Chapter 38 When The Flame Whisper Back

• The rain hadn’t stopped in two days. It fell in sheets, not cleansing but heavy, like the skies wept for everything they had once witnessed and failed to save. Kael stood at the edge of the battlements, cloak soaked through, hair slicked back with water and wind, eyes locked on the distant hills—where smoke curled faintly despite the storm. Behind him, the world was moving—he could feel it in the hum of soldiers’ boots, in the muttering of generals, in the silence that had become too common in the halls once ruled by music and laughter. Elira had not spoken since they crossed the border. Not really. She answered questions when pressed, but her voice had changed—quieter, more deliberate. Like something inside her was holding its breath. She was flame-bound and goddess-marked now, and the weight of that title was swallowing the girl he once knew.
• Kael turned slowly when he heard her footsteps. She didn’t bother with a cloak. She never did. Rain beaded against her skin like it feared to touch her.
• “They’ve breached the western gate,” she said, voice steady, eyes unreadable. “We have until dawn. Maybe less.”