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Chapter 5 - Eyes in the Smoke

Morning came with low clouds and frost.

Aria stood on the edge of Duskmere, where the city's stone bones gave way to dry hills and dead grass. Her pack was small—just the map, a bit of food, Marlow's crystal, and the pendant. It didn't feel like enough. But she couldn't wait.

She kept thinking about the figure that followed her the night before. She hadn't seen them again, but she'd felt their presence. Watching. Waiting. Whoever they were, they weren't a street thief. They moved with purpose.

Marlow had warned her before she left.

"If the flame is waking," he said, "others will feel it too. Some will want to help. Others will want to snuff it out."

She didn't ask which was more dangerous.

---

The first stretch of road was silent. No wagons, no travelers. Just cracked stone and fields of thorns. Birds circled high above, but none sang.

Aria moved quickly, keeping her hood low. She passed the old ruins of a watchtower by midday and stopped to eat a bit of bread. Her feet were already sore, and her mind a storm of questions.

She held the crystal up to the light.

Its soft red glow was still there—steady, like a heartbeat.

As the sun dropped behind the hills, she found a place to rest. An old stone arch, half-buried in vines, gave her cover from the wind. She curled up under her cloak and closed her eyes.

The dream came quickly.

---

She stood in a burning forest. Trees cracked and fell around her. The ground was blackened, and the sky was filled with smoke.

A shadow walked through the fire—tall, robed, faceless. It raised its hand.

And Aria burned.

She screamed, but no sound came out. Her skin glowed like hot coal. The pendant at her neck flared.

Then the voice returned.

"Only through fire can you awaken."

She woke with a start. Her skin was cold with sweat. The pendant was warm.

She sat up, heart racing. The forest around her was dark, quiet.

But she wasn't alone.

Eyes blinked from the shadows.

Aria scrambled to her feet, reaching for the crystal.

Figures stepped from the trees. Not bandits. Not guards.

Rogues in dark cloaks, hoods drawn low. One stepped forward, a woman with sharp eyes and a scar along her jaw.

"Aria," she said.

Aria didn't answer.

"We've been looking for you," the woman continued. "You carry something that doesn't belong to you."

The pendant glowed.

The woman smiled. Not kindly.

"You're not ready for the flame. But we can take it. Keep it safe."

Aria backed away. "No."

The woman's eyes darkened. "You don't understand what you're holding."

"I don't need to," Aria said. "I just know I'm not giving it to you."

The woman raised her hand.

"Then you'll burn with it."

And fire erupted from the shadows.

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