The desert did not welcome them.
It burned with a heat that clung like a second skin, even though the sun had long dipped beneath the horizon. Beneath that ghostly moonlight, the sand stretched in endless waves, each dune a silent giant waiting to swallow them whole.
Aria had never felt so small.
They had left Blackglass Vale behind, with Lior now traveling under Kael's watchful eye, his blindfold still covering his strange, clouded eyes. The map Daivon left had marked this desert—the Scalded Hollow—as the resting place of one of the Emberline vaults.
What it didn't tell them was how to find it.
Or survive it.
---
Mirages and Misgivings
"Are we sure it's here?" Mira asked, shielding her face with her sleeve as the wind picked up.
"Yes," Aria said, too quickly.
She wasn't entirely sure. But she could feel something in the air—something ancient. A hum beneath her ribs, echoing in her blood. The Emberline magic. It called to her.
Kael walked beside her, lips cracked from the dry air. "What if the Sovereign follows?"
"He will," Lior answered behind them. "But not yet. He's still watching. Waiting to see if we survive this place."
Aria gritted her teeth. "Then let's disappoint him."
---
The Sand Beast
It attacked on the third night.
They had just made camp between two jagged rocks, the only shelter they'd found in miles. Aria had drawn a ring of fire around them, more out of instinct than need.
Then came the rumble.
At first, she thought it was thunder. But there were no clouds—only stars.
The sand beneath them moved.
Kael was on his feet in an instant, sword drawn. Mira screamed as something massive lunged from beneath the dunes—scaled and blind, with a mouth that split sideways like a serpent.
A sand beast.
It shrieked.
And Aria fought.
Flame surged from her palms, twisting like ropes and striking the creature's hide. It hissed but didn't burn.
"This thing doesn't bleed!" Kael shouted, slashing at its side to no effect.
"It's protected by stone," Lior said. "You must burn the inside."
Aria didn't hesitate.
She ran straight toward its maw.
"ARIA!"
Kael's voice cracked, but she didn't stop. She dove, rolled beneath its gaping jaws, and let fire erupt from her hands—not outward, but inward, into the belly of the beast.
It exploded in light.
And collapsed in ash.
The desert fell silent again.
---
Buried Truth
After the battle, they found the vault.
It wasn't a door or temple, but a sigil—half-buried beneath the sands, right where the beast had risen. A glowing spiral, etched into obsidian.
Aria touched it with her bare hand.
Pain lanced through her mind.
Visions. Screams.
Fire.
A woman with gold eyes and fire-touched skin—her mother, she realized.
And then…
A throne made of cinders.
She stumbled back.
"What did you see?" Kael asked, catching her.
"Another vault. Deeper. Below us."
"We dig?"
"No," Lior said softly. "You descend."
He pointed to the sand.
And the sigil began to spin.
---
The Emberline Vault
The ground cracked.
Sand fell away in spirals, revealing a staircase of obsidian that led straight into the earth. They descended together, one by one, until the air grew cool and heavy with old magic.
The vault was not just a chamber—it was a memory.
Aria felt it the moment she entered.
Golden light bathed the room, and inside were carvings older than kingdoms. Flames danced in bowls along the wall, though no one had lit them. At the center stood a stone altar with three symbols.
Fire. Blood. Sacrifice.
Kael frowned. "This place is a shrine."
"No," Aria whispered. "It's a test."
She stepped toward the altar. Words glowed beneath her feet, in a language only her blood understood.
To claim the second flame, give what you fear to lose.
She flinched.
"What do you fear?" Kael asked quietly.
Aria looked up at him, heart pounding.
"Losing control."
---
Trial by Flame
The room began to shift.
Walls stretched, fire roared, and suddenly Aria stood alone—in a vision, or a spell, she didn't know. The others were gone.
She was back in Vareth Hollow.
Only this time, she was the Sovereign.
The villagers knelt before her, terrified.
Her hands glowed with flame, but it wasn't red or gold—it was black. Corrupted. Wild.
She couldn't stop it.
She burned them all.
"No!"
She screamed, but the fire didn't listen.
Her mother appeared, watching from a throne of bones.
"You were always meant to destroy," she said.
"No, I was meant to protect!"
The world shattered.
And she was back in the vault, panting, smoke rising from her arms.
But she was still alive.
And in her hand was a shard of pure flame—white-hot and whispering.
The second Emberline flame.
---
The Awakening
When the others rushed to her side, she was glowing.
Kael reached for her, hesitating. "Are you… you?"
"I passed," she said.
And then she collapsed into his arms.
---
A Promise in Ashes
Later, as they camped far from the ruins of the vault, Kael watched over her. She slept fitfully, the shard of flame cradled in her hands like a heartbeat.
Lior sat beside him, staring at the stars.
"She's changing," the boy said.
"She always was."
"No, I mean… she's becoming something more. The Sovereign fears her not because she's Pyreblood… but because she might become stronger than him."
Kael nodded slowly. "Then we keep going. Vault to vault. Flame to flame."
Lior's voice dropped. "He'll be waiting at the last one."
"I know."
"But so will something else. Something older than him. Older than fire."
Kael didn't ask.
He just watched the girl with fire in her veins dream of thrones and ruin.