The world always feels different after intimacy.
Quieter.
Not because the noise fades… but because something inside does.
Elliot woke slowly, blinking at the cracked stone above him. The ancient altar chamber was still dim, lit only by the golden shimmer of magic pulsing from the Mark on his chest.
Kaelith was wrapped in the cloak beside him, back turned, bare shoulder peeking out, rising and falling with each breath.
He watched her for a while.
Not out of lust. Out of… awe.
Of all the things the gods had sent to destroy him, she had become the one thing that saved him.
---
When she stirred, she didn't say anything at first.
Just stretched slowly, like a warrior waking from deep sleep. When her eyes met his, there was no embarrassment — only clarity.
She smiled. "You snore."
He laughed. "I nearly die twice a week. I'm allowed."
She sat up, letting the cloak fall just enough to show the curve of her spine. "That flame inside you… it changed last night."
"I felt it," he said quietly. "It wasn't fighting me anymore."
"It was you, Elliot. It always was. You just… never let yourself be."
---
They dressed in silence, not rushed, not nervous. Just two people preparing to face a world that wouldn't understand the peace they'd found for a night.
But as Elliot buckled his belt, a sharp burn bloomed across his ribs.
He staggered.
Kaelith caught him. "What's wrong?"
He gasped — not from pain, but from what he saw when he lifted his shirt.
The Mark was changing.
The circular sigil had split — cracked — and from its center, a new symbol pulsed. A jagged line, like a lightning scar across his heart.
The flame inside him was no longer just Vaelion's.
> It was becoming something else.
---
"I don't understand," he whispered. "This isn't in any of the scrolls."
Kaelith knelt beside him, inspecting the glow. Her fingers hovered near his skin, hesitant now. "Maybe the scrolls weren't written for someone like you."
He looked up. "What do you mean?"
She hesitated. Then said it:
> "Maybe you're not just the Flameborn."
"Maybe you're the next god."
---
The silence returned — heavy now. Not gentle.
Elliot's breath caught.
"I don't want to be a god," he said.
Kaelith held his gaze.
> "You may not have a choice."
---
Suddenly, a cold wind swept through the underground chamber. The fire dimmed.
A whisper curled through the walls — not human.
> "The sky is watching."
Elliot turned. Kaelith drew her blade.
The old altar had changed — a crack now splitting it down the middle.
And through that crack…
A single golden eye stared back.
---