Among the ruins, Amina found a boy—barely six years old—sitting beneath a charred tree, untouched by flame. His eyes were golden, glowing faintly.
He didn't cry.
He didn't speak.
He just stared at her.
"Ashar! Kai!" she called, kneeling.
Ashar arrived, blade drawn. He froze. "How... is he alive?"
The child slowly raised a hand and placed it on Amina's chest.
In that moment, her vision blurred—and she saw.
A desert... spiraling flame columns... and Valec, arms outstretched.
The boy whispered one word.
"Awakening."
Then he collapsed.
Signs of Collapse
Lumeah stood on the ridge, her expression unreadable.
"This wasn't just destruction," she said. "This was a message."
Kai nodded grimly. "He's marking his path."
Lumeah unrolled the map again. The sigils flickered—two of them burned out.
"What does that mean?" Amina asked.
"Two Anchors are gone. If a third breaks... the veil between the Flame Realm and ours begins to tear."
Ashar clenched his fists. "We need to get ahead of him."
"No," Lumeah corrected. "We need to understand why you're connected to him."
Ashar's Question
Later that night, as they set up camp again under the broken moonlight, Ashar stood watch beside Amina.
"You said you didn't want the Flame," he said suddenly.
She looked over. "I didn't."
"But... you're the only one it sings to."
She sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if it chose me… or if I'm just a vessel it needed."
Ashar looked at the fire. "I found another scroll."
Amina tensed. "What did it say?"
Ashar's voice lowered. "It had your name. But not the name you go by now. It called you... Amariel."
Amina's breath caught. "That name—no one knows that name."
Ashar nodded slowly. "Someone does. Someone who lived before your memories began."
The Sand That Whispers
They reached the edge of the Shal'Zahra desert by morning.
Heat rose in waves. The wind sang strange songs—low murmurs in tongues none of them understood.
Kai stepped cautiously. "There's no way we're alone out here."
He was right.
From beneath the sand, shadowy figures emerged—wrapped in scorched bandages, with eyes that bled flame.
"Guardians of the Tomb," Lumeah muttered. "Souls bound to the First Flame."
Amina drew her blade, fire surging in her palms.
But before she could strike, the boy—the one from the village—appeared again. He stepped between her and the wraiths.
"They await the bearer," he said softly.
"They await you."
Echoes of the First Flame
The guardians knelt.
Not to the boy.
To Amina.
Kai muttered, "What in the hells…"
The lead wraith's voice rasped like a dying wind: "You are her... She who carries the embers of Amariel."
Amina's flame dimmed. "I don't know who that is."
The wraith turned its face upward, revealing hollow sockets glowing with searing gold.
"You will."
Then the desert opened.
Sand fell away like shattered glass, revealing stone steps spiraling into darkness.
The boy looked up at her, eyes now glowing brighter than ever.
"The First Flame waits below."