The sky bled red.
From the shattered cliffs of the Hollow Temple, the horizon cracked open with ominous clouds—twisting like claws, bleeding shadow across the sun. Lightning forked silently. No thunder followed. The world was holding its breath.
Aira stood still, her heart echoing with the last words Lucien left behind.
The bond you feel right now—it's your weapon and your curse.
Behind her, Leo leaned against a jagged column, breath steadier now, but the wound on his shoulder still glowed faintly.
Kairo sharpened his blade, his gaze fixed on the east. "They're not wasting time. Something's coming."
"They already know I awakened the seal," Aira whispered. "They felt it."
A gust of cold wind howled through the broken arches of the temple. The ghost murals flickered—one of them changed. It now showed a throne of bone… and a crown of black fire.
Kairo's eyes narrowed. "That symbol… That's the Court of Shadows."
Leo stood straight. "They were disbanded centuries ago. Their bloodline was destroyed."
Aira shook her head. "No. They just went deeper underground."
Suddenly, the air grew heavy.
A presence entered the temple.
Three cloaked figures materialized by the edge of the broken seal. They wore robes of silver and ash, faces hidden behind jagged masks. One held a staff laced with runes; another carried a chained book that bled ink.
The third stepped forward.
Her voice was smooth as ice. "Flamebearer… the Court welcomes your awakening."
Kairo stepped in front of Aira instinctively. "She didn't ask for your welcome."
"We didn't come to offer choice," the woman replied. "Only prophecy."
She lifted the staff. The ground before them parted, revealing a spiral of runes glowing deep red.
"You have opened the third seal. The fourth will rise with blood. The fifth will rise with betrayal."
"And the sixth?" Aira asked, her voice firm.
The woman tilted her head. "The sixth will rise with love. And fall with death."
Aira's breath caught.
Leo took her hand.
The masked woman turned to him. "And you… Prince of the Broken Sigil. Your mark has not awakened yet. But it will. The Devil's Heir is more than a title. It is a burden your soul has forgotten."
Leo's jaw clenched. "I'm nothing like him."
"Yet your blood remembers," she replied.
The spiral of runes began to collapse into ash, as if time itself rejected their presence. The figures started fading.
"One more thing, Flamebearer," the woman said, voice distant now. "Lucien is not the enemy… but he is not your ally either."
"Then who is?" Aira called out.
The final whisper echoed as the last of them vanished—
"Not even your heart will choose right."
Silence fell again.
But something inside Aira broke loose—like a tether finally snapped.
She turned to Leo. "What is the Broken Sigil?"
Leo looked away, shadows passing over his expression. "I… I don't know. My father never told me. Just that it was cursed. That I should never speak of it."
Kairo stepped closer. "We need to leave. If the Court found us here, others will too."
Aira stared at the cracked seal, the red runes burned into her mind.
And far below, deep in the cavern's veins—something stirred.
A pulse.
A beat.
A new seal... waiting to be found.
Waiting to be fed.
The moment they stepped out of the Hollow Temple, the sky shifted again—an unnatural twilight settling despite the midday sun. Shadows rippled unnaturally across the ground, whispering secrets in tongues Aira couldn't decipher.
Leo held her hand tightly, his warmth grounding her in the chaos.
"We're being watched," Kairo muttered, unsheathing a second blade from his boot.
Aira could feel it too. Not just eyes—but presence. A slithering coldness brushing against her magic, testing its edges like a predator teasing its prey.
"They know the seal broke," she murmured. "They're testing how strong I've become."
Leo turned to her, his golden eyes serious. "How strong are you, Aira?"
"I don't know," she replied honestly. "But I'm not afraid to find out."
Suddenly, a blur of black mist slammed into the earth ahead of them, cracking the rocks.
A figure emerged—tall, dressed in dark armor forged from shadow and fire. His face was half-covered by a metal mask, and his eyes glowed a faint blue.
"Lucien," Kairo breathed, stepping back slightly.
Aira's heart thudded. "You came."
Lucien's lips curled. "I always come when the seals shift. But I'm not here to fight."
Leo stood protectively between them. "Then why are you here?"
Lucien's gaze flicked to Aira. "To warn her."
He walked closer, the mist parting around him.
"They're coming for the Heart Relic next. It's hidden in the River of Sighs. If they reach it before you… the seventh seal will fracture early."
Kairo frowned. "You're helping us now?"
Lucien smirked. "I'm helping her. Because if she falls too soon, this entire world burns—including me."
Aira stepped forward. "What happens if the seventh seal breaks before the others?"
Lucien's voice dropped low. "Then death wins. There'll be no balance left. Only chaos."
Leo growled under his breath. "And how do we know this isn't part of your plan?"
"You don't," Lucien answered simply. "But ask yourself, prince—what kind of enemy warns you of the storm before it hits?"
With that, he vanished into a swirl of black mist, leaving a silver pendant glowing faintly on the ground.
Aira bent down and picked it up.
It pulsed in her hand like a heartbeat.
"A tracker," Kairo said, inspecting it. "Or… a key."
Leo stared at it warily. "Maybe both."
Aira clenched it in her palm.
"No more hiding," she said firmly. "If the River of Sighs is next, then we'll get there first."
Lightning cracked again in the sky, louder this time—as if the heavens themselves were waking.
They began walking.
But none of them noticed the shadows in the trees parting.
And from far above, cloaked in an invisible veil, a girl with silver eyes whispered into a magical stone:
"She's moving. The Devil's Heir is with her. Tell the Queen… the Empress must not reach the river.
The journey to the River of Sighs was nothing short of a descent into the unknown.
Trees grew twisted and black the closer they drew to the hidden valley where the river supposedly lay. The once vibrant grasslands were now cloaked in gray mist, and even the birds had gone silent.
Kairo moved ahead of the group, ever watchful, blades drawn. Leo stayed close to Aira, his hand never straying far from hers. There was an urgency in his steps, a tension in his jaw.
"Why is it called the River of Sighs?" Aira finally asked.
Kairo glanced back. "Because it listens."
Aira blinked. "Listens?"
Leo answered softly. "It's said to echo the last regrets of every soul that passes by. If you hear your own voice in the sighs… it means the river sees your greatest sorrow."
Aira's throat tightened. "And if you don't listen?"
"Then you walk safely," Kairo said. "But no one has ever resisted the temptation to listen."
Soon, the mist cleared, and the sound of water reached them—soft at first, then louder, more haunting. It was like whispers… like sighs.
They stood at the riverbank, staring at the crystal-clear water flowing gently through a bed of glowing stones. The surface shimmered with magic.
"This is it," Leo said. "The Heart Relic is somewhere beneath."
Aira stepped forward, but a sudden flash of red stopped her.
"Wait," Kairo said, throwing a blade into the water.
It vanished instantly—and then the ground shook.
A gigantic creature, made entirely of water and light, rose from the riverbed. Its face was featureless, but its body shifted like liquid armor. It spoke, though its mouth didn't move.
"Who seeks the Heart that binds the world?"
Aira raised her chin. "I do. Aira Valen. Empress of the Northern Flame, Bearer of the Fifth Seal."
The creature tilted its head.
"Then you must offer a truth you've never spoken. A sorrow that still binds you."
Silence fell.
Leo stepped forward. "You don't have to—"
Aira held out her hand to stop him. She stepped closer to the river guardian, the mist brushing her skin.
"My truth…" she whispered, "is that I was glad when my mother died."
Leo's eyes widened. Kairo froze.
Aira's voice broke, but she continued, "Not because I hated her. But because I was free. Free from her shadows. Free from being her puppet. I've never told anyone… because I was ashamed."
The guardian remained still.
Then, slowly, it bowed.
"The truth has been spoken. The river accepts you."
The water split, revealing a glowing crystal heart nestled in the riverbed.
Aira reached down and grasped it.
The moment her fingers closed around the relic, a surge of power tore through her—visions of a burning city, screaming voices, Lucien's eyes glowing red, and Leo lying bloody on the ground—
She gasped and collapsed into Leo's arms.
"Aira!" he held her tightly.
"I saw… I saw the end," she choked out. "And it begins… with me."
The Heart Relic pulsed in Aira's hands—warm, alive, ancient.
She blinked rapidly, still shaken from the visions that had flooded her mind. "I saw fire. Blood. Lucien…" Her voice trembled. "He was smiling."
Kairo stiffened. "Lucien?"
Leo's grip tightened around her. "Did he hurt you in the vision?"
"No," she whispered. "He was watching me destroy everything. And he smiled like he wanted it to happen."
Before anyone could respond, the river trembled again.
The Guardian's voice boomed, "You are not alone. Another bearer approaches."
"Another bearer?" Kairo turned sharply.
Suddenly, the air grew colder. Shadows slithered along the surface of the water, and a second figure appeared on the far bank—a woman cloaked in black, her face hidden under a veil. Her steps made no sound, yet the earth seemed to recoil beneath her.
"I told you we should've brought snacks," Leo muttered, trying to lighten the mood. "All this dramatic tension is making me hungry."
Kairo didn't even crack a smile. "Be quiet. That's not just any woman. That's..."
The figure removed her veil.
"Vivara," Aira said through clenched teeth.
The Sorceress of Echo Peaks. Traitor to the Crown. And the one who once tried to steal Aira's voice with forbidden spells.
"Miss me?" Vivara grinned wickedly. "I heard the river was granting relics to anyone brave enough to spill their darkest secrets. So here I am… ready to tell mine."
Aira stood, still weak but furious. "This relic isn't for you. You gave up your right to magic when you betrayed the realm."
Vivara chuckled. "Funny. I thought I gave it up when I trusted your council of cowards. Besides… the river doesn't care about sides. It listens to truth."
Then she turned to the Guardian and spoke with a sudden, eerie softness.
"My truth?" she said. "I killed my own sister to take her magic."
The Guardian shuddered, the waters hissing in response.
Leo raised a brow. "Well… at least she's honest."
Vivara grinned again, darker this time. "The river accepts my truth. So why don't we let it decide who deserves the Heart more?"
Before anyone could stop her, she raised a hand—and a blast of black energy shot straight toward Aira.
Kairo deflected it with a blade of light, snarling. "Get behind me!"
But Aira didn't move. The relic in her hand began to glow, answering her will. She raised it instinctively, and the blast turned to mist midair.
Vivara's eyes widened. "So, it's already chosen you. How disappointing."
She snapped her fingers—and from behind her, shadows exploded from the riverbank, forming creatures with glowing blue eyes.
Leo groaned. "Shadow hounds. Great. Just what I needed today. If one bites my coat again, I'm going to scream."
"Leo, maybe focus on not dying first?" Aira yelled as the first beast lunged.
Kairo was already moving like a blur, slicing down the first two with ease.
"Protect the relic!" he shouted.
Aira ducked behind a rock, heart pounding. She clutched the relic to her chest, feeling its heat seep into her bones.
Then she heard a whisper in her mind.
"Use me… or lose him."
Her eyes snapped up—to Leo, pinned beneath a shadow hound.
"No!" she screamed, and the relic answered.
With a brilliant flash, a wave of golden fire erupted from her, sweeping across the battlefield and disintegrating every shadow in its path.
Even Vivara stumbled, shielding her face.
"You've barely scratched the surface of that power," Vivara hissed. "But don't worry. I'll be back for the rest."
She vanished in a blink, swallowed by her own shadows.
Silence returned—only the river still whispering.
Leo sat up, coughing. "Okay, next time, can we fight somewhere with fewer monsters and more sandwiches?"
Aira let out a laugh she didn't know she had left. "I'll think about it."
Kairo sheathed his blade. "You held your ground, Empress."
But Aira didn't feel victorious.
Because deep down… she knew Vivara's attack was just a warning.
And Lucien… Lucien was still smiling in her mind.