"Kai…"
Lina's voice trembled.
"My flame… it reacted to you."
Kai didn't move.Didn't blink.Didn't breathe.
Just stood there, frozen, as if the accusation had struck him harder than any spell.
Reyon stepped between them instantly."Okay, okay — let's NOT jump to conclusions! Maybe the flame just hiccupped, or burped, or whatever flames do—"
Seren shook her head.Quiet.Terrified.
"No. Her flame wasn't confused.It was warning her."
Kai flinched.
Something inside him cracked — Lina saw it in his eyes.That look of quiet devastation.
The one he never let anyone see.
"Lina…"His voice was gentle.Hurt.Bare."You think I would betray you?"
She shook her head immediately."No. No, Kai. I don't believe that. I don't. But—"
"But your flame does."Kai finished for her, pain tightening his jaw.
Lina reached for him—
He stepped back.
Not harshly.Not coldly.But like he was afraid of hurting her.
The Shadowsteel around him flickered — unstable.
Reyon raised his hands. "Guys. This is exactly what the entity wants. It WANTS us to doubt each other. Divide us. Break us."
Seren's voice was small. "Kai's aura did react strangely. The entity did mention his shadow cracking."
Kai's eyes darkened.
"It's the Oathbreaker curse," he said quietly."It always reacts when prophecy stuff happens. Doesn't mean I'm a traitor."
Lina's heart clenched.
"Kai, I trust you."Her voice broke."With everything."
He looked at her like that sentence hurt more than it comforted him.
"Then why does your flame say otherwise?"
She didn't have an answer.
Her flame pulsed again — painfully.
"See?" Kai whispered."It recoils every time I step closer."
He took one more slow step forward.
Lina gasped as her flame burned her wrist — not violently, but like a warning tap.
She staggered back.
Kai stopped moving.Hands shaking.
Reyon stepped between them."Kai, maybe just… stand still for a second."
Kai exhaled slowly.
"Fine."
Lina clutched her wrist, breathing hard.
Seren approached her, gently touching the back of Lina's hand.
"Your flame isn't saying Kai is the traitor," she murmured."It's saying Kai has… something on him."
Lina blinked. "Something?"
Reyon frowned. "Like a parasite? A rune? A mark?"
Seren nodded."Yes. Something foreign. Something… planted."
Kai stiffened.
Reyon muttered, "Okay, THAT sounds Veilbound."
Kai's jaw clenched. "I haven't been touched by any Veilbound."
Seren hesitated."You… don't have to be touched physically."
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?"
Before Seren could answer—Lina suddenly froze.
Her vision blurred.Her head spun.
Images flashed:
A hallway she didn't remember walking through.A door she didn't remember opening.Kai standing beside her…holding her hand…
Her flame flickered violently—
"Lina?!" Kai reached for her.
She stepped back quickly."No—wait— don't touch— I saw— I saw—"
He froze mid-step.
Reyon grabbed her arm gently."Lina. What did you see?"
She clutched her head.
"I saw Kai and I walking down a hall…but I don't remember it.I don't remember ANY of it."
Seren paled."A false memory.Implanted.Projected.Or… copied."
Kai's face fell.
"You… saw me doing something you don't remember?"
Lina nodded, terrified.
"Yes."
Kai looked wrecked.
Completely broken.
"I swear to you —"His voice cracked, raw."I would NEVER touch your memories.Never manipulate you."
Reyon whispered, "Kai… we know. But the real question is— if it wasn't you—"
"—then who made Lina see you?" Seren finished softly.
The answer was obvious.
The Veilbound.
Lina swallowed hard.
The mask's whisper echoed in her mind:
"The traitor wears a trusted face."
Lina looked at Kai, shaking.
"Kai… someone is wearing you.Someone is pretending to be you."
Anger flickered across Kai's eyes — sharp, deadly.
He stepped closer again—
Her flame reacted.Not from him.But from something near him.
Seren gasped.
"It's not Kai.It's ON Kai."
They all turned.
A thin slip of shadow lay across Kai's shoulder — too dark, too still.
A Veilbound mark.
Reyon shouted, "MOVE—!"
Kai ripped the shadow off his shoulder and threw it onto the ground.
It writhed — a tiny, black, mimic-like parasite.
Lina's flame flared.
The parasite hissed.
Seren cried, "It's a Veilbound seed— it was siphoning Kai's resonance to COPY HIM!"
Lina's blood ran cold.
Kai looked at her with wide, horrified eyes.
"Lina… it wasn't me your flame reacted to."
Her heart pounded.
Kai whispered, strangled—
"It was the thing trying to become me."
Lina staggered forward and threw her arms around him.
He held her instantly, burying his face in her hair.
"I told you," he whispered, shaking."I told you I'd never betray you."
Lina clutched him tighter.
"I know.I know."
Reyon stepped on the parasite, shattering it into smoke.
Seren exhaled shakily."That was not the traitor…That was only the first attempt."
Everyone froze.
The corridor went dead silent.
Lina whispered:
"Then who is the traitor?"
But the mask cracked further—and whispered a new name.
Not Kai.Not Reyon.Not Seren.
The whisper was:
"The flame herself."
Lina's heart stopped.
Kai grabbed her tighter.
Reyon stepped back.
Seren's eyes widened.
"No… that can't be—"
But the mask whispered again.
"The traitor…is Lina Veris."
To be Continued© Kishtika., 2025All rights reserved.