Written by R.E. Solcrest
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Previously in Echoes of the Immortal Flame…
A shadow whispered her name, and the wind carried memories Aryan wished he could forget. In the darkness beneath the Crimson Willow Sect, an ancient force had stirred—one that remembered his soul, even through death. And now, a strange girl with moon-kissed eyes has spoken words only one person should have known. Her presence fractures Aryan's calm, dragging his heart toward a truth he's not ready to face.
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The cavern pulsed with a faint glow—neither fire nor moonlight, but something caught between. Aryan stood at the edge of the underground pool, the air thick with damp moss and silence. Across the water, she stood.
Not Lirael Yue. But her face…
No. Not quite.
This girl was younger. Her robes were marked with the sigil of a branch sect, her aura far from refined. And yet, her eyes—those eyes—reflected moons that shouldn't have risen in this life.
"You said my name," Aryan said softly, his voice steady despite the chaos in his chest.
"I dreamed of it," the girl replied. "For years. Fire… and sorrow. Your face, before I ever saw it."
He stepped forward, the flame in his chest flaring as if it recognized her soul. The Flame Seed—his lifeblood—shivered, not from danger, but longing.
"You remind me of someone," Aryan said, though the words felt hollow. In truth, she reminded him of her. Of the girl who had once kissed him beneath falling petals and left him bleeding beneath a shattered sky.
The stranger smiled. "Then maybe… I remind you of yourself."
Aryan froze.
That was something Lirael had once said. Before the betrayal. Before the tears.
The pool between them rippled.
A presence stirred in the walls. Watching. Breathing.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice low.
She didn't answer. Instead, she turned and walked into the tunnel behind her, her light footsteps echoing like a forgotten lullaby.
Aryan stood for a moment longer, the fire in his hand flickering uncertainly.
And then he followed her.
He had to know.
Who she was. Why the flame remembered her. And whether the past he had buried was truly dead… or waiting to burn again.
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Author Note (R.E. Solcrest):
Things are beginning to twist! What do you think—just coincidence, or is fate playing with Aryan again? The deeper we go, the more the past breathes through the cracks. Stay with me, flamekindlers. The next chapter might just change everything.