aethren smiled sadly.
"No soul chosen by the Being was ever weak."
Lira lowered her eyes.
Kael whispered in her ear:
"Strength doesn't mean being unafraid.It means choosing to walk forward even when you are."
Lira took a slow breath.
For the first time in hours, she nodded—the smallest spark of determination returning to her eyes.
But far behind the Frozen Gate…deep inside the star-lit dark…
something opened its eyes.
And whispered her true name.