The vision didn't fade.
Not with the throne behind her.
Not with Kael's hands gripping her shoulders.
Not with the sea crashing far below, as if the world itself was howling in protest.
Eira stood locked in it.
Her brother.
Her twin.
Bound in a chamber of ash and chains, eyes lit with a pale fire that wasn't hers. His skin was marbled with flame-veins, flickering across his collarbones, his throat, his hands-just like hers when her powers flared.
But his... they didn't burn red.
They pulsed black.
Hollow.
"Eira," he said in the vision, "they told you I died. But I lived. I've always lived. Waiting in the dark you were meant to share with me."
And then he smiled.
Not cruelly.
Tragically.
---
The Aftershock
She stumbled back, gasping.
Kael caught her, eyes wide, voice sharp. "What did you see?"
Naima steadied her from the other side. "Eira?"
Her voice came raw. "He's alive. And he's not lost. He's waiting. He thinks I abandoned him."
Lysathe paled. "Then he is no longer your twin."
Kharion stepped forward, expression unreadable. "He is your mirror, Yreyth'ael. The fire that was carved in half. One part burned clean. The other... festered."
Kael's jaw clenched. "And now he's what? The Hollow's host?"
"No," Kharion said slowly. "He's becoming its heart."
---
Kael Breaks
Later that night, Eira stood alone on the tower's balcony, wind ripping through her hair, the stars overhead warped by the sea's cursed mist.
Kael came up behind her, arms folded, eyes haunted.
"You didn't tell me you were thinking of going to him," he said quietly.
She turned. "I wasn't going to hide it."
He didn't believe her. She could see it in the way his gaze darted away. The way his voice cracked.
"I watched you almost lose yourself in that vision. I saw what it did to you. And I-" he shook his head- "I can't protect you if you run toward him."
"You don't have to protect me," she whispered. "You just have to stand beside me."
He closed the space between them in a breath, took her hands.
"I can't just stand beside you, Eira. I'm in love with you. And I'm terrified you'll choose him over everything."
Her chest tightened.
And then-
"I'm not choosing him. I'm choosing truth."
Kael stepped back, and for the first time, he looked afraid of her.
---
Naima's Warning
Down below, Naima stirred her potions in silence, the glow of her runes dancing like little suns.
Lysathe sat across from her, eyes on the horizon.
"You saw the mirror too," Naima said. "Didn't you?"
Lysathe nodded.
"And?"
"She becomes fire incarnate," Lysathe whispered. "But she does not burn alone."
Naima stilled. "Kael?"
"No." Her voice dropped. "Him."
---
The Raven's Return
Before dawn, a raven black as pitch landed on the tower's spire. Its wings were torn, stitched by shadow. Its eyes glowed blue.
It spoke in a language none of the living knew.
Except Eira.
She rose from her bed, bare feet touching cold stone. The bird stood still.
And then it opened its beak.
From it came a whisper-
"Come to me, sister."
The direction was clear.
West.
Past the Veil.
Into the Hollow's gate.
Her brother was calling.