BURNING FATE

The Awakening of Silent Flames

Raegan's POV:

The dishes were done. The warmth from fae spices and dragonfire still lingered in the air, weaving a faint scent of memory and magic.

I remained seated at the table, my gaze fixed on the closed bedroom door. It felt as though a stretch of starlit sky separated me from Ember, though she was just a room away.

How had I stayed away from her all these months?

Maybe it was the belief she was human that built the walls inside me. Maybe it was denial, born from fear.

But now, I could not erase the memory of her partially turned form, the shimmer of hidden scales along delicate skin, or the peaceful woman sleeping on my bed, wrapped in my scent and my sheets.

Sia sighed, sinking back into her chair. Her fingers laced loosely together, the strength in her posture fraying at the edges. Elvis leaned by the window, his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze following the moonlight as it spilled across the penthouse floor.

But I could not take my eyes from the door. Behind it lay a truth too powerful to ignore.

And when I finally spoke, my voice came low and rough with unsaid words.

"How did you live through the decades?" I asked.

It was the first question that burned in my mind.

"You said you traveled... but for how long? And how did her mother really die?"

Sia looked up. Pain gleamed in her eyes, a reflection of years she carried alone.

"We did not live, Raegan," she said softly. "We survived. For nearly six decades, Ember and I drifted through folds between worlds. Some timeless. Some broken. Always hidden."

I turned to face her fully, my breath held tight in my chest.

Sia inhaled slowly, grounding herself before speaking again. "The prophecy made Ember dangerous the moment she was born. The elder who pursued her... he was not just evil. He was corrupted by obsession. A once-great fae dragon lord who fell from grace. His desire was simple. Own Ember. Control her. Wield the power she would one day awaken."

My fists clenched. I had heard stories of the rogue lord, the hybrid fallen from the ancient councils, as a boy, but I had never seen him. He vanished before the sentence for his surrender could be carried out.

I glanced at Elvis. His chest rose and fell heavily. His eyes had darkened, jaw tight, fists clenched.

Memories haunted him too.

Still, he held himself steady, and so did I, nodding for Sia to continue.

"Ember's mother, Aramaya," Sia said, her voice threading through sorrow and reverence, "was among the most powerful fae of her time. A warrior. A healer. A seer. She never thought she would have to use her gifts in defense of her own child. Until that night."

"She was a fae?" Elvis asked, confusion clouding his face.

"But Ember is supposed to be a dragon queen."

Sia shook her head. "The prophecy never said dragon queen. It spoke of a queen born to unite all creatures. To rule not just Earth, but the folds between worlds. A queen beyond magic or bloodline."

I leaned in, my curiosity burning hotter. "What happened?"

I had only ever known scraps, whispers. My father burned the full prophecy before I could read it.

Sia's eyes seemed to lose focus, drifting far into the past.

"The night before Ember's sixth birthday, we were together. Laughing. Her father, Lioran —" she paused, a tremble in her voice, "— and Aramaya. We thought we were safe.

The moons were aligned. The garden bloomed with starflowers. I was named Ember's godmother during her birth, but that day... I truly felt it. Ember danced between us, her laughter spinning through the air like music."

"Lioran?" Elvis repeated sharply. "The Lioran?"

I felt the jolt myself.

Lioran — the last of the shadow born guardians. The one said to carry the knowledge of all shifting forms. The guardian who disappeared from history itself.

Sia nodded. "Yes. Him. He met Aramaya and found his purpose. His mate."

A long silence followed.

"And then," Sia whispered, "the wind shifted."

"The elder," Elvis said, voice grim.

Sia gave a small nod.

"He came. Not alone. Creatures from the Rift came with him, malformed soldiers of broken realms. They ripped through the protective veil over their home.

Lioran fought. Gods, he fought harder than anyone should ever have to. But he fell at the gates. He was not trained for war."

My hands curled into fists under the table.

"Aramaya was not a warrior by nature," Sia continued. "Her gifts were healing, mending, weaving light into broken things. But that night, she became something else.

She created a spell... an impossible one. She wove a veil around Ember's very essence. Not just hiding her magic , but disguising it from prophecy itself."

"How?" I asked, the awe heavy in my voice.

Sia's lips trembled.

"She erased Ember's magical scent. Masked her lineage from the stars, from the old bloodlines, from the prophecy itself. No one could find her. Not even the heavens."

Elvis blew out a slow breath.

"And she gave Ember to you."

"Yes."

Sia's voice cracked.

"She handed me the child she gave life to... with blood on her gown and war at her doorstep. She said, 'Take her. Protect her. Watch for the omen I've hidden in flame. When you see it, only then, is she safe for Earth again.'"

My heart ached at the picture forming in my mind.

"She knew she would not survive," I said quietly.

"She knew," Sia echoed. "But she smiled anyway. She turned and ran toward the battlefield. Toward Lioran. And she unleashed her final magic to slow their pursuit long enough for me to tear through the realms."

I swallowed against the thick knot in my throat.

"No universe was safe?" I asked.

Sia shook her head.

"None. So I found the cracks between them. Places where time hung still.

We lived in hidden folds where Ember stayed six years old for what felt like eternity."

"She never aged?" Elvis asked, stunned.

"No," Sia said, her voice almost a prayer now. "Not until the omen came.

I saw it. A golden phoenix blazing across a sky made of broken starlight. It blazed for only a breath, but it was enough.

I knew. It was time."

"You returned to Earth," I said.

"I did," she confirmed. "I sealed Ember's memories temporarily. Buried her powers. Shielded her lineage.

I spelled everything to return only when the last thread of Aramaya's magic unraveled."

I remained silent for a long moment, staring at her.

"You came to the orphanage," I said. "Both of you."

Sia smiled faintly.

"I changed my form. Made myself her age. We arrived as two girls with no past. I made sure we were placed together. Watched over her. Grew up beside her."

"Grew up?" Elvis asked gently.

Sia nodded with a smile. "I learned how to braid hair. How to argue over cafeteria lunches. How to laugh at terrible teen comedies and wear jeans. I learned to be human... for her."

The room grew still, the ticking clock a soft heartbeat against the silence.

"And now?" I asked finally. "Do you think she is ready?"

"I think," Sia said softly, "she is already waking.

And when she does, the world will not remain the same. We'll need to be ready for whatever comes after."

We fell into silence once more, the weight of fate heavy in the air.

Beyond the closed door, beyond walls and spells and slumber,

Ember slept on, unaware that everything she had ever known was only the beginning of a truth older than time.

Third Person's POV

And the storm she was born to unleash was already stirring.