Rain slammed against the Emberwood that morning like drums in a distant war.
Lightning forked across the sky, crackling through the trees in quick, jagged bursts. But inside the sanctuary, no one rested. Not anymore.
Because it wasn't time to rest.
It was time to fight.
Their training had evolved from individual practice into something far more dangerous — teamwork under pressure. They'd stopped going easy on each other. Gone were the polite duels, the careful dodges.
Now they struck with purpose.
Kael vanished and reappeared like a shadowstorm — ambushing from behind, testing everyone's blind spots. His teleportation had grown faster, sharper, almost seamless.
Lyra turned the wind into shields and slicing rings of air, using calm focus to counter Jax's chaotic bursts. She could now whip up gusts strong enough to throw a grown man.
And Jax?
Well… Jax was still a walking accident.
But a powerful one.
He had started absorbing lightning during storms — channeling it through his veins and releasing it in thunder-punches that sent stone walls cracking.
"You're like a weather tantrum," Lyra told him, half in awe, half in terror.
"Flattered," he said, charging up another spark. "Call me Stormbringer."
"I'm calling you Hazard Zone until further notice," Kael muttered.
And Ariya?
Ariya was the fire at the heart of them all.
She had learned how to call her flames without burning. She could shape fire into chains, blades, walls — and even let it flow through her limbs to boost her speed and strength.
But she wasn't perfect.
The more she used her power, the more alive the mark felt — like it wasn't just energy, but something conscious. Watching. Waiting.
It didn't scare her… yet.
Still, some nights, she dreamed of fire turning against her.Of standing alone in a burning world, and Ruvan's voice whispering,
"How beautiful… even when broken."
They pushed themselves harder every day.
One sparring match ended with Kael disarming Ariya, holding a blade to her throat — and she smiled, flames dancing around her fingers, even in defeat.
Another ended with Jax trying to catch Lyra mid-air… and accidentally blowing them both into the river.
"We're improving!" Jax sputtered as Lyra dunked his head underwater.
Kael shook his head. "Barely."
But the truth was… they were growing.
Not just stronger. Closer.
They fought. Laughed. Ate together. Protected each other.
They were becoming more than rebels, more than misfits.
They were becoming a unit.
That night, the storm finally eased. The sky cleared in strips of silver and violet.
Ariya sat on the rooftop edge of the sanctuary, dagger across her knees, watching the stars appear.
Kael joined her, quiet as ever.
"You're thinking too loud," he said.
"I always do," she murmured. "We're training. Getting stronger. But I keep wondering…"
"When it'll all fall apart?"
She nodded.
Kael didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at her with something between protectiveness and quiet certainty.
"Let it come. We'll hold the line."
She smiled faintly, leaning her shoulder against his.
Far away, in a citadel of frost and silence, Prince Ruvan walked down a hall of frozen mirrors.
The Shard on his hand pulsed — the same pulse he felt whenever she used her fire.
"She's getting faster," his general warned. "The Emberwood has awakened something."
"I know," Ruvan said calmly. "That's exactly what I wanted."
He stepped onto a glowing sigil carved into the ice — the map of an ancient path through the Whispering Vale.
"Tell them to prepare the villagers.And leak a name."
"Whose name, my prince?"
"Hers," Ruvan said. "Let them beg for the Flamebearer to come."
The trap had begun.