Chapter 14 – Inferno at Home
The night split open as Kiran landed, fire radiating from him in waves that scorched the ground. The Syndicate assassins staggered back, shielding their faces from the heat.
Orin, bleeding from his arm, let out a sharp laugh of relief. "About time, boy."
Behind him, Lira clutched their mother, her eyes wide with both fear and awe. "Brother…" she whispered.
---
Jaden lowered his hood, revealing his face—half-burned from their last battle, eyes dark with venomous resolve. "So, you came. Just as I knew you would."
Kiran's fire flared higher, licking across his arms like molten chains. "You crossed the line, Jaden. You brought war to my family."
"Your family?" Jaden spat. "They were mine too… until you became everything and I became nothing."
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The assassins lunged first, hoping to overwhelm him. But Kiran's fury was unstoppable. Flames erupted from his body in a blazing wave, consuming the first attackers where they stood. Their poisoned blades melted into slag before they even reached him.
One assassin managed to slash at Orin again, but Kiran caught the strike mid-air, his hand glowing white-hot. The steel blade dissolved in his grip, dripping like molten wax. With a flick, he hurled the assassin into the firestorm.
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Jaden stepped forward, shadows spiraling into spears. "Mercy won't save you this time."
He launched the shadows like arrows, dozens at once. But Kiran's fire coiled around him, forming a blazing shield. Each shadow hissed and dissolved upon impact.
Kiran's voice thundered across the valley. "This is my home. My blood. And I will not let your shadows touch them!"
He hurled his flames outward, not as wild bursts but as controlled arcs—fiery whips that struck assassins down one by one. Each move was precise, every strike fueled by rage but tempered with focus.
---
The last assassin fell screaming into the blaze, leaving only Jaden.
They faced each other across the wreckage—one burning, one cloaked in darkness.
"You spared me once," Jaden said, smirking despite the flames around him. "Will you do it again? Or will you prove you're no different than me?"
Kiran's fire raged higher, and for a moment the world held its breath. His family's terrified faces glowed in the firelight behind him.
"Mercy isn't weakness," Kiran growled, stepping closer. "It's choice. And this time, my choice is clear."
He launched forward, fists blazing, crashing into Jaden with the force of an inferno. The ground shook, the house walls trembled, and shadows screamed as they were consumed.
---
When the firestorm cleared, Jaden lay broken against the earth, too battered to rise. His shadows flickered weakly, fading like dying embers.
Kiran stood over him, breathing hard, his flames dimming as control returned.
"Leave," Kiran commanded. "Tell your Syndicate masters that the Flameborn doesn't bend. Not to shadows. Not to poison. Not to betrayal."
Jaden coughed, his smirk returning even through blood. "You can't protect them all, cousin. The Syndicate is everywhere. And when they strike again… you won't be enough."
With that, he vanished into the night, carried by shadows too deep for fire to chase.
---
Silence returned.
Orin dropped to one knee, exhausted, clutching his wounded arm. "You should've ended him…" he muttered.
Kiran turned to his family. His mother's eyes brimmed with tears, while Lira clung to him, trembling.
"You're safe now," Kiran whispered, holding her tight. But deep inside, his fire whispered another truth: Jaden was right. The Syndicate would not stop. And this was only the beginning.