The pages of her mother's book were thicker than ordinary parchment—layered with old spells, hidden scripts, and protective enchantments that shimmered under moonlight. Eira had to breathe slowly, carefully, just to keep her hands steady. The more she read, the more everything around her—Valeharrow, Emberwick, Cassian, Corren—felt like an illusion on the edge of being burned away.
She turned the page.
There it was.
A full spread dedicated to a symbol she had never seen before. A jagged crescent moon entwined with flame.
The Ember Sigil.
She traced its edges, and the page pulsed with silver light. Heat rose from it—not from the fire beside her, but from the magic locked inside the ink. Her breath caught in her throat.
> "The Ember Sigil is the mark of the First Flame—given only to the children of Lunaria who survive both moonfire and betrayal. It binds blood and memory, fire and fate. It cannot be removed."
Below the description, a charcoal drawing of a woman cloaked in flame. Her eyes were silver. Her crown bore seven stars.
Eira didn't need a caption to know who it was.
Her mother.
But what haunted her wasn't the image. It was the empty space next to it—clearly once a second portrait, now torn clean from the page.
Cassian stirred beside her, sitting up with a soft groan. His golden-brown hair fell into his eyes, tousled from sleep. "You're still reading?"
"I can't stop."
He blinked, then scooted closer to look over her shoulder. "That symbol… it's familiar."
Eira turned to him, heart suddenly pounding faster. "How?"
He hesitated. "I saw it once. As a child, in the Hall of Echoes—etched into the stone beneath the Queen's throne."
Eira froze.
"But that's in Lunador."
"Exactly."
A thousand questions clawed at her tongue. "Why would my mother's symbol be in the Queen's court?"
Cassian gave her a long, unreadable look. "Because not all royalty wears crowns willingly."
Before Eira could speak again, Corren's voice cut through the silence.
"Both of you. Up. Now."
They turned to see him standing at the edge of the clearing, sword drawn, eyes locked on something in the shadows beyond.
Eira stood quickly, tucking the book away beneath her cloak. "What is it?"
"Scouts. Not ours."
Cassian had his blades unsheathed in an instant. "Royal guards?"
"No. Worse. Thornwatch."
Eira stiffened. "I thought they only guarded the capital."
"They do. Which means they're not here by accident."
---
They moved swiftly through the forest, staying low and silent. Eira's mind spun as fast as her feet—The Ember Sigil, her mother, the Queen, the Thornwatch.
It was all connected. She could feel it.
They didn't stop until the stars shifted in the sky and the air grew colder. Corren found a cave hidden beneath a ridge of stone, barely wide enough for them to squeeze into. Inside, the air smelled of moss and old fire.
"We rest here," he said.
Eira sat against the wall, the book in her lap again before she could stop herself. She flipped past the sigil until she found a page titled:
> "The Binding Flame."
Her blood ran cold.
> "When the Ember Sigil awakens, so too does the Binding Flame—a trial of memory and truth. Only the bearer can pass through it. Only the bearer can survive it. But should they fail, the fire will consume what they love most."
She looked up. Her eyes found Cassian's across the cave.
She closed the book.
---
The dreams returned that night.
But they weren't dreams.
Not really.
She stood in a circle of silver fire, surrounded by seven masked figures cloaked in starlight. They chanted in a language older than time, and in the center of the circle stood a child—her—eyes wide, mouth open in a silent scream.
The fire consumed the circle.
One mask fell.
The child vanished.
And then came the voice.
> "You were never meant to live."
---
Eira woke with a gasp, drenched in sweat, her hands glowing faintly with ember light. Cassian was beside her in an instant.
"Another vision?"
"No… a memory."
Corren crouched by the entrance of the cave, stone still as ever. "Then it's time."
"Time for what?"
He stood and walked over, reaching into his cloak. He pulled out a pendant—a shard of obsidian shaped like a fang.
He held it toward her.
"The Binding Flame must be faced. If you carry the Ember Sigil, you won't survive without claiming it."
Eira stared at the pendant. "What is it?"
"A key. The trial begins at Ember Cradle."
Cassian frowned. "That's suicide. It's miles into the Vale of Hollow Flame."
Corren shrugged. "It's also the only way she'll ever understand what she is."
Eira took the pendant.
It burned in her hand.
"I'll go."
---
It took them three days to reach Ember Cradle.
The land grew blacker with each step, the trees twisted and scarred by old fire. The air shimmered with residual heat, even when the wind blew cold. Eira could feel the ember in her chest flare each night as they drew closer.
When they arrived, it was worse than she'd imagined.
A field of ash stretched before them like an ocean of soot. At its center stood a single black monolith—ancient and cracked, glowing faintly at the seams. Symbols carved into its sides pulsed with crimson light.
Eira stepped forward. The pendant in her hand vibrated.
Corren nodded. "Place it at the base."
She did.
The ground trembled.
The air shimmered.
The monolith split open, revealing a staircase carved into firelit stone.
Cassian cursed under his breath. "I hate underground trials."
Eira turned to him, voice low. "Stay here."
"What? No—"
"I have to do this alone."
Cassian opened his mouth to argue, but Corren shook his head. "She's right."
Eira stepped into the fire.
---
The staircase led down into a chamber carved from obsidian. It was circular, with walls that shimmered like smoke. In the center stood a pedestal, and on it—nothing.
But Eira wasn't alone.
The child was there.
Her younger self.
Eyes wide. Hair longer. Clothes simple. She stood on the far side of the chamber, unmoving.
"Who are you?" Eira whispered.
The child blinked. "I'm who you were, before the fire."
Eira stepped forward. "What is this place?"
The child's eyes turned silver. "This is where you choose what to burn."
Flames erupted around the edge of the room, licking the walls but never touching her. The air turned heavy.
"Choose," the child repeated.
The pedestal flared with light, and now there were three items on it:
—A silver crown.
—A dagger of black flame.
—A locket shaped like a crescent moon.
Eira's breath caught.
"What do I choose?" she asked.
The child didn't answer.
The fire grew louder.
She reached for the locket first. It was warm. Familiar.
Her mother's voice echoed in her head.
> "You were born under a dying moon, but you are not its death. You are its rebirth."
She picked it up.
The flames vanished.
The pedestal vanished.
The child vanished.
And in her hand, the locket turned to fire, then soaked into her skin.
Her chest burned.
She screamed.
And then everything went black.
---
She woke in Cassian's arms.
He was shouting something. Corren was beside him, pressing a glowing sigil to her chest. Her body arched with the surge of magic.
Then—
Silence.
Air.
Her vision cleared.
"What… happened?"
Cassian exhaled sharply. "You vanished for hours. Then the monolith exploded."
Eira sat up. "I saw her. Me. As a child. I chose the locket."
Corren looked pleased. "Then you passed."
"What does that mean?"
He turned away. "It means the Ember Sigil is fully awakened now."
She looked down.
Etched into her skin, just over her heart, was the mark from the book.
The jagged crescent.
The Ember Sigil.