Chapter 15 - THE GIRL WHO WOULD NOT KILL HER FRIEND TWICE
The bone guardian advanced through the market square.
Each step cracked the cobblestones.
Its enormous arms dragged across the ground, crushing abandoned stalls and wooden carts.
The civilians screamed.
Aldric ordered his soldiers to form a defensive line.
“PROTECT THE FAMILIES!”
The creature raised one massive fist.
Aldric barely pushed two children out of the way before the blow shattered the street.
Elara stood frozen.
Across the creature’s chest, among dozens of carved names, she had seen Mira’s.
Her friend.
The girl who had shared her bread.
The girl who planned to escape the palace and open a bakery.
Now even her remains had been stolen.
Kael rushed toward Elara.
“Elara!”
She couldn’t answer.
The bone guardian lifted a ruined cart and hurled it toward a crowd.
Elara raised her hand.
Golden fire destroyed the cart before it struck.
Then she turned toward Theron.
“Can we free the souls?”
The scholar stared at the creature.
“Perhaps. But destroying the body may release the bound spirits violently.”
“Then we don’t destroy it.”
Aldric looked toward her.
“That thing is killing people!”
Elara stepped forward.
“Then help me stop it without destroying what’s trapped inside.”
She approached the guardian.
Its hollow eyes glowed crimson.
A voice emerged from its chest.
Not one voice.
Hundreds.
Help us.
Elara felt tears rise.
She remembered Nareth.
She remembered the nameless dead.
Then she raised both hands.
“Tell me your names.”
The creature lunged.
Kael intercepted it with his sword.
Aldric struck its leg, forcing it to stumble.
Elara continued.
“Tell me who you were before they made you this!”
Golden light spread across the creature.
Names began appearing in the air.
Mira Solen.
Darian Holt.
Lysa Merrow.
Tobin Vale.
Hundreds of names.
Hundreds of lives.
Elara spoke them aloud.
One by one.
Every name caused another crack to appear in the creature’s armor.
The voices grew clearer.
Then a familiar voice reached her.
Elara.
She froze.
“Mira?”
A small figure appeared inside the golden light.
A young woman with laughing brown eyes.
She wore the same worn servant’s dress Elara remembered.
Mira smiled sadly.
You finally left the palace.
Elara began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
For what?
“I couldn’t save you.”
Mira stepped closer.
You were only a child.
Elara shook her head.
“I should have done something.”
You are doing something now.
Mira looked toward the frightened families behind her.
Keep them safe.
The golden light brightened.
Mira’s spirit joined the others.
Together, the trapped souls rose from the creature’s body.
The bone armor collapsed harmlessly.
The street fell silent.
For several seconds, Elara remained on her knees.
Then Mara stepped forward from the crowd.
She had heard her daughter’s voice.
She had seen her face in the light.
Mara approached Elara.
“Was that really her?”
Elara nodded through tears.
Mara knelt beside her.
“Did she suffer?”
Elara took her hand.
“She isn’t suffering anymore.”
Mara began sobbing.
The two women held each other as the sunlight broke through the clouds.
That evening, Kael found Elara sitting alone beside the ruins of the market.
He sat beside her.
Neither spoke for a while.
Then Elara whispered, “I thought becoming powerful would mean I could stop feeling helpless.”
Kael looked toward her.
“Did it?”
“No.”
She wiped her eyes.
“I still couldn’t bring Mira back.”
Kael gently took her hand.
“Maybe power isn’t about undoing every loss.”
Elara looked at him.
“Then what is it?”
He glanced toward the families receiving food.
“Making sure fewer people suffer the same way.”
She leaned against his shoulder.
For the first time, she allowed herself to grieve without demanding that grief become strength.
Then Theron arrived with urgent news.
The Guardian of Embers was calling.
May you like
Mount Veyr had begun erupting.
And beneath its burning summit, the Fourth Flame was dying.
