The Blade Between Us

The Infernal Borderlands breathed like a living thing. Beneath the scorched skies and floating mountains, Celeste stood trembling, still glowing with power that didn’t feel entirely hers.

Kael helped her sit beside a stone pool shimmering with ash and memory. “That surge wasn’t normal,” he muttered. “You shouldn’t be this strong yet.”

Celeste held her chest, where the flames had burst out. “It didn’t hurt… it felt right. Like the fire had been waiting for me.”

Kael stared at her, haunted. “The prophecy never said how you would awaken. Only that when the Flame-Bound One rises, she will either end the realms—or fuse them.”

Her voice lowered. “You think I’m dangerous?”

“I think… you might be unstoppable.”

Before she could reply, a crack split the air. They both turned.

Someone had followed them.

From the red mist stepped the girl with the frost eyes and death-silent movements. The curved blade in her hand pulsed with infernal energy.

“Step away from her, Kael,” she said coolly.

Celeste narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”

The girl didn’t flinch. “My name is Nyra. Daughter of the Blade-Mother. Trained to kill flame-borns like you since I could walk.”

Kael moved protectively in front of Celeste. “Nyra, don’t. She’s not ready—”

“She’s too ready,” Nyra snapped. “The Infernal King wants her. If he gets her, our worlds are gone. You know this. So I’m doing what you’re too weak to do.”

She lifted the blade.

“Ending it before it begins.”

Celeste’s hands sparked with fire again, her eyes glowing. “Try me.”

Nyra lunged.

The battle was quick and brutal—flame against blade, heat against frost. Nyra was fast, deadly, trained in a thousand arts of infernal combat. But Celeste fought with raw instinct and awakened power, her fire growing wilder with each strike.

Kael tried to stop them, but the Borderlands seemed to watch, choosing not to interfere.

Finally, Celeste pinned Nyra with a fiery blast that melted part of the ground.

Nyra dropped the blade, coughing. “You… you really are the Flame.”

Celeste approached her slowly. “Then stop trying to kill me. Help me figure this out.”

Nyra looked up, conflicted. “The Blade-Mother will exile me for this.”

Kael stepped in. “Then join us. Because like it or not, we’re all bound now.”

---

Elsewhere in the Infernal Realm…

Lucivar stood before a giant mirror made of obsidian and fire. He watched Celeste, Kael, and Nyra. A slow smile crept across his cruel face.

“Three pieces,” he murmured. “The flame, the shadow, the blade. And when the fourth awakens… the gate will open.”

Behind him, chained in glowing binds, a girl screamed—a being made of light.

Lucivar turned. “Hush, little starborn. Your time is coming.”

---

Back in Elaris

Celeste awoke in her bed again, unsure if the Borderlands visit had been a dream. But then she saw the scorch mark on her palm… and Nyra asleep in a chair across the room.

Kael stood at the window, his shirt off, the infernal tattoos across his back glowing faintly.

She walked over. “You haven’t slept.”

He didn’t look at her. “Can’t. Every time I close my eyes, I see him.”

Celeste touched his hand. “Your father?”

Kael nodded. “He wants to use you to open the Gate of Devouring. If he does, the stars will fall. Time will burn. And I…”

He finally looked at her.

“I’ll lose you. Again.”

Celeste frowned. “Again?”

Kael hesitated.

Then said the words that would change everything:

“Because in another life, we loved. And I watched you die.”

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