⚖️ Council in Panic
"It cannot be allowed."
The High Council of Ember gathered in a hidden chamber beneath the eastern spire — six archmages, each cloaked in layered robes stitched with arcane flame.
Headmaster Verrick slammed his hand on the flame-table.
> "They completed the Dreambound Pact. Without permission. Without control."
Councilor Marlan, blindfolded and glowing faintly, turned his head. "Without precedent."
Councilor Vira leaned forward, voice like cold steel. "The Flamebloom Crest hasn't appeared since the First Fracture."
> "And now it blooms again — tied to the Uncrowned," Verrick spat.
"They've turned this school into a rebellion seedbed."
Councilor Eline's voice trembled. "Then we pluck the seed before it grows."
> "Exile?"
"No."
"Execution."
---
🕯️ Back in the Garden
Rael stood beneath the newly revived Flame Tree, watching petals drift like embers in slow motion.
Lumiera stood across from him, no longer unsure. The silver-violet fire in her eyes was calm — confident.
> "They're going to come for us," he said quietly.
> "Let them."
> "We broke every law."
> "Then we build new ones."
They didn't hold hands. They didn't need to.
Their souls were already bound — and it showed.
Each step they took echoed with power that hadn't walked this world in a century.
---
🐍 The First Strike
It began with poison.
A student loyal to the council — a boy from House Solren — slipped a flame-spike trap into Rael's dorm floor.
Rael stepped on it mid-stride… and the spike bent.
Melted.
> "Tell the council," Rael said without turning, "if they want me dead, they'll have to do better than cheap relics."
Then he turned to the stunned boy.
> "Next time," he added, voice cold, "I won't miss your neck."
The rebellion had begun.
---
🌌 Meanwhile: Beyond the Border
Far from the Academy, across the Ashmoon Range, a man in scorched armor stood at the edge of a ruined shrine.
He stared up at the torn sky — stars flickering unnaturally.
His name was Caelen Durn.
Once, he had been a crownbearer.
Now, he was the Betrayed Flame.
> "So," he whispered, sensing the blooming sigil in the distance,
"you finally remembered who you are… little prince."
He raised a twisted blade — pulsing with voidfire.
> "Let's see if you remember what you did to me."
---
🔥 Lumiera's Revelation
That night, Lumiera found herself awake under the Flame Tree, the blooming petals glowing faintly.
She touched one — and saw a vision.
> Rael.
At the old throne.
Crown in his hands.
Blood at his feet.
And beside him…
> Caelen, dying.
Saying: "You chose power over your brother."
Lumiera gasped.
> "They were brothers…"
The truth shattered something inside her.
Rael had killed the man who now returned for vengeance.
But worse — he had done it to claim the throne.
---
🌒 The Division
Rael sensed her from behind.
"You saw it, didn't you?"
She turned slowly. "You never told me."
He nodded once. "Because it's my sin. Not yours."
"You said they killed us. But you… killed him first."
Rael stepped forward.
"I chose the kingdom. Over blood. Over love. Over myself."
"And now?" she whispered.
He looked at her, flames flickering behind his pupils.
> "Now, I choose you."
---
🩸 Final Scene: An Oath Rekindled
Far away, in a forgotten ruin, Caelen carved a sigil into stone — the Shadow Crown.
Dark petals fell around him — flowers made of ash and void.
> "Let them build their flame throne," he hissed.
"I will be the crown's shadow. And I will burn last."
---
End of Chapter 20