"The most dangerous fire is not the one that burns the world, but the one that burns quietly inside your heart."
The sun never rose that morning.The sky was gray and dull, the clouds heavy as stone. The air smelled faintly of iron and smoke.
Kael and Lira walked through empty lands where even the wind had grown tired. The earth cracked beneath their feet, glowing faintly red in the seams.
Lira stopped once to look at the ground. "It feels alive," she whispered. "Like it's breathing."
Kael said nothing. He didn't want to admit that he could hear it — a deep, slow heartbeat echoing beneath the soil, matching the rhythm of his own pulse.
They reached an old bridge that crossed a dried riverbed. The wooden planks groaned as they stepped on them.
At the far end stood a small group of travelers — frightened, pale, carrying what little they had.
A child cried softly in his mother's arms. When Lira knelt beside them, she saw strange marks on their skin — glowing veins, faint but real.
"What happened to them?" she asked gently.
The woman's eyes were wide and hollow. "The fire touched the ground last night," she said. "The wells burned. My husband tried to stop it…"
She looked away, trembling.
Kael felt something stir inside him — not pity, not anger, but recognition. The heat in his chest pulsed stronger, as though answering some hidden call.
Lira placed her hand on his arm. "Kael, are you alright?"
He forced a nod. "We should move. This place isn't safe."
They helped the travelers cross the bridge, but halfway through, the ground shook violently. A loud crack split the air — and fire burst from the dry riverbed below.
The planks shattered. Lira fell to her knees, clutching the rail. "Kael!"
Without thinking, Kael reached out — and flames erupted from his hand. The fire didn't burn him; it obeyed.
It spread across the air like a living rope, wrapping around Lira, holding her up. He pulled her to safety as the bridge collapsed behind them.
The travelers screamed and backed away.
Lira stared at him in shock. "Kael… what did you just do?"
He looked down at his hand — still glowing faintly. Smoke curled from his fingertips. "I—I don't know."
But that wasn't true. Deep inside, he knew exactly what it was.
That night, they camped far from the ruins of the bridge. Lira spoke little. She sat across the fire, her eyes reflecting both fear and concern.
Kael stared at the flames again. They no longer looked like simple fire.They shimmered — red, gold, black.Alive. Hungry.
"You saved her," the voice whispered softly. "You used me to protect her."
Kael didn't move.
"See? I'm not your enemy. I'm your strength. I am what the world forgot to keep."
He closed his eyes. "If you're strength, then why do I feel weaker every time you speak?"
The voice chuckled.
"Because strength always costs something, Kael. The world takes. I give."
He clenched his fists, whispering, "Leave me."
"You can't ask a flame not to burn," it answered gently.
Lira's voice broke the silence. "Kael," she said softly, "I saw what happened today. The fire — it came from you, not the ground."
He looked up, startled. "You think I meant to do that?"
"I don't know," she said. "But it's not the first time, is it? The air around you changes when you're angry. The fire listens."
Kael looked away, his jaw tight. "Maybe it's just part of what I am now."
"That's what scares me," Lira whispered. "You're changing."
He met her gaze. "And what if I'm the only one strong enough to stop what's coming?"
Lira's eyes softened. "Then promise me you won't lose yourself before you do."
He didn't answer. The fire between them flickered, casting their faces in shifting red light — like two sides of the same flame.
When Lira finally slept, Kael walked away into the dark.The sky above glowed faintly — not with stars, but with drifting ashes that fell like snow.
He raised his hand. Sparks danced across his palm. They didn't burn him; they whispered to him.
"Do you see now?" the voice said. "The world decays because it forgot how to feel. But you — you remember. You feel."
Kael's breath trembled. "If I use you, will it stop?"
"If you embrace me," the voice replied, "we could make a new fire — one that never dies."
He almost believed it. The warmth felt good — too good. It filled the cracks inside him, the loneliness, the guilt, the loss.
But then, from far behind, Lira's voice called softly, half-asleep:"Kael… don't go too far."
Something in those words pulled him back — like cool water on burning skin. He closed his hand, smothering the light.
The night grew quiet again.
By dawn, the land ahead looked worse. Entire valleys shimmered red. The sky pulsed faintly like a dying heart.
Lira stood beside him, her face pale. "The fire's spreading faster."
Kael said nothing. He looked at the horizon and thought — maybe it wasn't the world burning. Maybe it was him.
"Power begins as a gift, becomes a weapon, and ends as a curse — if the heart holding it forgets who it beats for."
The journey would test not just their strength, but their souls — and Kael's was already beginning to crack.