The roar of collapsing steel echoed through the street as Marek descended, flames spiraling like wings behind him. The ground cracked beneath each step. Every instinct screamed *run*, but my body refused—rooted by fear or fury, I couldn't tell.
Selene's hand pressed against my chest, forcing me back into the cover of a broken wall. "Not here," she hissed. "He feeds on confrontation."
My voice cracked, more desperate than brave.
Her eyes flicked toward the rooftops. "We won't."
That's when I saw them—three shadows moving fast across the skyline. Echo operatives, silhouettes against the burning dawn. They carried cylindrical packs, their motions disciplined and silent.
"Charges," Selene whispered. "They're setting up a containment field."
Containment field? Against *him*? My breath caught. Marek raised his arm again, and the air itself seemed to scream. Fire coiled into a vortex, pulling oxygen.
Selene grabbed my collar and yanked me down an alley just as the blast tore through. The shockwave hurled us into a wall, my vision blurring from the impact. Heat washed over us, scorching the air, peeling paint from metal.
When I opened my eyes, I saw something impossible.
Marek's fire didn't spread—it bent. The flames were being *redirected*, sucked into shimmering barriers forming a dome above the streets. The Echoes' containment field was working—but barely.
Marek turned his head, eyes narrowing. "Tricks," he growled, voice rumbling like thunder. "Do you think fire can be caged?"
The air crackled. The containment lines flared bright, and for a second I thought we'd won—until Marek *laughed*.
A deep, guttural sound that made the world shiver.
Then the barriers shattered.
The explosion wasn't light or sound—it was *pressure*. The street buckled, glass liquefied. The Echoes on the rooftops were thrown like dolls. One screamed as fire caught his arm midair, twisting him into a streak of flame before he hit the ground.
"MOVE!" Selene yelle pulled me toward a subway entrance half-buried under debris. We stumbled down the cracked stairs as smoke poured after us like a living thing.
Inside, it was darkness—hot, stifling, vibrating with echoes of the destruction above.
I gasped for air as I collapsed against the wall. "He's… unstoppable."
Selene didn't answer. She stared into the dark tunnel ahead, her jaw tight. "Everyone burns, Lysandra. But not everyone *melts*. Marek does."
Before I could respond, a new sound rose from the tunnel—a mechanical hum, low and rhythmic. Lights flickered to life, revealing a network of metal rails… and a single armored train, dormant and humming with residual power.
Selene's lips curved into something between a smirk and a grimace. "Looks like the old evac lines still breathe."
I frowned. "You will be using that?"
She turned to me, eyes glinting in the dim light. "I'm thinking of *driving it straight into the Ash Warden*."
My heart stuttered. "That'll kill us both."
"Only if we miss," she said, loading her last blade into a holster.
Above us, Marek's voice echoed through the cracks in the ceiling, distorted and distant—but still *everywhere.*
"You can hide beneath the ashes," he said, "but fire always finds what's left to burn."
The tunnel lights flickered red.
The engine roared awake.
Selene grinned. "Then let's make him choke on smoke."
The engine screamed to life, gears grinding like a monster waking from hibernation. Sparks shot from the rails, lighting the tunnel in pulses of blue and orange. I gripped a metal bar to steady myself as the ground trembled beneath us.
Selene jumped into the control cabin, slamming levers forward. "Hold on!" she shouted.
The train lurched forward, rusty wheels shrieking against steel. The entire tunnel lit up as power surged through the line for the first time in years. My breath caught — we were moving faster than I thought possible.
Behind us, a roar cut through the smoke.
Marek.
He dropped through the fractured ceiling like a meteor, flames trailing from his hands. The heat was unbearable — the tunnel walls themselves began to melt, dripping molten metal.
Selene pulled the throttle harder. "He's following us!"
Marek sprinted along the tunnel, each step exploding into bursts of fire. The light bent around him, turning his silhouette into something monstrous. His laughter rolled through the tunnel like thunder.
Selene hit a switch. The rear compartment detached, slamming into the ground behind us. It exploded in a storm of sparks, temporarily slowing Marek down.
"Nice trick," I said, clutching the side rail.
She didn't smile. "It bought us ten seconds. Maybe less."
The tunnel split ahead — two paths, one leading deeper underground, the other rising toward the surface.
"Which one?" I asked.
Selene hesitated, scanning the faint map on the cracked dashboard. "Up. He won't expect us to take the open route."
I stared at her, half in disbelief. "He's literally made of fire, Selene. The open route's where he thrives."
"Exactly," she said. "We use his arrogance."
She yanked the controls and the train veered upward, wheels sparking violently. The walls widened, light bleeding in from above. We burst out of the tunnel in a shower of dust and smoke — onto an elevated bridge, half-collapsed, stretching across the burning city.
The sky was blood-orange, clouds thick with ash. Below us, entire blocks burned like dying stars.
And then… he appeared again.
Marek rose from the tunnel mouth, floating on a surge of flame. His eyes burned with fury.
Selene's voice was cold. "What we owe?"
He extended a hand. Flames twisted into shapes — faces — writhing in the smoke. The faces of the fallen Council enforcers. "You think you know why I burned their sanctums? Why I turned on them?" They were feeding it—feeding it souls to keep their towers alive."
I froze. My heart stopped. "That's impossible."
Selene didn't answer. Her eyes widened — not with disbelief, but recognition.
Marek saw it. "So you do know."
Before I could react, he thrust his hand forward. The bridge erupted in a line of fire, chasing us down the tracks. The train's metal screamed under the heat.
"Selene!" I yelled. "We'll never make it!"
Her jaw tightened. "Then we make sure he doesn't either."
She slammed the emergency lever. The brakes screeched, and I was thrown forward. The train slowed just enough for her to leap onto the roof, blade drawn, hair whipping in the wind.
"Selene!" I shouted, reaching for her.
She looked back once — a faint, fierce smile. "Keep it steady, Lysandra. End this cycle."
Then she ran straight toward the oncoming inferno.