The Ember Path stretched before them like a wound in the earth — a scorched trail, blackened and cracked, pulsing faintly with ember light. Every step upon it stirred a whisper, not of wind or flame, but of memory.
Elira stepped first.
Her boots met the burnt stone, and immediately, the air shimmered around her. Images fluttered at the edge of her vision — broken glass dreams and half-formed memories.
A woman's scream.
A sigil burning in a stone wall.
Ash's voice, hoarse and afraid, calling her name.
She gasped and stumbled.
Ash caught her.
His hand gripped her waist to steady her, and when she looked up, their faces were too close, their breath mingling.
"You felt it?" he whispered.
She nodded. "It's like it knows what we've forgotten."
They held the moment too long — until Kale coughed behind them.
"You two coming? Or do we need to give you a minute?"
Elira stepped back, flustered. Ash cleared his throat and moved ahead.
---
As they pressed deeper into the Path, the air thickened with memory. Lira explained quietly, "The Ember Path doesn't create illusions. It reminds. That's why we avoid looking too long at the lights."
Ash muttered, "Too late for that."
Just ahead, Elira halted.
A figure stood at the edge of the trail.
Not real — she knew it. A memory, or a warning.
But his face...
Moren.
The name surfaced like a wave breaking.
She didn't know how she remembered — just that it was right. His sharp cheekbones, the silver-streaked hair, the eyes that once burned with purpose... now twisted into something cruel.
"Hello again, Keeper," the vision sneered.
Ash stepped beside her, blades drawn. "He's not really here."
Lira added, "Not yet. But soon."
---
They made camp near a twisted stone arch where the Ember Path bent sharply east. That night, the flames wouldn't catch. Kale cursed under his breath, and Ash finally coaxed a reluctant flicker from a dried bundle of moss.
Elira sat with her knees to her chest, watching the fire and remembering the way Ash had held her earlier — gently, as if she were something fragile.
Across from her, Kale leaned closer.
"I saw the way you looked at him," he said.
She blinked. "What?"
"I'm not blind. You care for him."
Elira didn't deny it. "I don't know what we were. But I feel it. Like it's still there."
Kale smiled faintly. "Then don't waste time. If this path has taught us anything, it's that fire doesn't wait."
---
That night, the Hollow Flame whispered again — not through dreams, but through the embers themselves.
One will burn.
One will betray.
One will choose.
Elira sat up in her bedroll, heart racing.
Because the voice hadn't just been in her head.
Ash had heard it too.
And he was already staring at her when her eyes met his.