The chamber Kael brought her to was not a place meant for comfort.
Stone walls curved upward into darkness, carved with sigils that pulsed faintly like a slow heartbeat. The air smelled ancient, dust, iron, and something sharper beneath it, like scorched ozone. At the center of the chamber lay a circular platform etched with concentric rings of runes, each one different, each one humming with restrained power.
Aria stood at its edge, arms wrapped around herself.
The cold had not left her.
It clung to her bones, seeping into places fire had once warmed. She had never realized how much the embers had been part of her until their absence left a hollow ache behind.
"This place," she said softly, "what is it?"
Kael moved around the platform, checking the runes one by one. "A binding sanctum. One of the few left intact."
"Left intact from what?"
He paused. "From the last Convergence."
She didn't like the way he said that, like it was a wound that never healed.
"What do I do?" she asked.
Kael turned to face her fully. "Step onto the circle."
Her stomach tightened.
"And then?"
"And then," he said, "you will learn how little control you actually have."
That didn't help.
Still, Aria stepped forward.
The moment her foot crossed the boundary, the runes flared to life. Light surged upward, forming a translucent dome around the platform. The air thickened, pressing against her skin.
Her breath caught.
Kael remained outside the circle.
"You're not coming in?" she asked.
"If I do," he replied, "the embers will react to me instead of you. This must be yours alone."
The words yours alone echoed unpleasantly.
"Kael," she said, forcing steadiness into her voice, "if this goes wrong"
"It will," he interrupted calmly.
She stared at him. "That's supposed to reassure me?"
"No," he said. "It's supposed to make you honest with yourself."
The runes beneath her feet began to glow brighter.
The cold in her chest shifted.
Then the fire stirred.
It was different now, no longer a comforting presence, but something restless and sharp, like a caged beast scraping against bone. Heat bloomed painfully under her skin, spreading too fast, too intense.
Aria gasped, dropping to one knee.
"Focus," Kael commanded. "Do not reach for the fire. Let it come to you."
"It feels like it's tearing me apart!" she cried.
"Because you are fighting it."
Flames licked up her arms, golden and violent, leaving no burns yet screaming across her nerves. Images flashed through her mind, fragments of memory that weren't memories at all.
A sky split by fire.
A crown melting into ash.
A woman screaming her name.
Aria screamed and clutched her head.
"Make it stop!"
Kael's voice cut through the chaos. "Tell me what you see."
"I don't know!" she sobbed. "It's not mine, it's not"
"Then stop claiming it," he said sharply. "The embers are older than you. You are not their source. You are their vessel."
Something about that snapped into place.
Aria inhaled shakily.
I am not the fire, she thought.
I am the one who carries it.
The flames shuddered.
The pain lessened just slightly.
She straightened, forcing herself to stand despite trembling legs. Slowly, carefully, she loosened her grip on the fear strangling her chest.
The fire did not vanish.
It obeyed.
The flames coiled closer to her body, settling into a controlled burn that wrapped around her like living armor. The runes beneath her feet dimmed, their frantic pulsing slowing.
Kael's eyes widened.
"Well," he murmured, "that's… unexpected."
Aria laughed weakly. "You could sound less surprised."
"Most Ember Bearers don't manage restraint on their first attempt," he said. "They burn. Or they break."
Her smile faded. "And the ones who break?"
"They lose themselves before the fire does."
The weight of that settled heavily between them.
Aria looked down at her hands, still wreathed in controlled flame. "You said there would be a cost."
"Yes."
"What is it?" she asked quietly.
Kael hesitated.
That was answer enough.
"What did it take?" she pressed.
He exhaled slowly. "Close your eyes."
Her heart began to race, but she obeyed.
"Think of something important," he said. "Something small. Something you are certain you remember clearly."
She frowned, searching inward.
"My mother," she said after a moment. "The sound of her singing when I was little."
"Hold onto it," Kael said softly. "Now… summon the fire."
Aria did.
The flames brightened instantly.
Then something slipped.
It was subtle like fingers brushing against her mind but unmistakable. The warmth of the memory faltered. The melody blurred.
Her eyes flew open.
"I..." Her voice cracked. "I can't hear it anymore."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"That," he said quietly, "is the price."
Her chest ached painfully. "It took it. Just like that."
"And it will again," he said. "Every time you draw deeply. Sometimes it will be small. Sometimes…" He didn't finish.
Aria clenched her fists, extinguishing the flames.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Finally, she lifted her head.
"Teach me how to lose less."
Kael met her gaze, something like respect flickering there.
"That," he said, "is the right question."
Before he could continue, the runes around the chamber flared violently.
Kael spun. "No."
The air split with a sharp crack, and a figure collapsed just inside the sanctum's boundary, bloodied, gasping.
A woman.
Her armor was shattered, her dark hair matted with blood. Strange sigils burned across her skin, barely holding whatever magic kept her alive.
Kael was at her side instantly. "You weren't supposed to come here."
She laughed weakly, coughing. "And miss meeting her?"
Her gaze lifted, locking onto Aria.
The embers reacted violently.
Fire surged instinctively, crawling across Aria's skin as the woman's eyes widened in awe, and fear.
"So it's true," the woman whispered. "The fire chose again."
"Who is she?" Aria demanded.
Kael didn't look at her. "This is Lyra."
Lyra smiled faintly. "Your future, if you survive long enough."
That did nothing to ease Aria's nerves.
"What happened?" Kael asked Lyra urgently.
"The Veil is tearing wider," Lyra said. "The Hunt has begun in earnest. And they're not sending beasts anymore."
Kael stiffened. "Who, then?"
Lyra's gaze flicked back to Aria.
"Others like her," she said. "Only broken. Twisted. And desperate enough to burn entire realms just to stop the fire from choosing again."
The chamber seemed to grow colder.
Aria swallowed hard.
"So I'm not just being hunted," she said slowly.
Lyra's smile was grim.
"You're being challenged."
Far beyond the sanctum, in a land where the sky bled red and black, a figure wrapped in scorched armor opened glowing eyes.
The embers had awakened.
And they were not pleased.