Chapter Ten: Flames That Should Not Burn

The crowd’s cheers still echoed as Kaede and Ren stood at the heart of the arena, each holding an ember that should not exist.

The Ember of Truth was supposed to be indivisible. A test of destiny. Yet here they stood two bearers of a flame meant for one.

Whispers swept through the grandstands like wildfire:

 “Impossible.”

“The prophecy…”

“They defied the Trial.”

Lord Kanzuro descended from his throne, flanked by imperial guards. His eyes, once coldly amused, now brimmed with thinly veiled fury.

“You tampered with the flame,” he growled. “No two have ever emerged victorious.”

“We didn’t tamper with anything,” Ren replied, ember still glowing in his hand. “The flame chose us both.”

Lady Itsume, the High Seer, stepped forward, face unreadable behind her veil. “This has never happened in the history of the Trials.”

“Perhaps history is the problem,” Kaede said. “You created these rules based on fear. We’re not here to play your game.”

Lord Kanzuro’s voice sharpened. “You mock the Trials. The law of inheritance. The order of the Empire.”

Kaede met his gaze. “We’re not here to inherit anything. We’re here to protect what matters. And right now, your Trials are failing us.”

A heavy silence followed. The embers in their hands pulsed in sync silver light beating like twin hearts.

Then, from the shadows of the arena, a voice rang out:

“No… They’ve awakened something.”

Everyone turned.

The cloaked cultist from Kaede’s earlier vision stepped into the open, disguised among the crowd. His mask bore the mark of the Eclipse. Guards rushed toward him but he raised a hand, and shadows erupted in a circle around him, flinging them back like rag dolls.

Kaede leapt forward, sword drawn. “Ren!”

But Ren was already moving, ember still blazing in one hand, blade drawn in the other.

The cultist pointed a crooked staff toward them. “Two embers? Two souls linked by fire and fate? The Black Moon rejoices!”

He slammed the staff into the earth.

A black sigil ignited beneath his feet then cracked wide open.

From the ground rose something monstrous: a creature of shadow and bone, cloaked in smoke, wearing dozens of screaming masks.

A trial within the victory.

The crowd screamed. Nobles fled. Kanzuro shouted for archers. Masaru drew his blade.

But the twins didn’t run.

They ran toward the creature.

Kaede slashed at its limbs, forcing it back, her ember flashing with silver heat. Ren struck at its core, each blow powered not by rage but by clarity. The flames that had once tested them now fought with them.

The creature screamed as its masks began to crack, one by one.

And then

Kaede and Ren locked eyes.

They leapt together, blades crossing in the air, embers flaring with unnatural brilliance. With a twin cry, they drove their swords into the creature’s chest.

 BOOM.

The beast exploded into ash and silence.

Only the wind remained.

Later, in the private chambers of the Seers…

Lady Itsume stood alone before a starmap of ancient prophecies. The lines once written in ink had begun to shift rewriting themselves.

“The Black Moon accelerates,” she whispered. “And the twins are not following the script.”

Behind her, Masaru spoke quietly. “What should we do?”

She didn’t turn.

“We watch. We wait. And we pray they never turn on each other…”

In a forgotten temple beyond the city…

The cultist knelt before a being cloaked in black feathers and fire.

“They survived the Second Trial. Both of them.”

The figure nodded slowly.

“Then it’s time we turn one against the other.”