The wind had changed.
At the mountain's peak, it had hummed, but not anymore. Now that lay on it something deeper — not a whisper, but a low, constant voice. Like the land itself had started to whisper. She pulled out of the chamber of the Emberwake with ash still under her fingernails and light pulsing just under her skin.
She didn't flinch. She didn't disguise the glow in her chest.
The Flame was no longer a burden she carried or a fire she bore — it had become a part of her, woven into her very soul. It breathed with her, lived through her, and answered to her name as if it had always belonged.
Lucian and Elias trailed behind, quiet. Nobody said what they were thinking." No one had to. Something ancient had stirred — and it wasn't returning to slumber.
