Chapter 8 – Embers and Echoes
The ruins of the old Emberlight Temple had long since been forgotten by the city.
Vines crept through broken stone. Cracked pillars leaned like tired old men. Dust coated everything except the places Kael had cleared out years ago—when he was still pretending to be someone ordinary.
Now, he returned as someone far from it.
Talia whistled as she stepped through a fractured archway. "Nice. Abandoned, quiet, no guards… and mildly haunted."
Kael glanced at her. "It's not haunted."
"You sure? That statue's looking at me funny."
"That's because it's cracked down the middle."
"I'm just saying—if a ghost starts whispering secrets to me, I'm not sharing."
"I already like her better than you," Pyra whispered.
"Good to know," Kael muttered aloud.
Talia blinked. "Did you just talk to yourself?"
"I talk to my flame. It's rude, sarcastic, and judgmental."
She raised a brow. "Right. Your flame talks."
"It also complains. Constantly."
"And you whine more than a dry kettle," Pyra added helpfully.
Kael ignored them both and moved into the clearing at the temple's center. Five stone platforms circled an open courtyard, where old carvings hinted at a forgotten god.
"Start by showing me that flame again," he said.
Talia nodded and raised her hand.
The translucent flame flickered into existence—blue for a moment, then orange, then green. Its core pulsed with unstable light.
Kael frowned. "You said you awakened this alone?"
"I didn't even know what it was," she said. "Just that it didn't feel like fire. More like… everything at once."
"Chaos Flame," he confirmed. "Rare. Dangerous. It doesn't burn like normal fire—it mutates. Changes whatever it touches."
"So, like magical acid?"
"Magical uncertainty."
She grinned. "Awesome."
Kael stepped back and summoned his own flame. The Void Flame appeared above his palm like a slow pulse of darkness.
Where hers flickered, his hummed.
Silent. Deep. Consuming.
"They're… completely different," Talia whispered.
"They should be," Kael said. "Mine eats space. Yours distorts it."
"You're just saying words now."
Kael raised his eyebrows. "Then let's spar."
Her grin widened. "Finally."
They took opposite sides of the courtyard.
"Just don't burn off my eyebrows," she said.
"No promises."
He moved first, disappearing in a blink—
[Void Step – Activated]
—and reappearing behind her, striking with an open palm.
Talia yelped, ducked, and rolled forward—barely avoiding his attack.
"That is cheating!" she shouted.
"You wanted a test," Kael replied, landing on one of the stone platforms.
She spun, held out her hand, and launched a small bolt of chaos flame toward him.
Kael instinctively activated Dimensional Flicker, letting it pass harmlessly through his shoulder.
"Nice dodge," Pyra said. "You only looked slightly terrified."
"I'm not terrified."
"You screamed inside."
Kael leapt down and retaliated with a low sweep. Talia blocked it with a flame-coated kick, causing a shimmer of distortion where their energy met.
The two paused.
Kael stepped back, surprised. "You controlled it."
Talia looked at her foot. "Huh… I did. That's new."
"Do it again."
They continued sparring—Kael using short bursts of Void Step to test his mobility, Talia adapting fast, slowly learning how to shape her chaos flame into thin whips and small orbs. She wasn't trained—but she was clever.
She didn't fight like a soldier. She fought like someone who had dodged a lot of punches.
"You're quick," he admitted between breaths.
"I grew up with four older brothers," she said. "One of them used to throw rocks for fun."
"That explains a lot."
She hurled a distorted orb that spun in midair and vanished before impact.
Kael sidestepped—and it exploded behind him, sending pebbles flying.
He spun to look at her.
"…That was intentional?"
"Totally not."
"She's growing fast," Pyra noted. "Almost unnaturally."
Kael agreed silently. The Chaos Flame didn't just exist inside her. It liked her. It was moving faster than a first-flame ever should.
He ended the spar with a quick Void Flicker, appearing behind her and tapping her shoulder lightly.
"You're dead," he said.
She groaned. "Unfair! I blinked for half a second."
"That's all I need."
Talia flopped to the ground and spread her arms. "Alright. Alright. I surrender. The weird, space-hopping shadow boy wins."
Kael sat beside her, quietly letting his breath even out.
For a moment, they were just two teenagers sitting under broken stone, lit by the flicker of two unnatural flames.
"…So," Talia said. "Are you going to tell me how you awakened yours?"
Kael was quiet.
Then said, "It found me."
"That's vague and mysterious. You practicing for prophecy school?"
Kael didn't answer.
Because just then—he felt it.
A shift.
Far away, but growing.
"Kael," Pyra whispered, voice suddenly cold. "A gate just opened outside the city. And it's not one of ours."
Kael stood up instantly.
"What kind of gate?"
"A dungeon. Unstable. And bleeding mana. Something's coming through."
"Does the city know?"
"Not yet."
Talia noticed his face. "What's wrong?"
Kael's voice was low. "We're about to get visitors."