Full Chapter – Sparks Begins to Break
Location: Ashenwell Academy – Flame Tree Grove, Night. The dueling arena still smolders, rumors spreading like wildfire. But deeper in the academy, something far more dangerous is unraveling—quietly.
Flicker
Grim sat beneath the Flame Tree, his eyes closed. For the first time in days, there were no battles, no duels, no lectures—just silence.
But even in that stillness… Sparks was flickering.
She hovered inches away from him, her glow unstable. No longer the vibrant, teasing energy she'd been.
"Something's wrong," she murmured.
"With what?"
"With me."
Her form stuttered—like static. She glitched between flame and shadow, her body briefly flickering through three different flame tones—red, violet, then white.
"The core's leaking. I can't… I can't hold it together, Grim."
Grim stood up fast. "Tell me how to help."
"You can't keep patching me. I'm fire, Grim. Fire doesn't stay. It burns. And I'm burning through myself."
She winced as a line of flame cracked across her illusionary skin.
"I'm trying to hold back the collapse, but there's too much power and no body to hold it."
Grim clenched his fist. "We'll find one. A vessel. Something."
"Soon," she whispered. "Or the next time I flare… I might not come back."
Sibling Intervention
Grim didn't sleep. He called the siblings instead—under the guise of a "midnight checkin."
They knew something was off the moment they saw Sparks' dim form hovering in the air, flickering like a dying candle.
"How long has she been like this?" Ayesha asked, kneeling beside her.
"Since the Irix zone," Grim replied. "It's been getting worse."
Max's voice was low. "She needs a vessel."
"We know that," Hadi muttered. "But what kind? She's not just flame—she's living chaos. A normal host would disintegrate."
"Not a host," Tristan said. "A construct. Magical or alchemical. Something built for it."
"Where do we get something like that?" Grim asked.
Max and Ayesha exchanged looks.
"Thalum," they said in unison.
Sparks looked up, weakly glowing. "So… we go monster shopping again?"
"No," Grim said, voice calm and final. "We go to Thalum. To the place where the first cores were crafted."
A Temporary Fix
Before the night ended, Grim kneeled and placed both palms on the ground. His flame pulsed into the soil — not burning, but rooting. Stabilizing.
Sparks hovered over the center of the glow.
Her light calmed.
Just for a while.
"It won't hold forever," she whispered. "But it feels… warmer."
"I'll hold you together," Grim said. "Until we find the real answer."
"You're getting better at saying sweet things without cringing," she smirked.
"You're glitching. I'm humoring you."
"Jerk."
But she smiled.