Though the flame poison was temporarily suppressed, the bone fire still smoldered. The royal blood flame pulsed faintly within her, like a whisperer gnawing at Evelynn's memories and desires in the depths of her soul.
That night, she slept in the Hall of Soul Fire, lying on a flame-patterned stone bed, draped only in a thin black veil. Lucian guarded the hall door, his brow furrowed, while Elea stood silent in the shadows, never leaving.
—And she fell into a dream.
In the dream, snow blanketed the land, and the Flame Kingdom had not yet been founded. She was no queen, merely a sacrificial slave degraded as an "Ashen Woman," bound beneath a fire altar, waiting to be sacrificed.
That night, before the sacrifice began, a man stood atop the altar.
He wore a flame-embroidered royal robe, his expression as gentle as spring snow, yet his gaze burned like the first flame. He called her name.
"Evelynn."
She looked up. Before her was the former Flame Lord—Kazas, the old soul long reduced to ashes in her memories.
"You're dead," she said hoarsely.
"But you've never forgotten me," he smiled serenely.
Evelynn stumbled back, only to be bound by dream flame patterns. Kazas stepped closer, his fingers brushing her collarbone as he murmured:
"I died so you could become queen."
His palm pressed against her heart. In that moment, the flame poison erupted again, and the dream burned.
Amidst twisting flames, he pressed her into the flame-kissed snow, gently yet irresistibly tearing away her bindings.
He bent to kiss her, lingering and ,yet laced with the breath of death.
"You've always known—I was the first flame in your veins."
She wept and struggled, yet gasped and yielded.
She couldn't stop him from entering, couldn't halt the familiar scorching pain and soul-deep union.
As climax hit, she cried out in the dream, only to hear another voice break through.
—Lucian.
He slashed through the dream's flame wall with a blade, splitting Kazas's shadow in two.
Roaring, he pulled her into his arms, lifting her from the flame-snow, only to find her naked, her legs still trembling with lingering heat.
"Who did you dream of?" he asked, suppressing his rage. "Him?"
She mumbled: "I… couldn't refuse."
He growled, flames flickering in his eyes, and pushed her down onto the fire.
"Then keep your eyes open now. Look at me. Claim every inch of your body back."
He entered her, more real than the dream—fiery and fierce. She gasped, nearly suffocating from his thrusts, yet finally understood: it wasn't the dream that ensnared her, but the flame of fate she'd never escaped.
They rolled and tangled, flames erupting where their bodies joined.
"He was your former king," Lucian panted. "But I am your living flame."
Tears streamed down her face as she gasped: "I don't want memories… I want you."
She moved against him, legs locking around his waist, her body trembling like a flame in the wind, reigniting with each brutal thrust.
Awakening of the Flame Soul
Beyond the dream, Elea suddenly stepped into the hall, sensing a flicker of soul fire.
She knelt before the fire altar, pressing her hand to the flame-patterned stone, chanting the flame oath incantation.
"The flame maiden endures; the royal flame never dies; soul shadows shall shield."
Evelynn heard the incantation in her dream, jolting awake with a heave, her body soaked in sweat.
Opening her eyes, she saw Elea standing guard with lowered gaze, and Lucian clasping her hand.
"You're awake," he said softly.
But she stared at Elea, silent for a long moment.
"You came in?"
Elea bowed her head: "I sensed your flame soul falter. I feared… something might devour you."
Evelynn let out a bitter laugh: "I did… nearly get swallowed."
Lucian stood, voice cold: "She dreamed of Kazas."
Elea's head snapped up, her eyes widening. She spoke gravely: "He is dead. The flame rituals burned his soul to ashes. The one in her dream… was not him."
Evelynn: "Merely a fragment of will, awakened by the Bone King's residual soul."
She propped herself up, sitting naked as firelight glinted off the faint flame mark on her collarbone.
"He didn't come to haunt me. He came to try to 'rebirth through my body's flame'."
She looked at them both: "The Bone King isn't dead. He's using Theros, using dreams, using shadows of the past—to try to resurrect through me."
"Next time, I must lure him into the dream ."
Lucian started, appalled: "Have you lost your mind?"
Elea spoke calmly: "If it is your royal command, I will guard your soul seal."
Evelynn looked at them, a rare smile touching her lips: "You've finally learned to work together."
She turned to the window, where night winds curled like flames. The fire in her veins burned steady, no longer chaotic.
"The fate of the Flame Kingdom isn't decided in dreams."
Her gaze hardened: "It's forged awake—with my body, my soul, my flames… by my own hand."