Maelin's note just kinda hung there, hanging on the edge of morning, like the sun was thinking about showing up but hadn't quite committed.
Tharos didn't move. His flame-thing body was twitchy, flickering like a candle just about to give up. Dead quiet in the busted-up amphitheater, except for this low, sad rumble from him. Grief, not anger. Weird, right?
He looked at her, voice all smoky and tired. "Where'd you learn that note?"
She shrugged, breathing a little shaky. "Didn't really learn it. I just… felt it. Like it was yours. Or who you used to be, or something."
Kaelen, bless him, took a step back—like, "Nope, not my scene." Smart guy.
Tharos dropped his eyelids shut. You could actually see the stone cooling around him, the ember-cracks on his skin fading out, not so rage-y anymore. He put a hand to his chest, right where his Choir sigil used to blaze, and now—hey, look at that—it was glowing again. Barely, but still.
"It's the Dawn Chord," he finally said, voice all soft and distant. "The first song we ever did together. Before we were legends. Just… voices making light."
Maelin's eyes got all watery. Classic.
"Then let's remember it," she said. Like it was that easy.
So they sang. Not some epic battle anthem, not a challenge. Just two people, patching together a memory as best they could. The tune was all messed up, half-forgotten, but somehow it made the air shimmer. Tharos's flames kicked up, spinning into shapes—kids chasing stars, seven voices in a circle, and right there in the middle… Elara.
The song ended. Tharos dropped to his knees, like the weight of the whole world just hit him at once.
"I've been burning for so long," he whispered, "I forgot what warmth felt like when it wasn't tearing something apart."
Kaelen finally came up, real gentle, hand on the edge of the throne. "You remembered before it was too late," he said. "Not everyone does."
Tharos got to his feet, flames gone all gold now—way less murdery. He handed Maelin this obsidian shard shaped like a music note, kinda glowing.
"The next one's waiting where sound can't go," he said. "Stillwater Caverns."
She tucked it away, no questions. Kaelen and Maelin headed out, and Tharos just stood there, watching as the stars started coming back—one of 'em shining somewhere new.
Meanwhile, way across the world, deep in that pitch-black Stillwater, someone—or something—drew a breath.
Looks like another piece of the Choir's about to wake up. Hold onto your hats.