Chapter 15 – Embers of Tomorrow's End
The rain had been falling for days.
It wasn't natural rain — each droplet shimmered faintly with spiritual residue, like the sky itself was trying to wash away the residue of something ancient and wrong. The monastery's spires glowed faintly in the storm, lightning threading the mountains like veins of some sleeping beast.
Teik stood beneath the overhang, his cloak soaked, his eyes hollow from sleepless nights. His magnetic aura coiled faintly around him, disrupting the raindrops midair.
"Rain doesn't usually avoid people," a soft voice said behind him.
He turned.
She was standing there, barefoot on the wet stone — a girl around his age, maybe a year older. Her eyes were pale silver, not glowing, but too deep to be ordinary. Long black hair clung to her robe, streaked with threads of violet light like veins of moonlight frozen in motion.
"You're not one of the novices," Teik said.
"No," she replied simply. "I'm here to study the storm."
He frowned. "Study it? Or control it?"
"Depends who's asking." She smiled, and something about it twisted the air around them — not like aura, but like time hesitated.
Teik tilted his head. "Teik."
"Lyra."
The storm boomed, lightning crawling across the ridges. For a long moment, neither spoke. Her gaze lingered on him longer than was polite, as if memorizing his soul's outline.
"You've been changing," she said quietly. "You're carrying something that remembers."
He tensed. "And what if I am?"
"Then it's lonely," she said, almost sadly, and turned away.
---
Later That Night
Mira had warned him — the Flame was evolving again. It whispered when he slept now, voices blending with memories of his brother.
But tonight was different. Tonight, the voice was not his brother's.
> "She knows," it murmured, distant, like heat through fog.
"She burns without light."
Teik woke in a cold sweat. The Rebirth Flame flickered faintly around his hands. He stared at the wall — the air smelled faintly of rain and iron.
Someone was outside.
He moved to the balcony silently, pushing aside the curtain — and froze.
Lyra stood in the courtyard below, barefoot again, her eyes closed, hands raised to the sky. Lightning twisted above her like threads of silk drawn by invisible fingers.
She wasn't controlling the storm. The storm was answering her.
Teik watched, mesmerized. For an instant, the lightning reflected in her eyes — not silver now, but molten gold. And deep inside, the Rebirth Flame stirred with recognition.
> "She carries the echo," the Flame whispered.
"The other half."
He gripped the balcony rail. "What do you mean, the other half?"
No answer. Only thunder.
---
The Next Morning
Lyra appeared in the training yard, pretending nothing had happened. Mira greeted her with suspicion, Ren with curiosity, and Teik with barely restrained unease.
Master Eira watched from afar, her expression unreadable.
Lyra caught Teik alone later, beneath the temple's broken archway.
"You saw me last night."
"I see a lot of things that make no sense," Teik said. "You just joined the list."
She smiled faintly. "Then you're paying attention."
He crossed his arms. "You drew lightning with your bare hands. You didn't even channel aura."
"I was listening."
"To what?"
"The same thing that's listening to you," she said softly, eyes glinting. "The same voice."
Teik's throat went dry. "The Flame?"
Lyra's smile faded. "Don't call it that."
The rain began again, slow and heavy.
"Then what is it?"
She met his eyes, her voice trembling for the first time. "A promise… that shouldn't exist."
Before he could ask more, she turned and walked into the rain.
---
Midnight
The dream returned — but it wasn't his.
He stood in a vast void filled with floating embers. Across from him was Lyra, surrounded by chains of lightning, her body trembling as the same crimson fire burned through her veins.
"Don't come here," she whispered, blood at the corner of her mouth. "If you see this place, it means it's already too late."
"Lyra!"
"Teik — they made us from the same fire. Two vessels. One purpose. When one of us breaks—"
The vision shattered.
He awoke gasping, the smell of ozone thick in the air, his palms glowing with flame and static.
Mira burst into the room. "Teik! What's happening—"
He looked at her, eyes blazing with panic and realization. "She's not from this world either."
---
End of Chapter 15 – Embers of Tomorrow