Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
---
Episode 48: "The Line Between Us"
---
The hallway trembled with every echo of the battle Kara had left behind. Her legs moved on instinct, dodging fallen cables and shattered glass, but her mind was still with Kyra — the sister she had barely found and already feared losing again.
"Tessa, status?" Adrian called, his voice cutting through the chaos.
Tessa tapped furiously on her wrist console. "I've rerouted the backup exit, but we'll need to cross the Sector V hallway — and it's crawling with Lazarus units. If they're fully activated, we won't outrun them."
"Then we fight through," Ronan growled.
Kara's voice was quiet. "No. We don't fight unless we have to."
Adrian glanced at her. "This isn't the time for mercy."
"It's not mercy," Kara said, her voice steadier now. "It's clarity. We can't save Kyra by becoming the kind of people Vane wants us to be."
---
Sector V: The Labyrinth
They reached the massive steel doors of Sector V. The walls were charred from previous containment breaches, and the air carried the heavy stench of ozone and blood.
Ronan readied his rifle. "This place smells like a grave."
As Tessa opened the access panel, Kara placed her palm on the cold door. "Whatever's on the other side… we face it together."
The doors slid open with a hiss.
Inside were rows of cryo-pods—dozens of bodies in suspended animation, men and women whose faces bore the same tattoo behind their ears: a stylized phoenix, identical to the one on Kara's back.
"What the hell is this?" Adrian whispered.
Kara stepped forward, her heart pounding. "These… these were the others. The failed subjects. Before me. Before Kyra."
A whimper drew their attention to the far side of the room. A young woman, barely conscious, was strapped to a gurney, tubes pumping something black into her veins.
Kara rushed to her. "Hey, hey, stay with me! What's your name?"
The girl's lips trembled. "L-Lina… protocol… 13…"
Before Kara could ask more, the girl seized violently. Tessa dashed forward with a sedative, stabilizing her vitals.
"She's on the edge," Tessa said. "Whatever they did to her, it's killing her."
Kara turned to Adrian. "We can't just leave them."
Adrian's jaw tightened. "We'll come back. We have to take down Vane first, or none of them make it out."
---
Meanwhile…
Kyra staggered into a dark tunnel beneath the containment chamber, blood trailing from her lips. Her energy had waned, but she'd held them off—barely. The Lazarus Units had stopped following her.
Because they didn't need to.
"I'm still here," she whispered. "You didn't break me."
Her hand trembled as she pressed it to her chest. And then, for the first time in years, she remembered Kara's face—not as an enemy, but as a warm flicker in a frozen past.
"Sister…"
A slow hiss echoed from behind her. She spun around to face a towering figure with glowing red eyes — not Lazarus, not human.
Vane's personal guardian.
It stepped forward. "Subject Kyra. Termination authorized."
She closed her eyes, then smiled bitterly. "Come on then. Let's see who burns first."
---
Crossroads
Kara and the others made it to the junction leading to the central core of the Lazarus Project. According to the stolen maps, it was where Vane's command chamber lay — the heart of every nightmare they'd endured.
Tessa looked to Kara. "No turning back."
Ronan loaded his final clip. "About damn time we ended this."
Adrian placed his hand on Kara's shoulder. "If he's still here, he won't go down easy."
Kara didn't blink. "He doesn't deserve easy."
She turned back one last time, glancing down the dark path they'd come from — and for just a moment, she swore she heard Kyra whisper her name.
"I'm coming for you," Kara vowed. "We both deserve the truth."
---
Elsewhere…
Dr. Vane stood alone in the command room, fingers tracing the old photo of two children—sisters, once whole.
He looked up at the monitor showing Kara and her team approaching. "They always return to the flame."
Then, activating his final protocol, he whispered:
"Let it all burn."
---
To be continued…
🔥 Blood ties, broken promises, and the final path forward—Kara and Kyra's fate is entwined in fire. But who will
rise from the ashes?
Vote, comment, and follow Ashes of Our Flame by RapwizzyDebaron — the firestorm has just begun.