The darkness that followed the shadow’s disappearance did not bring relief. On the contrary, it became denser, heavier, as if it had woven itself into a thick mist that seeped into every crack of reality.
Flamen stood motionless, his silver fire pulsing softly around his palms, but now its warmth was gone. Only faint reflections slid across the surface of space, mirroring something unseen.
Emiren could feel this fire stretching through time. It no longer belonged to the world as they knew it.
— How do you feel? — he asked.
Flamen did not answer immediately. He simply raised his hand, observing the silver tongues of flame that barely stirred in the air.
— Like I exist somewhere else. And not now.
The Hollow cautiously stepped closer, as if sensing an invisible boundary that should not be crossed.
— This fire… it’s no longer yours, is it?
Flamen shuddered.
— I don’t feel it the way I used to. It doesn’t obey me… but it doesn’t reject me either. It’s like… a bond I can’t break.
Emiren waved his hand through the silver light. It didn’t change. It didn’t react.
— You are no longer its source. But something still sustains it within you.
Flamen exhaled heavily.
— And if that means I’m changing? That I’m no longer the person I was?
The Hollow looked at him for a long, thoughtful moment.
— Maybe it’s not that you’re changing, but that you’ve become what you were always meant to be.
And then they heard the voice.
A Voice Through Time
It did not sound in space. It did not vibrate in the air. It flowed directly into their consciousness, like a whisper born from memories.
— You have returned. But not completely.
Flamen turned sharply.
— Who’s there?
The darkness before him shifted, curling into a spiral, and from it, a figure emerged.
It resembled the shadowed entity from before, but this time, its face was visible.
It was a woman. Tall, with long silver hair cascading over her shoulders, and eyes devoid of stars—only the reflection of the fire that once burned within Flamen.
— You no longer belong to yourself, Flamen. The fire that was once you is now something else. And I have come to show you the truth.
Emiren felt a cold echo of fear stir within him.
— Do you know her?
The woman tilted her head slightly.
— I was the first to lose my fire.
The Hollow exhaled.
— Another lost one.
Flamen tensed.
— What does that mean?
The woman took a step toward him, and her shadow merged with his silver flames, creating a strange, eerie interplay of light.
— It means you stand on the threshold. Either you accept what has happened, or you will vanish into the void between worlds.
Emiren stepped forward.
— That’s not a choice. That’s a trap.
The woman turned her gaze to him.
— Any being that changes its essence must make a choice. It is not a trap. It is a law.
Flamen clenched his fists.
— And what if I refuse?
The woman silently extended her hand.
In her palm, a fire burned.
It was not silver. And not gold.
It was black.
And it was calling to him.