Night clung to the sanctuary, thick with the scent of blood, ash, and something else—doubt.
The fires from the battle still smoldered in the distance, casting flickers across the marble floor. Within the sacred hall, where once only voices of the Cradlekeepers sang, shadows now whispered.
And in those shadows… he walked.
An Ashborne.
His name was Kael—once a shield of the Flameward, guardian of sacred prophecy, brother to the fireborn.
But now? His heart was no longer whole.
---
🜂 The Secret Meeting
Kael moved beneath the Sanctuary, to the Hall of Echoes—a forgotten chamber only the first Ashborne remembered. And waiting, already cloaked in threads darker than shadow, stood a messenger of the Cradleless.
She didn't speak at first. Just extended a scroll wrapped in black ribbon.
Kael's hand trembled as he took it.
> "You said… no harm would come to her yet," he said, voice low. "You promised time."
The messenger tilted her head.
> "We said the child must not take breath.
Whether that means days… or moments. That depends on how long your fire holds."
Kael closed his eyes. He remembered Seraphina's voice.
Her kindness. Her trust. The hope she placed in him when others looked away.
But then—he remembered the vision.
The Cradle cracked. The world undone. His sister's ashes on the wind.
And a child, golden and burning, standing in its center.
---
🜂 Inside the Sanctuary
Liora stood at the window, her wings dimmed to embers. She could feel it.
Something... off.
Like a tether snapped.
> "Seraphina," she said softly. "One of your Ashborne… their flame is thinning."
Seraphina looked up from where she sat, hands resting on her belly. Her eyes narrowed.
> "Who?"
> "I don't know yet. But it's someone who once burned bright."
---
🜂 Kael's Choice
Later that night, Kael slipped into the inner vaults, where the Cradle Map was kept—a woven tapestry of prophecy paths. With this map, the Cradleless could find where Seraphina might give birth. Could strike with precision.
But just as his fingers touched the silk—
> "You're not lost, Kael," came a voice behind him.
"But if you walk further… you'll be consumed."
It was Ravon.
Kael spun, flame blooming in his palm. But Ravon didn't flinch.
> "I don't need to fight you," Ravon said.
"I see it. The fear in your eyes. The sorrow.
You don't betray because you're evil…
You betray because you believe you're the only one who sees what's coming."
Kael's hand trembled again.
> "She'll destroy us," he whispered. "That child—she isn't just prophecy. She's ending."
Ravon's voice dropped.
> "Maybe. Or maybe she's the only thing that can break the wheel."
Kael fell to his knees.
The scroll slipped from his hand, unraveling across the floor like black fire.
---
🜂 Final Scene – A Choice Unmade
Seraphina stepped forward, her presence calm, radiant, terrifying.
> "Kael," she said softly, "I would've trusted you with her life."
Kael didn't meet her eyes.
> "That's why I couldn't let her live."
He closed his eyes, waiting for judgment.
But none came.
Only Seraphina's voice—quiet, sorrowful, resolute.
> "Then you will live with this shame…
and you will make it right."