The light of the Triad Flame faded, but the weight of its power lingered.
Ember stood at the center of the rift, her hands outstretched as if she were grasping the threads of a new world. The flame within her pulsed with a rhythm that felt like the beating of a heart, ancient and infinite. Yet, there was something deeply unsettling in its pull—an undeniable truth that gnawed at the edges of her consciousness.
The rift had cracked the sky wide open, revealing a vast expanse of unknown stars and swirling chaos. The very fabric of reality seemed to warp, its boundaries bending as though the universe itself was at the mercy of the flame she carried.
"You've done it," Orin's voice broke through the silence, his tone a mix of awe and fear. He was standing at the edge of the rift, Skybrand drawn but held loosely in his grip, as if unsure whether to strike or to kneel. "You've awakened it."
Eryssa stood next to him, her eyes scanning the swirling rift warily. "It's more than we bargained for. We've never seen anything like this."
The Keeper's words echoed in Ember's mind, the weight of its warning pressing down on her. You are not the first to claim it. You will not be the last. The thought struck her like an iron fist, and she clenched her fists, as though to keep the flame within her from escaping.
"I didn't ask for this," she said, her voice barely a whisper, lost in the thrum of the Triad Flame's energy. "But now that I have it, I can't let it go."
"We never had it to begin with," Eryssa said, her eyes narrowed, as if calculating the consequences of their actions. "The flame was always meant to burn. It was only a matter of who it would consume."
Ember turned to face her. "I'm not consuming it, Eryssa. I'm—"
"Remaking it?" Orin finished for her. "You're not the only one with a fire inside. None of us truly understand what we've unleashed, Ember. But if we're not careful, it will burn everything."
The words struck her with a cold clarity. They were right. She had not come here seeking destruction, but she had found it nonetheless. The flame she carried was not just a force of creation—it was a force of obliteration. The Triad Flame could remake the world… but it could also unravel it.
The rift pulsed again, and Ember felt a surge of heat rush through her. The power within her reached out, eager to burn, eager to become.
But she held it back.
"I won't let it destroy what's left," Ember said, her voice resolute. "I'll find a way to control it. I have to."
Orin stepped forward, his expression somber. "Control is an illusion, Ember. You don't control fire. You can only contain it."
"And sometimes," Eryssa added, her voice steady, "it's better to let it burn."
The silence that followed was heavy, each word hanging in the air like the weight of the flame itself. Ember took a deep breath, feeling the flames surge within her once more, threatening to consume her. But this time, she embraced it.
"I'll be the one to decide what burns," she said, her voice steady and fierce. "I won't let the flame control me."
As she spoke, the rift trembled. The stars above flickered, their light dimming as if they, too, were watching her.
For a moment, there was nothing but the quiet hum of the Triad Flame. And then, from the depths of the rift, a shadow stirred.
It was not the Keeper, nor the Hollow Fleet.
It was something older.
Something far older than the Triad Flame itself.