The door behind them groaned again, louder this time. Something pounded from the other side, hard enough to send cracks crawling across the stone.
Kael moved in front of Lyra, shielded her with his body. "Stay behind me."
"No," she said, stepping beside him. "I'm not hiding."
Kael gave her a sharp look. "Lyra"
"I won't let them destroy what she died for."
A deep boom echoed. Dust fell from the ceiling. Lyra's flame flickered at her fingertips, growing brighter with every heartbeat. The pendant against her chest was hot now, alive.
The vault door exploded inward.
A figure stepped through, tall, cloaked in smoke, its face half-shadow, half bone. Magic rolled off it like heat from fire.
Kael growled low in his throat, eyes flashing red. "Flameborn."
Lyra felt fear crawl up her spine. But the fear didn't stop her, it pushed her forward.
"I know you," the creature rasped. "Daughter of fire. Keeper of the blood."
Kael lunged first. His claws extended, fangs bared. He hit the creature like a storm, but it didn't fall. It struck back, sending Kael flying into the far wall.
"Kael!" Lyra screamed.
He didn't get up.
The Flameborn turned to her. "You carry her flame. But you are not her."
Lyra raised her hands. "No. I'm not Seriah."
The flame on her skin burst to life, wrapping around her arms, her chest, her heart.
"I'm what came after."
The chamber lit with red light. The walls pulsed, as if answering her.
The Flameborn hesitated. "Impossible."
Lyra moved before she could think. Fire shot from her hands, hitting the creature square in the chest. It roared, it staggered, then struck back.
She blocked it, barely. Her knees buckled.
Kael stirred, groaning. His voice was weak. "Don't use it all…"
"What?"
"The flame, it's linked to your soul. Burn too much, and you burn out."
Lyra gasped, pain sparking through her limbs. Her fire dimmed, but she didn't stop.
The creature screamed and lunged for her.
Kael's eyes flared fully red. His voice cracked with rage. "Touch her, and I'll rip your heart out."
He surged forward, faster than before, faster than anything human.
But the Flameborn grinned.
"You still think you've escaped your blood, Crimson Alpha?"
Kael froze.
"What did you say?" he whispered.
The Flameborn's eyes gleamed. "The curse never left you. You just buried it."
Kael's hands trembled. The mark on his chest, his birthmark, began to glow.
"No…" he muttered. "It can't be"
Lyra reached for him, her fire fading.
"Kael…?"
But it was too late.
The mark flared like a brand. His back arched, eyes wide with pain.
The Crimson Flame had awoken.
Pain. That's all he felt at first.
Not the pain of a wound, but something deeper, like his soul was being torn in two.
Kael dropped to his knees. His hands hit the cold stone. The mark on his chest burned like it was alive, branding him from the inside out.
No. Not now. Not in front of her.
He heard her voice. Faint. Frantic.
"Kael… Kael, look at me!"
But he couldn't. He wasn't sure he could even speak.
The curse wasn't gone. It never had been. It had only waited, deep inside, like a sleeping fire.
And now it was awake.
He tried to breathe, but the heat inside him roared louder than air.
Old memories that weren't his surged through him, Kaelen's rage, Kaelen's grief, Kaelen's hunger for blood. And Seriah. Always Seriah.
Kael slammed his fist into the floor. "Get out of my head!"
His voice didn't sound like his. It was layered, his and something ancient.
He looked up, and saw Lyra, her fire dimming, her face pale with fear.
Not of the enemy.
Of him.
His chest cracked open with guilt.
No. I won't become him. I won't become the monster.
The Flameborn stepped closer. "You feel it now, don't you? The Crimson Alpha lives again. You were never free."
Kael stood slowly. His body shook. Every part of him screamed to let go. To shift. To burn everything.
But Lyra…
She needed him. Not the monster. Just Kael.
He turned to her, eyes glowing red. "I can feel it rising."
Lyra reached for him. "Then fight it."
He took her hand. Her flame pulsed, warm and steady.
Something in him calmed.
"I'll hold it back," he said, voice tight. "As long as I can."
Lyra squeezed his hand. "You don't have to do it alone."
Behind them, the Flameborn growled. "Too late. He's already mine."
Kael's head snapped toward the creature. "No," he growled. "I belong to no one."
And when he charged, he didn't let the flame take full control,he wielded it.
For Lyra.
For himself.
With a surge of willpower, he pushed himself to his feet. His muscles screamed in protest, but he didn't care. Lyra was watching. She was depending on him.
Kael's eyes locked onto the Flameborn, his body radiating heat, but it was his control that burned brightest.
"I don't need the curse to defeat you," Kael said, his voice steady, despite the storm raging inside him.
And then he charged. Not as the Crimson Alpha, but as Kael.
His fire didn't burn out of control. It focused. Kael fought with everything he had, blades of flame, bursts of magic, each strike purposeful. His claws slashed through the air, and the Flameborn staggered back, surprised by his control.
Kael didn't pause. He couldn't. He had to end this, before the curse turned him into the thing he feared most.
The Flameborn snarled and swiped at him, the battle becoming a blur of fire, blood, and steel.
Kael's heart hammered in his chest, his mind still fighting to stay intact. But through the chaos, one thought kept him going.
For Lyra.
He reached out with his magic, controlling the fire like never before. A final burst of heat, a flash of light, he struck, and the creature screamed.
But Kael didn't stop. Not until the body of the Flameborn crumpled to the floor.
Kael fell to his knees again, his body trembling, drenched in sweat. The flame inside him flickered, but it didn't overpower him. It had retreated for now.
Lyra rushed to his side. Her hands cupped his face, her touch gentle but firm. "Kael..."
He reached up, holding her hand. His voice was raw. "I didn't lose control... this time."
Lyra's eyes searched his face. "Kael, you're still... fighting it?"
He nodded weakly. "I can't let it win. Not now."
She kissed his forehead, a soft, desperate gesture. "You're stronger than it. I know you are."
But in the silence that followed the battle, Kael's eyes flickered briefly,something dark, something ancient stirring behind them. The curse wasn't gone. It was waiting…
The chamber was quiet now. The glow of battle-fire still danced on the walls, flickering like dying stars.
Kael leaned against the stone pillar, breathing hard. Blood from the Flameborn stained his hands, and his arms trembled, not from pain, but from fear. The kind that crawls into your chest when you realize something inside you almost broke loose.
Lyra knelt beside him, brushing the hair from his face. "You're hurt."
He shook his head. "Not from the fight."
Her eyes softened. "The curse?"
Kael nodded slowly. "It woke up... stronger than before. I thought I had more time."
"You held it back," she whispered. "You didn't let it take you."
He looked down at his hands, clawed, scorched, but still his. "Barely."
She sat beside him, shoulder to shoulder. "Then we'll find a way to make that control permanent."
Kael didn't answer right away. The silence between them wasn't empty, it was thick with all the unspoken things: fear, failure, fire.
Finally, he reached into the inner lining of his tunic and pulled out the small pouch, the one he hadn't touched since Chapter One.
Lyra looked at it, surprised. "That's... the vial?"
Kael opened it slowly. Inside, the small glass vial glowed faintly, red, like embers. The liquid inside pulsed like it was alive.
"I didn't use it," he said. "I thought I would. But I couldn't bring myself to."
Lyra frowned. "Why?"
He looked at her, guilt etched across his face. "Because I wasn't sure it would cure me. Or if it would kill me. And I needed to stay, for you. For us."
Her breath caught. "Kael..."
"I was scared," he admitted. "Still am."
She reached for his hand, lacing her fingers through his. "Then let's face that fear together."
Kael let out a slow breath. "There's more to this curse. The Flameborn said it was never really broken. That it was just sleeping."
"And now it's waking up," Lyra said, her voice tight. "Just like the dreams Seriah warned me about."
He nodded. "Whatever this curse is... it wasn't just meant to punish me. It's part of something bigger."
They both looked at the walls,the carvings, the ancient symbols, the stories left behind in stone.
Lyra stood, her flame-lit pendant glowing brighter. "Then it's time we stop running from it."
Kael stood too, slipping the vial back into the pouch. "And start learning what it really wants."
Behind them, the wall trembled slightly. One of the carvings shimmered, new symbols glowing in red.
A message.
A warning.
A map.
The curse hadn't just returned. It had called something else with it,and that something was coming.