Aria did not remember deciding to run.
She only knew that one moment she was standing amid scorched earth and glowing roots, golden fire trembling in her palms and the next, her feet were pounding against the forest floor, breath tearing from her lungs as branches lashed at her face.
The stranger's words echoed in her mind like a curse.
The Veiled Realm is opening.
Her heart hammered painfully as she fled deeper into Elderglen, the forbidden forest twisting around her in a maze of shadows and ancient wood. The fire within her pulsed erratically, responding to her panic in sharp, unpredictable waves of heat.
"Stop," she whispered again, to herself this time. "Just stop."
The flames receded slightly, though not fully. They lingered beneath her skin, restless, as if listening.
She did not look back.
She could not.
Because some instinct older than fear told her that if she did, nothing about her life would remain untouched.
The ground sloped downward, roots rising like traps beneath her feet. Aria stumbled, barely catching herself against a tree trunk. Pain flared through her shoulder, grounding her just long enough to realize something was wrong.
The forest was no longer silent.
It was watching her.
She felt it in the way the shadows stretched too far, the way the air pressed close, thick with anticipation. The symbols she had seen earlier, those burning carvings now glimmered faintly on bark and stone, lighting her path without her consent.
Guiding her.
"No," she breathed, shaking her head. "I don't want this."
The warmth in her chest answered with a steady pulse.
Then the forest opened.
Aria burst into a clearing she had never seen before, despite having grown up near Elderglen her entire life. The trees pulled back in a perfect circle, their branches arching overhead like the ribs of some enormous beast.
At the center stood a stone altar.
It was ancient, older than the village, older than memory itself. Cracks ran through its surface, glowing faintly with the same golden light that burned within her veins. Symbols spiraled across the stone, etched deep and deliberate.
Waiting.
Aria backed away slowly.
Her heel struck nothing.
She froze.
Behind her, the air shifted.
"You won't outrun what's already inside you."
His voice was closer now.
Too close.
Aria spun, raising her hands on instinct. Fire leapt from her palms in a wild arc, slashing through the space between them. The stranger moved, not fast, but precise, sidestepping the flame as it scorched the earth beside him.
The fire obeyed her fear, not her will.
"Don't come any closer!" she shouted.
The man stopped.
Up close, he was more unsettling than she had expected. His cloak was dark, but not black, woven with threads that shimmered faintly like starlight trapped in shadow. His face was sharp, carved by hardship rather than age, and his silver eyes… they were not cruel.
They were tired.
"I won't hurt you," he said calmly.
"You already did," Aria snapped, her voice shaking. "You came out of nowhere and told me my world is ending!"
A faint, humorless smile touched his lips.
"I said it was changing."
"That's not better!"
The fire flared again, crawling up her arms. The man's gaze flicked to it, then back to her face, intent and searching.
"It awakened early," he murmured. "Stronger than expected."
"Stop talking like I'm not here!"
He looked at her then, truly looked and something in his expression shifted.
"Aria Vale," he said.
Her blood turned to ice.
"How do you know my name?"
Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.
"Because," he said slowly, "I've been tracking the embers for twelve years. And they've always led me to you."
Her hands trembled.
"That's impossible," she whispered. "I've never left the village. I've never done anything special. I'm just"
"Human?" he finished softly.
The word landed like a blade.
"Yes," she said fiercely. "I am."
He studied her for a long moment, then nodded once.
"For now."
The altar behind her began to glow brighter.
Aria felt it immediately, a pull, gentle but insistent, tugging at something deep within her chest. The fire responded eagerly, surging toward the surface as if recognizing a long-lost companion.
She turned sharply toward the stone.
"No," she breathed. "I'm not touching that."
"You already have," the man replied.
The symbols ignited.
Golden light erupted from the altar, threads of fire weaving upward into the air, forming shapes wings, crowns, broken blades. The ground vibrated beneath their feet as a low, ancient hum filled the clearing.
Aria staggered, clutching her chest as pain lanced through her veins. Memories that were not hers clawed at her mind.
A city burning beneath a crimson sky.
A throne carved from obsidian.
A woman screaming as fire consumed her hands.
Aria dropped to her knees.
"Make it stop!" she cried.
The man moved instantly, kneeling before her, gripping her wrists firmly.
"Aria," he said sharply. "Listen to me. You're not dying. You're remembering."
"I don't want to remember!"
"I know." His grip tightened. "But the embers don't care what you want."
The fire surged violently, spiraling around them both. Heat scorched the air, but still it did not burn her. It recognized her pain, and answered it.
The altar cracked.
A pulse of energy exploded outward, throwing the man back several feet. Aria screamed as the force ripped through her, lifting her off the ground.
For a moment, she was nowhere.
Then she was everywhere.
She stood in a realm of ash and flame, skies split by lightning made of fire. Towers loomed in ruin, and monstrous silhouettes prowled the shadows beyond the light.
At the center of it all stood a woman.
She was tall, powerful, her hair a river of flame cascading down her back. Golden fire crowned her hands, her eyes blazing with sorrow and fury.
The woman turned.
And smiled sadly at Aria.
You carry what I could not save.
"No," Aria whispered. "I don't want this."
You were never meant to want it, the woman replied. Only to endure it.
The vision shattered.
Aria slammed into the earth, gasping, the fire collapsing back into her body. The clearing fell silent once more, smoke curling lazily from cracked stone.
She lay there, trembling, tears streaking her face.
The man rose slowly, brushing dirt from his cloak.
"It has begun," he said quietly.
Aria pushed herself up, fury cutting through her fear.
"You knew," she accused. "You knew this would happen!"
"Yes."
"And you didn't stop it?"
"No."
Her hands clenched into fists, fire flickering weakly between her fingers.
"Then get away from me."
He hesitated.
"If I do," he said, "you will die."
She laughed bitterly. "Feels like I already am."
His silver eyes softened.
"My name is Kael," he said. "And whether you trust me or not, you are no longer safe in this world."
The forest stirred.
Far beyond the clearing, something roared, deep, ancient, and unmistakably inhuman.
Kael's expression darkened.
"They've felt it," he said.
Aria swallowed hard.
"Felt what?"
He looked at her, then toward the distant roar.
"The return of the Ember Bearer."
The ground trembled again.
And this time, the fire inside Aria did not retreat.
It rose.