The obsidian walls of the chamber pulled back with a low groan, revealing a winding stairwell that led into golden light. Kael and Dante burst in from the entrance, their expressions shifting from panic to relief the moment they saw her.
"Elira!" Kael dropped to one knee beside her.
"I'm okay," she murmured, still dazed. "I… saw myself."
"Your younger self?" Dante asked cautiously.
She nodded.
"And I forgave her."
The room shimmered as Seraphine descended the stairs, regal and otherworldly. "Then you have achieved more than power. You've unlocked empathy within the flame."
Elira stood slowly, feeling weightless and anchored all at once.
"What does that mean?"
"Your flames no longer consume alone. They remember. They shape. They carry meaning," Seraphine said. "You are more than an Ember-Wielder. You are an Ember-Binder."
She raised her hand.
A wisp of flame emerged, showing a distant mountain surrounded by swirling darkness. A fortress carved into the stone, glowing with corrupted emberlight.
"There is one more," she said. "Another who carries the Ember within him."
Kael stepped closer. "Another like Elira?"
Seraphine's eyes turned grave. "Not like her. Twisted. Abandoned. His name is Varyn."
Elira froze.
That name—
"I know it," she said slowly. "From… somewhere. A name my mother whispered when she thought I was asleep."
Seraphine looked away.
"Varyn was your twin."
Silence.
Then Elira whispered, "He died."
"No," Seraphine said. "He was taken."