A Symphony of Blades and Broken Stars

They left the tower before sunrise.

The sky was a heavy purple, stars still clinging to the edge of night. Elion followed Kaela through the ruined forest in silence, his thoughts weighed down by everything he had seen. Every step away from the Watcher felt like a step into someone else's life. Or into the version of himself he used to be.

"Where are we going now?" he asked.

"To the edge of the Fallen Reach," Kaela said. "Someone is waiting there. Someone who might not be happy to see you."

Elion frowned. "Another person from my past?"

Kaela didn't answer.

They traveled for hours through twisted trees and broken stone roads, until the woods gave way to a wasteland of cracked earth and ash. The ground was dark, almost like burned bone. In the distance, something shimmered.

Flames.

But they weren't natural.

As they drew closer, Elion saw a figure dancing between the firelight. A girl with wild red hair and eyes that glowed like embers. She moved with impossible grace, her boots leaving burning footprints on the ground behind her.

Kaela stopped. "Her name is Lys."

"Is she… dangerous?" Elion asked carefully.

"To everyone but you," Kaela said. "You saved her life once. And she never forgot."

Elion stepped forward slowly.

Lys turned and spotted him. Her eyes widened, then narrowed. She looked like she wanted to run to him, or burn him where he stood.

"You came back," she said. Her voice was sharp, but cracked at the edges.

"I don't remember everything," he said. "But I know I'm supposed to."

She took a shaky breath, then pointed at his chest. "That mark. I watched it burn into you. I thought you died that day."

"I did," he said quietly. "In a way."

Lys stared at him for a long time, then lowered her hand. "If you're really him, prove it."

"How?"

"Take my flame."

Before he could respond, she reached out and pressed her hand to his chest.

Fire surged through him. Not hot, but heavy. Memories not his own flooded in. A mountain crumbling. A scream. A promise. A kiss that burned like light.

He fell to his knees.

She stepped back.

"I'll follow you," she said, voice softer now. "But not because I trust you. Because I want to see if the man who left me is still inside you somewhere."