They sat before the silent flame.It flickered without heat—colorless, whispering.
Miranthis sat opposite them.Not as a prophet. Not as a judge.But as a man who once stood beside the throne… and chose to remember.
"Elarion did not make the world," he began."He awoke because it was breaking."
The Flamebearers said nothing.
🪨 The Time Before Time
"Before the stars, there was only the Womb of Silence—a perfect nothing that did not dream, did not breathe.Then came a crack—not sound, not light, but awareness.And from that crack came the first voices: The Nine Sparks."
"Each was different. Each was purpose."
"Elarion was the seventh.The Balancer. The one between Will and Wisdom."
"The Veil… was the first.It was not evil. It was the beginning."
Seren frowned.
"You're saying the Veil was one of them?"
"No," Miranthis said quietly."I'm saying the Veil was the first idea. The first choice—to be, or not to be.And when the others chose light… it remained as shadow."
🕯️ What the Flamebearers Didn't Know
"Elarion rose not to rule, but to heal what was unraveling."
"He did not cast the Veil out.He tried to hold it. Speak to it. Love it."
"But the Veil… forgot its name."
Kael whispered:
"And now it wants everything to forget."
Miranthis nodded.
"Exactly. Because if memory dies… then love dies.And without love… Light cannot return."
🔥 The Cost of the Light
"And now you walk in his name," Miranthis said."But you must understand: Elarion can save all—but not without you."
"He is not a god who demands worship.He is a god who waits for partnership."
"He gave the Flame…So mortals could do what even angels could not:Choose to remember love… when it would be easier to forget."
🧠 The Aftermath
Silence.Not from fear. But reverence.
Vaelrix broke it first:
"Why… did he not tell us this?"
Miranthis stared at the fire.
"Because even truth must wait…until the heart is ready to hold it."
He rose.
"Now go. You carry more than the Flame.You carry the Echo of the First Name.Speak it in your way… and it may yet call the Veil home."