The instant it hits the Heart, the roomresponds.
The molten veins flare to life, blazing brighter, filling the chamber with a vibrant glow. The pillar hums in unison.Ready.
Elyssara steals herself, ready to try the necklace again.
She ghosts her fingers over the chain, testing, assessing.
She goes straight for the jewel, scooping her fingers under it to lift it into the palm of her hands.
The Flame-heart illuminates, and simultaneously, so, too, does her skin marking. The Eye of Lireal on her chest stirs awake, constellation blooming to life, the etching spreading further across her chest with permanency.
She looks to me, wonder filling her eyes, and it steals the breath from my lungs.
Elyssara clasps the Heart of Ashara around her neck, letting it hang delicately on her chest.
“Beautiful,” I say, and she smiles, scrunching her nose in genuine, unabashed happiness.
If there was ever a moment I believed in fate, it’s this one.
The room settles back into its mellow glow, the crackle of magic in the air simmers into a steady hum.
We walk to the archway, where the group gathers around for a look at the Heart of Ashara.
“It is done, Lightborne,” Nehvara declares. “You’ve set inmotion a cascade of events that cannot be stopped.” Her voice is pragmatic—but beneath it, something tightens. Ominous.Certain.
We settle back into our single-file line, and make our way back to the gathering area.
Ronyn breaks the silence, “So that’s the fourth key,” he says.
Murmurs of agreement thread through the air.
“And there’s no mention of other relics in the prophecy?” He says, as though he’s trying to figure something out.
The group gives him more non-committal murmurs of confirmation, but I hold my tongue. Realization dawning on me.
“But doesn’t the prophecy say there are five relics?” He looks around, arms outstretched in question, but no one speaks until, slowly, I see it click for them, too. “So what the fuck is the fifth relic?”
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
ELYSSARA
Ronyn’s questionhangs in the air, and the silence stretches.
What is the fifth relic? Why doesn’t the prophecy speak of it?
No one has the answer.
Not yet.
We reach the gathering chamber once more, alive with Cindrali people cooking, cleaning, sipping tea together.
Though we’ve retrieved what we came for, it doesn’t feel like a victory. Not entirely. These people are still trapped—separated, lost, forgotten.
Tvira stands tall and stoic, holding my gaze for a long moment as if it were a silent farewell. She inclines her head slightly—the only sign she acknowledges that we won’t see her again, at least not until we’ve awakened the Flame-heart and restored Cindralis.
“This is where we part ways,” Nehvara says. “You have what you need. Now, the path is yours to walk.”
I clutch the necklace at my chest, remembering why we came. The pressure of the prophecy, impending war, Kael’s sister. All of it crashes down on me instantly. I squeeze my eyes closed, drawing in a long, steady inhale.
