Chapter 20: Shadows in the Flame
A thick silence fell over the council chamber.
The girl trembled on her knees, clutching her wrist where the strange sigil still glowed faintly. It looked like a circle—fractured in the middle, its edges scorched black. None of the elders recognized it. But Murong Jing He did.
His eyes narrowed, unreadable.
"What's your name?" he asked.
The girl lifted her head. Her eyes shimmered with something between fear and awe.
"Yin Luo. I'm from the South Desert region. My clan… we were dreamwatchers. Until the dreams began to kill."
Mei Xiao stepped forward slowly, brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"I kept seeing you." Yin Luo pointed to her. "In fire. In chains. Then not you… but someone like you. Older. Brighter. Wings of flame… eyes of light. And then darkness swallowing her."
Mei Xiao's heart beat faster.
"You said the seal was incomplete," Jing He said calmly. "What seal?"
Yin Luo hesitated, then pulled a small wooden shard from her sash. On it was etched the same phoenix sigil from the scroll—but cracked. Split down the middle.
"The seal the Phoenix Queen made… generations ago. She divided her power into seven fragments, scattered across the realm. Only two have ever been recovered. Yours…" She looked at Mei Xiao, eyes wide. "...is the third."
Gasps echoed.
One elder rose, slamming his cane. "Nonsense! These are old myths—fairy tales used to scare novices!"
But another elder, quieter, paler, stared at the shard in Yin Luo's hand. "I've seen that before. In the ancient scroll vault… the records marked it 'Fragmentum Ignis' — Flame's Fracture."
Mei Xiao's skin prickled. "So I don't have all the Phoenix's power?"
Yin Luo shook her head. "No. But it's waking up… and the others will feel it."
Jing He spoke then, voice calm but hard. "If the fragments are awakening, then the Obsidian Sect will hunt them too."
"And me," Mei whispered.
Yin Luo nodded. "Especially you."
Just then, the flames in the wall lanterns flickered unnaturally. The air dropped in temperature. Everyone froze.
And from outside, a scream rang out — sharp, guttural, inhuman.
"Looks like they didn't wait long," Mei Xiao muttered.
Jing He turned sharply to the guards. "Secure the inner wall. No one leaves the estate without my order."
Then to Mei Xiao, eyes locked with hers.
"You and I—we need to talk. Alone."
---