"KAI—!!!"
Her scream ripped the world open.
Flame swallowed everything —the walls, the shadows, the prophecy circle, reality itself.
But all Lina saw was the place where Kai had stood.
Where he had stepped toward her.Where he had vanished.
Her knees hit the ground.
"Kai…Kai, please… don't be gone… don't be gone—"
Her voice broke.
Reyon shouted through the collapsing air:
"LINA—WE NEED YOU— THE WING IS FALLING APART—"
But he sounded far away.
So far.
Seren reached for her, tears streaming.
"Lina—listen— I can't hear Kai's resonance— I don't know if—"
"DON'T say it!" Lina screamed."If you say it, it becomes real—"
The world around her flickered—like a candle struggling to stay lit.
Then—
Darkness.
Total.
Heavy.
Like sinking into the bottom of the ocean.
A voice echoed through the void.
"Little Flame."
The entity.
It had pulled her into the heart of her own flame.
Lina spun around, trembling.
"Where is he?!Where did you take him—?!"
The entity appeared behind her.
The ground beneath her feet was not stone—It was gold and black flame, swirling endlessly.
The sky above was a swirling storm of prophecy-light.
"He chose to step into your truth."
"You forced him!" Lina spat, tears falling."You turned my feelings into a weapon— you made my flame target him—"
The entity's form rippled.
"You misunderstand.Your flame does not need encouragement to destroy what it loves."
"No," Lina choked."No— Kai trusted me— he believed in me—"
The flame beneath her feet flared violently.
And the entity whispered:
"Love is the catalyst.Not the crime."
Lina stumbled backward.
"No.I won't accept that.I WON'T let my love decide someone else's death."
The entity raised its shadowed hand.
"Your denial changes nothing.The Harbinger Flame awakens through heartbreak.Through loss."
Lina shook her head, trembling.
"I'm not losing him."
"Then choose."
The flame around them parted—
Revealing a figure kneeling in the center of the firestorm.
Kai.
Lina screamed his name—
"KAI!"
—then froze.
He wasn't burning.
He wasn't dissolving.
He was glowing.
Edges blurred with gold flame, shadows merging with light.As if he were becoming part of the fire itself.
Lina staggered forward.
"No— no, this isn't real— KAI!!"
He looked up.
His eyes were not normal.
They were gold.
Lina fell to her knees.
"Kai—?" she whispered, voice shattering.
He smiled faintly.
"Lina."
Her heart broke.
She reached for him—
But the flame swallowed her hand.
She jerked back, crying out.
"No— please— let me touch him— LET ME TOUCH HIM—"
The entity spoke:
"You cannot touch what you fear of losing."
Lina screamed through tears:
"I don't FEAR losing him—I WON'T lose him—"
But the flame reacted.
It surged wildly as her emotions spiked—
A pillar of fire shot up between them.
Kai flinched — but did not burn.
Lina sobbed.
"What's happening to him?! Why is he glowing like that?!"
"He is merging."
"Merging… with what?!"
"With you."
Her breath stopped.
"No…No, that's impossible—"
"He stepped into your flame willingly.The flame does not destroy what accepts it."
Lina stared, trembling violently.
"Kai… you idiot… you beautiful idiot…"
Kai's voice echoed softly.
"Lina… I told you.I trust you."
Her tears fell harder.
The entity circled her.
"But trust is not enough.The Ninth Tear must complete."
Lina whipped around.
"No. I'm DONE with your prophecy—"
"The flame must choose."
"I REFUSE."
The entity paused — surprised.
"You refuse fate?"
"I refuse YOU," she snapped.
"Kai isn't dying.I don't care about prophecy, destiny, flame law, Harbinger nonsense—I am NOT choosing between him and the academy."
The flame shook with her voice.
Even the entity faltered.
Lina turned back toward Kai — toward the boy kneeling in impossible fire, glowing with pieces of her own soul.
"Kai," she whispered, voice trembling,"please… please wake up…"
His fingers twitched.
Her heart leapt.
"Kai?!"
His head lifted—
And for the first time since stepping into the fire—
He moved toward her.
Slow.
Unsteady.
But real.
The fire didn't consume him.
The fire bent around him.
Lina gasped.
"He's not dying…He's…coming back."
The entity's voice darkened.
"No.He is not returning.He is becoming."
Lina stiffened.
"Becoming what…?"
The entity lowered its voice to a whisper of thunder.
"The shadow to your flame.The counterpart.The catalyst.The one who will either save you…or end with you."
Lina's breath trembled.
Kai reached out his hand—
Across the flames.
Across fate.
Across prophecy itself.
"Lina."
His voice was soft.
Human.
Alive.
She reached back—
Her fingers inches from his—
And the flame surged violently as their hands almost touched—
The Harbinger Tear glowing like a burning star—
And the chapter ends the moment their fingertips meet the fire between them—
and the entire flame detonates in gold light.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.