Night fell over the rebel camp like a velvet curtain laced with silver stars. Tents rustled. Fires crackled low. But in the command tent, no one slept.
Maps were spread across a wooden table. Auren pointed to the walled city of Kirevale, nestled between two hills.
> "They keep a small garrison here—enough to scare farmers, not fight rebels."
Garran leaned in. "But there's a bell tower in the center. Once that rings, the soldiers from the next post will ride. We'll have an hour at most."
Elira stood in silence, studying every mark. She wasn't the girl who had once cowered in Emberlight Home. Not anymore.
> "We divide into three groups. One hits the gates. The second disrupts the barracks. The third—me—heads for the bell tower."
Auren tensed. "You'll go alone?"
> "No. I'll take fire with me."
A moment of silence passed as the others processed her meaning. Elira wasn't just a symbol now. She was a weapon.
---
Before dawn, the rebels moved like shadows across the plain. Silent. Swift. Determined.
From a high ridge, Elira watched the lights of Kirevale flicker below. Her fingers twitched with the pulse of magic beneath her skin—hot, coiled, ready.
> "You don't have to lead this charge," Auren said quietly beside her. "Let me go instead."
She shook her head. "They need to see me. The people need to see their fire is alive."
Auren reached for her hand.
> "Then I go with you."
---
The attack began with a burst of flame that shattered the eastern gate. Panic spread through the city like wildfire.
Citizens ran, guards scrambled—and atop the bell tower, Elira stood in the open wind.
She raised her arms. Fire curled from her palms, gold and wild. Her eyes glowed with a fury older than kings.
> "I am Elira of Emberlight," she shouted, her voice echoing across the city.
> "The Crown may call me cursed—but I bring the fire they buried. I bring the truth they fear."
And with a cry, she hurled the flame skyward.
It exploded above Kirevale in a dazzling arc—like a phoenix reborn. No one could ignore her now. Not the poor in the streets. Not the nobles in their keeps. Not the Council hiding behind walls of law.
---
Hours later, as dawn broke over the smoking city, Elira stood with Auren in the town square. The people gathered around her—afraid, awed, and waiting.
> "What happens now?" someone asked.
Elira looked to the horizon, where the capital slumbered, unaware of the fire now rising from the ashes.
> "Now," she said, "we make the Crown remember who this kingdom truly belongs to."