The moon over house was swollen, drenched in gold, a harvest moon, ancient and filled with memory. Clouds moved slowly across its face like ghostly hands, as if the sky itself was holding its breath.
Allison stood at the balcony of her chamber, wrapped in a midnight shawl, her eyes scanning the horizon. From here, she could see the barrier lines flickering in the distance, once brilliant, now paling with every sunset.
The child inside her stirred. She laid a hand over the swell. "You feel it too, don't you?"
Behind her, a gust of wind rustled the curtains.
Yevana stepped into the room without knocking.
"Still no sleep?" She asked.
"I feel watched."
"You are," Yevana replied simply, coming to stand beside her. "They're always watching. But I've put a barrier, they can't watch."
Yueying turned. "Tell me the truth, Yevana. Why now? Why return after three months? You said you were protecting me, but you also said you were gone… 'digging up a grave'."
Yevana's jaw tightened. "I found your mother's last record. A sealed journal. It wasn't destroyed in the fire like we thought." She pulled a thin, scorched book from her cloak. "Han Liuhua wrote about you. About the Flame she bore and the cost."
Yueying stared at the journal. Her hands trembled as she reached for it. "She knew?"
"She chose to die so you would survive," Yevana said softly. "She wrote one thing over and over again on the final page."
Yueying opened the page.
In faded ink, smudged by water and time:
' Don't let them take her flame. Not again. E...rian plans can't work, he would make every one a puppet in this world.'
---
UNDERGROUND MEDICAL HALL – AT DAWN
Ren pulled his gloves off and tossed them into the incineration bin.
The scan results from the Heartstone chamber had arrived.
He stared at them in silence.
Something was feeding off the Heartstone, not a natural decay, not just magic burnout. It was drained like a parasite siphoning off its core.
He swiped the digital file again, comparing Allison most recent pulse reading from her flame aura.
It matched.
Not exactly.
But closely enough.
Beatrice entered without a word, eyes narrowing. "What did you find?"
He didn't look at her. "It's not just her pregnancy affecting the shield."
"What do you mean?"
"She's anchoring the field now. Subconsciously. The stone is dimming because it's begun transferring its purpose to her. The Flame is becoming the new heart."
Beatrice paled. "That means if something happens to her—"
"The barrier falls" Ren finished. "And they'll have no protection."
Beatrice took a slow breath. "We have to move her to the inner sanctum tonight."
---
Li Anya stood at the altar where ancient blood had once soaked the floor. The silver-eyed man stood before her, presenting a scroll wrapped in black silk.
"The ritual can be done at the full moon" he said. "The child must be alive. The mother must be… near death."
Aliah flicked her blades from her back, uneasy. "This is madness. You said we'd take the baby, not kill Allison."
"I said we wouldn't have to kill the child" Li Anya corrected coldly. "But Allison's death is still a necessity. Her death seals the transference. The Flame will pass."
Aliah crossed her arms. "And what if the baby rejects the flame? If she's not strong enough?"
Li Anya smiled, sharp and bitter. "Then we take the child's blood too."
The silver-eyed man raised his head. "Elarian son will not sit quietly while you do this."
"Lucian will come" Li Anya whispered. "But I know him better than she does. I was his first love. His first betrayal. And I still have what Allison never will — the part of him that broke."
INNER SANCTUM
Allison had not been in this chamber before.
It was made of obsidian stone like most placed, veined with glowing roots of fireglass. The room was filled faintly with warmth not just heat, but recognition.
The moment she stepped in, the pendant on her neck glowed brightly.
Lucian stood at the far end, his expression unreadable. "This is where the Flame was first named. Your ancestors bled fire into the walls here."
Allison looked around, quiet. "You brought me here to hide?"
He turned. "To protect you and the baby."
"You keep saying that. Protecting me. Protecting us." Her voice lowered. "But when will you stop protecting me and start trusting me?"
Lucian didn't respond right away. He stepped forward, gaze unreadable. "You think I don't trust you?"
"I think you're afraid of the path I'll choose."
Silence.
Then, he lifted his hand slowly, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I'm not afraid of your power, Allison. I'm afraid you'll choose to carry the cross alone."
She looked up at him, eyes shining. "I was alone for some time, Lucian. But not anymore."
Their foreheads touched. The flame within her glowed gently.
"Then we fight" he whispered, "together."
At midnight a shadow moved across the stars.
Not a bird.
Not a plane.
A tear in the sky itself and from it, something emerged.
Aliah.
And behind her cloaked in blue flames made of borrowed power, Li Anya descended like a fallen goddess.
The wards cracked.
The Heartstone shattered.
The attack began.
The barrier shattered with a soundless scream like a soul being ripped open.
Shards of invisible magic rained down like glass across the hills surrounding the Villa, glinting briefly before dissolving into ash.
From the sky above, a darkness descended.
Not night.
Not storm.
But presence.
The first figure to touch ground was Aliah. Her blades sang as they sliced through the moonlight.
Beatrice was already at the gate by the time the alert sirens shrieked. She'd dropped her tea, grabbed her spear, and whispered one thing to herself.
"Not this time."
She met Aliah head-on at the outer courtyard, sparks flying from steel meeting steel.
IN THE INNER SANCTUM
The floor trembled under Allison's bare feet.
The obsidian walls hissed not from quake, but resistance. They recognized the enemy approaching.
Allison turned to Lucian, her voice low. "It's her, isn't it?"
He was already summoning the warding runes with one hand, the other holding her arm. "Li Anya's here."
The name tasted like venom.
"She's after the baby," Allison whispered, suddenly breathless.
"No," Lucian said, voice iron. "She's after you. The Flame is bound to your soul. She thinks she can extract it- transfer it."
Allison swayed, a rush of heat surging through her veins.
Lucian caught her, pressing his palm to her abdomen. "The child is responding. Her power is syncing with yours."
Allison gasped.
Flames licked her skin. The pendant at her neck cracked open, revealing the tiniest ember nestled within.
Suddenly, the sanctum doors burst open with a boom.
Yevana stepped in, eyes glowing violet.
"She's inside the gates. The strike has begun. We have ten minutes, maybe less."
Allison clenched her fists. "Then let's finish this."
-
THE FRONT COURTYARD –
Ren stood beside Beatrice now, blood trickling from a slash across his brow. Alia was faster than before, infused with corrupted light.
But Beatrice was more dangerous than she had ever allowed herself to be.
For the first time since Tianlei's birth, she stopped holding back.
Lightning ripped across her skin, her eyes flaring white-blue. She shouted over the clashing sound, "We push her back now or the whole villa falls."
He looked at Beatrice again, he never knew she had magic, was that why Tianlei blood accepted the experiment why some died or failed ? He thought it was because Tianlei carried his blood.
Ren activated a chain of firecrystal pylons around the outer rim, causing a temporary buffer, not a barrier, but enough to slow the invaders
But it wasn't just Aliah.
Dozens more emerged from the shadows. Mercenaries, corrupted warlocks, spirit-eaters.
Beatrice muttered, "If this is what we're up against… we're going to need Alexa."
IN THE SKY ABOVE THE INNER SANCTUM
Li Anya hovered above the roof like a fallen empress, her gown of black trailing in the wind, eyes fixed directly on one place
She could feel her. Heat, love and growth.
"She's ready," Li Anya whispered, arms spreading wide.
The silver-eyed man appeared behind her, levitating just above the Villa. His voice was empty of warmth. "Then take her."
Lucian turned to Allison, his voice suddenly soft. "If I go out there, I may not come back in time. She's stronger than last time. Tainted by evil."
Allison nodded, her hands trembling.
"I'll hold the sanctum from the inside," she said. "Go."
Lucian paused. Just for a heartbeat.
Then he kissed her.
And vanished in a blur of silver light.
Yevana stayed behind.
"I'm not letting her touch a single strand of your hair," she said. "I failed once. I don't fail twice."
Allison's voice was distant, focused inward. "She's not just here to kill."
She looked down at her belly.
"She wants my daughter."
The Flame Seed in her pendant flickered.
And Allison whispered a word that made the chamber quake.
"Awaken."
Flames burst around her. The sanctum ignited with light that was not of this world. Her body hovered slightly above the ground, eyes glowing, hair flowing upward in waves of fire and wind.
The child stirred within her, the power of two flames, mother and daughter fusing.
Outside, Lucian reached the barrier line just in time to meet Li Anya face-to-face.
"You were supposed to be dead," he said coldly.
"I did," she whispered, smiling like a corpse. "And I brought hell with me."
Then the sky cracked open.
And battle was reborn.