The fire around me began to shift—still searing, still golden—but no longer blazing with the kind of heat that threatened to consume me whole. It had become warm, almost tender to the touch. Don't get me wrong, I know fire. I am fire. My entire body was reforged in it, reborn through flame. But this? This flame was different. It was hotter than anything I'd ever felt—and that's saying something. Hot enough to make even me hesitate, to make me wonder if stepping forward might mean surrendering everything. If it truly wanted to, this fire could devour me, burn my soul down to its roots. It wasn't just divine—it felt supported by an entire planet, by something ancient and alive... and by the person inside the barrier.
I watched as the wall of flame melted away, dissolving into cinders that drifted upward like ash-born stars, carried off by a gentle wind. It was quiet. Beautiful. Sacred. And then I saw her.
The one who had waited behind the barrier.
