Chapter 1: Arrival at Aetherion*

The rain hit the car like it wanted in.

Not soft. Not cleansing.

Angry.

Eliar sat in the back seat, hands clenched, watching the towering iron gates of Aetherion Academycome into view through the windshield. They loomed like they were built to keep things *in*, not out.

"You're sure about this?" the driver asked, not looking at him.

No. He wasn’t.

But Eliar nodded anyway.

The moment the gates groaned open, something shifted in his chest. Like a chain tightening. A whisper in a language he didn’t know scraped across the edge of his mind.

“It begins again.”

He blinked. Nothing. Just the storm.

Aetherion was nothing like the brochures. The castle-like buildings were carved into the mountain, with bridges that vanished into mist and towers that kissed thunderclouds. The students, scattered in black uniforms with silver insignias, didn’t look like teenagers. They looked like royalty preparing for war.

And when Eliar stepped onto the stone pathway, it felt like the school breathed in his presence.

And then exhaled.

***

The Headmistress barely looked up as she handed him his schedule.

“You’ve been placed in the Obsidian Wing. Your dorm is shared. Room 317.”

“Shared?” he asked.

She smiled without warmth. “You’ll find your roommate… stimulating.”

Eliar didn’t ask further. His head throbbed, and the air in the office was too heavy. Like secrets hung in it like smoke.

***

Room 317.

He pushed the door open.

And stopped.

The boy by the window didn’t flinch. Didn’t turn.

He had silver hair, too white to be dyed, and sat perfectly still in a chair, reading a black book with no title. His presence was like a blade — still, but dangerous.

“You’re the new one?” the boy asked without looking.

“Yeah. Eliar.”

A pause.

Then the boy finally turned.

His eyes were a color Eliar couldn’t name. Somewhere between mercury and shadow.

“I’m Kael,” he said. “You snore, you die.”

Eliar smirked. “Noted.”

But deep down, something *coiled*.

Because when their eyes locked, the whisper came back. Louder this time.

“You were meant to destroy each other.”

And Kael blinked, as if he’d heard it too.

***

That night, Eliar dreamt of fire.

Of a throne made of bone. Of Kael, bleeding from his eyes, whispering, “It has to be you.”

He woke up gasping.

Across the room, Kael stood at the window again.

Staring at the moon like he hated it.

And whispered, not to him, but maybe to fate:

“Why now?”

---

Hey 👋 guys . Hwu so how is the story engaging you so far . So this is the modification of Flames of Destiny: Inferno Flames because l lost my phone and l chose a new account and l lost the last book l really hope that this one will satisfy you more than the last book and let us all share our opinions on this story and venture deep into it .

Love 💕 so much.

And l would really love your comments on this chapter okay 🆗👍.

Sarangeo. Mwaah😘😘😘

Chapter 2: Ashes Don’t Lie

The window was open.

The wind curled in — sharp, unnatural. Not the breeze of night, but something colder. Intentional.

Eliar’s heart pounded in his throat as he blinked away the remnants of the nightmare. His skin was slick with sweat, but the room was freezing.

Across the space, Kael stood barefoot at the window, one hand resting against the frame, his other clutching that same black book from earlier.

“You dreamt it too, didn’t you?” Kael asked softly, not turning.

Eliar sat up, throat dry. “What… what was that?”

Kael didn’t answer.

Instead, he finally turned, and the wind slammed the window shut behind him with a force that made the glass quake.

“I don’t like roommates,” Kael said flatly. “But I especially don’t like sleeping near *triggers.*”

Eliar flinched. “What do you mean, ‘triggers’?”

Kael’s expression was unreadable. “You smell like old blood and forgotten things. You feel like… war.”

Eliar tried to laugh it off. “You’re seriously weird.”

Kael’s eyes darkened. “You’re seriously *dangerous*.”

Silence fell between them like a dropped blade.

***

The next morning, Eliar found a note taped to his locker.

_You don’t belong here. Leave. Before it starts._

No name. No signature. Just that same tight feeling in his chest that hadn’t gone away since he arrived.

Classes were strange.

Students whispered. Professors spoke in riddles. No one seemed to use the word *magic*, but everything *reeked* of it. Reality bent strangely in certain corners of the campus. Hallways that shouldn't connect somehow did. Clocks slowed when you stared too long.

And always, Kael was there.

Silent. Watchful.

A shadow stitched too tightly to Eliar’s new world.

They didn’t speak again for days.

Until the incident.

***

It started in *Combat Theory* — a class that was more war zone than lecture. Their professor, an ex-enforcer named Madam Ruelle, had paired students off for sparring. Eliar was tossed into the ring with a fourth-year named Fenrick, a hulking brute with scars across his jaw and a grin that promised pain.

“You sure you wanna be here, newbie?” Fenrick chuckled as he circled. “Obsidian Wing eats weaklings.”

Eliar clenched his fists. “Try me.”

The duel started fast.

Fenrick was ruthless, throwing hard blows with enchanted brass-knuckles that sparked on impact. Eliar dodged and weaved, but he wasn’t trained like the others. His reflexes were raw, instinctual.

And then — he slipped.

His foot caught on a crack in the training mat. He fell hard, breath knocked out.

Fenrick raised his fist.

Too slow.

Eliar threw up his arm to shield—

And then *everything exploded*.

Not literally. But the energy that burst from Eliar’s body sent Fenrick flying backward across the arena.

Students gasped. Madam Ruelle dropped her clipboard.

And Kael, watching from the shadows, *smiled*.

Just slightly.

Just enough.

Eliar’s arm trembled. His veins glowed faintly with an unnatural hue — gold laced with onyx. It faded quickly, but not before Ruelle narrowed her eyes.

“…You’re not untrained,” she muttered. “You’re *sealed*.”

“What?”

She straightened. “Class dismissed.”

***

That night, Eliar didn’t sleep.

Not because of fear. But because of *Kael*.

He sat down beside him on the dorm floor without asking. The moonlight cut across Kael’s cheekbones like silver knives.

“You knew,” Eliar whispered. “Didn’t you?”

Kael didn’t respond.

But then, he said — too softly — “I was supposed to kill you, Eliar.”

Eliar froze.

Kael met his eyes.

“I was told to. But when I saw you at the door... I couldn’t.”

A thousand questions crashed through Eliar’s mind, but only one escaped his lips.

“Why?”

Kael looked away.

“Because something in me… remembers you.”

And then — he touched Eliar’s wrist.

Just for a moment.

And it was like something *shattered* inside Eliar’s chest. Something old. Something that *ached* to be known.

Kael’s pupils contracted. “There it is again.”

“What?”

“The pull.”

The whisper returned. _You were meant to destroy each other… or save what’s left._

And then—

A *scream* echoed across the campus.

High. Male. Terrified.

Both boys bolted to their feet.

Because they knew—

It had begun.

---

Chapter 3: The Winged Hall and the Mark

The Obsidian Wing was colder than the rest of the academy. Eliar noticed it the moment he stepped into the hall that morning. The shadows clung to the walls like living things. The windows let in light, but it never felt warm. It was as if something ancient still lived in the stones.

Kael was already up, dressed, and sitting at his desk when Eliar groggily pushed off his sheets.

“You’re late,” Kael said without turning. He always seemed to know.

“For what?”

Kael finally turned, and Eliar swore he saw the faintest flicker of amusement in his eyes. “Orientation. The Headmistress doesn’t tolerate ignorance. Or excuses.”

Eliar ran a hand through his messy hair. “You could’ve woken me.”

Kael stood. “I don’t babysit.”

And then he walked out.

Eliar stared at the door for a moment. He could almost admire the guy’s ability to be perfectly infuriating.

But there was something else about Kael.

Something Eliar hadn’t mentioned to anyone — not even himself.

Last night, after the dream… Kael had stood by the window, unmoving. Watching the sky. But Eliar had seen it. Just for a second. A faint glow at the base of his neck. A *mark.* Circular. Ancient.

And it had *matched the one on Eliar’s own wrist* — something he’d hidden his whole life.

The symbol of the Chosen.

Or the Doomed.

He wasn’t sure which.

***

The Hall of Wings was grand and echoing. A domed chamber carved with stained glass, each panel depicting a different house of the Academy — Phoenix, Leviathan, Obsidian, Seraphim, and Chimera.

Eliar’s breath caught as his eyes met the Obsidian Wing’s crest — a sword plunged through a black star. Beneath it: *We are born from endings.*

A voice cleared behind him. “You must be the transfer.”

Eliar turned to see a girl with braided silver hair and storm-colored eyes. She extended a hand.

“Rayelle. Seraphim Wing. Don’t worry — we’re not all as cold as your roommate.”

“You know Kael?”

Her smile was tight. “Everyone knows Kael. Some wish they didn’t.”

Before Eliar could ask more, the Headmistress stepped up onto the central dais. Her voice rang out like thunder dipped in velvet.

“New blood. New fate.”

Silence fell like a blade.

“You have been brought here not to learn, but to awaken. This school is a crucible — and only those who survive its fire will leave with their souls intact.”

Eliar swallowed hard.

Fire. Dreams. The mark. Kael.

It was all connected.

He just didn’t know how yet.

***

Later that evening, Eliar walked into their dorm to find Kael shirtless, wrapping a long strip of bandage around his wrist. There were claw marks on his side. Fresh. Red.

“What happened to you?” Eliar asked.

Kael didn’t answer immediately.

Then: “Something in the South Forest didn’t like being watched.”

“You went *outside* the boundaries?”

Kael’s eyes were calm and cold. “Rules don’t matter to people like us.”

“People like—?”

Kael walked closer, and for the first time, Eliar saw it clearly. The mark at the base of his neck. *Glowing faintly.*

Matching his own.

“You’ve seen it too,” Kael said quietly.

Eliar nodded, his voice barely audible. “What does it mean?”

Kael’s gaze burned. “It means you don’t get to be ordinary anymore.”

And then, from outside the window, a raven struck the glass.

It didn’t bounce.

It *melted* into black ink, which crawled in a spiral and formed a symbol neither of them had ever seen before.

Kael stared at it.

“That’s not from this world.”

And Eliar felt it too.

Something ancient was watching.

And it had finally noticed them both.

---

Hey Momma and Dada bears how how's the story so far tell me in the comments section.

love 💕

mwaah 😘