Chapter 18 - THE TOWER ABOVE THE END OF THE WORLD
The Sixth Flame waited inside a tower suspended above an endless abyss.
Elara reached it through a celestial gateway beneath the Desert of Forgotten Names.
The tower was built from transparent crystal, floating in darkness filled with distant stars.
No bridge connected it to the entrance.
Only a narrow path of invisible stones stretched across the void.
Theron examined the ancient journal.
“The Sixth Guardian is called Aethros, Keeper of Trust.”
Kael looked toward the empty darkness.
“Of course it is.”
Elara almost smiled.
Their argument at the Temple of Silence remained unresolved.
Kael had concealed information about the prophecy.
He had wanted to spare her fear.
But Elara was tired of others deciding which truths she could bear.
She stepped toward the abyss.
A voice echoed.
Only two may cross.
A figure with enormous white wings appeared above the tower.
Its face was hidden behind a mask of crystal.
One must see the path. The other must carry the light.
Elara examined her wrist.
Six symbols were visible, but only five glowed.
She turned toward Kael.
He slowly stepped beside her.
“Together?”
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Together.”
The invisible path appeared only to Elara.
But the celestial lantern appeared only in Kael’s hands.
Without her guidance, he would fall.
Without his light, the path would disappear.
They began crossing.
“Left,” Elara whispered.
Kael stepped left.
“Forward.”
He obeyed.
Halfway across, the tower began rotating.
The stars shifted.
Elara lost sight of the next stone.
Kael raised the lantern.
A faint outline appeared.
“There!”
They moved carefully.
Then a shadow formed between them.
It took the shape of Seraphine.
“Kael,” the illusion whispered. “Your mother is dying.”
The Prince froze.
Elara seized his arm.
“Don’t listen.”
Another illusion appeared.
Lyanna.
She reached toward Elara.
“My daughter, come home.”
Elara felt her resolve falter.
Then she remembered Nareth.
The visions were not necessarily lies.
But they were weapons designed to exploit love.
She looked toward Kael.
“Keep walking.”
The Prince nodded.
The illusions followed.
Seraphine begged.
Lyanna cried.
Then the darkness showed Kael’s death.
Elara saw him lying in her arms while the seven flames consumed the palace.
She stopped.
Kael noticed.
“What did you see?”
Elara wanted to lie.
To protect him.
To preserve hope.
Instead, she answered.
“I saw you die.”
The Prince looked toward the abyss.
Then back at her.
“Did you see how?”
“No.”
“Then it isn’t decided.”
She stared.
Kael smiled sadly.
“We don’t get to choose whether we’re afraid. Only what we do while we’re afraid.”
He extended his hand.
“Trust me.”
Elara took it.
They crossed the final stones together.
The guardian descended.
The Sixth Flame is yours.
Silver light entered Elara’s wrist.
The sixth symbol awakened.
But Aethros did not disappear.
Instead, he lowered his wings.
The covenant is older than Aurion.
Elara stepped forward.
“Then who created it?”
The guardian looked toward the distant stars.
Eight sisters and brothers once guarded the boundary between worlds.
Theron froze.
“Eight?”
Aethros nodded.
Aurion erased the Eighth Guardian from history.
Elara felt an icy sensation.
“Why?”
Because she refused to let him control the others.
An image appeared above the tower.
A woman wearing a crown of white fire stood before seven celestial guardians.
Her eyes resembled Elara’s.
Her wrist bore eight flames.
Aethros whispered:
Her name was Asteria.
Elara stared.
“And what happened to her?”
The guardian lowered his head.
Aurion imprisoned her beyond the western ocean.
Then the tower shook.
A distant voice emerged from the abyss.
A woman’s voice.
Little sister.
Elara staggered backward.
May you like
The voice whispered again.
Do not trust the First King.
