Chapter 3 The First Flame

A dark place for a dark heart to make a home, the realm of the forgotten was filled with shadows and whispers, where air churned with malice. At its heart stood Evie, her body thrumming with a power she could barely understand. The ritual had transformed her she could feel it in every atom of her body. Her senses more acute her thoughts more lucid, her emotions... cooler.

Liora eyed her with an appraisal, her ember-like eyes shining in the low light. "How do you feel?" she asked, her voice reverberating in the sprawling void.

"Different," Evie said, flexing her fingers. Energy, dark and twisted as if sprouted from Lactris herself, coiled around her staff as if it were merely an extension of her own body. "Stronger. But... emptier."

"That's the price," Liora said flatly. "The ritual has summoned the darkness in you. It will empower you, but at the same time it will drain you out, piece by piece. The challenge is, how much of yourself are you willing to give up?"

Evie didn't answer. She did not know if she wanted to find out. Instead, she focused on the landscape around her. The dry ground cracked in all directions, marred by sharp black columns of rock that stabbed into the sky like the ribs of long-dead creature. She made out dim figures going by in the distance, vague shapes that flittered and spun, foreign masses of a clearly present reality.

"What are they?" she asked just above a whisper.

"The forgotten," Liora said. "Souls who had been betrayed, abandoned or destroyed. They hang out here, in limbo between life and death. Some of them might attempt to entrap you, to use your body as a conduit to the land of the living. You must be strong, Evelyn. Stronger than them."

Evie's jaw tightened. She was not going to let anything or anyone control her again. "How do I leave this place?"

Liora pointed toward the horizon, where a dim red light burned like a dying ember. "There's a gate there, a way back to your world. But it is guarded by the first flame, a reflection of the dark you now hold. To get in, you must show that you are worthy."

"And if I fail?" Evie asked, already knowing the answer.

"Then you'll become one of the forgotten," Liora said, her voice flat. "Forever."

Evie nodded, feeling her resolve crystallize. She had come too far to fail now. She took no more time to speak and simply began walking towards the distant light, the sound of her footsteps carrying in the stillness. Liora trailed behind, an ever-present reminder of the deal they had struck.

The air around Evie as she approached the doorway grew hotter, the ground giving beneath her feet, cracking and splintering from the heat. The red light became blinding, flaring to a blazing pillar of flame that shot up into the sky. At its base had stood a figure, shrouded in darkness and crowned in flames.

"Who dares approach the first torch?" the figure barked, voice low and growling like a wind that rolled through the air.

"I am Evelyn Ashford," Evie said, her voice steady even as the fear coiled in her chest. "And I have come to claim passage."

The figure stepped closer, its features coming into focus. It was a man or something that had once been a man. His skin was crisped and fissured, and his eyes shimmered with the same red light as the fire. He held in his hand a sword of flame, and its blade burned and sparkled as if it were alive.

"You must prove your strength to pass through the gateway," the figure said, lifting the sword. "Defeat me, and the flame shall grant you passage. Fail, and you will burn."

Evie's heart raced, but she didn't back down. She had withstood betrayal, imprisonment and death. A creature made of flame and shadow would not halt her. Calling forth the dark power inside her, she reached out with her hands as tendrils of darkness shot out from her, lashing out at the form.

It was a tough, gruesome battle. It took on hyena the form of a moving show for, an unnatural Superheroes sword of fire streamed blood through the air. Evie ducked and parried, adrenaline pumping through her body. Her will danced with the darkness buried inside her; shields and weapons materialized, bashing against the figure's flames.

But the figure would not relent; its assaults became more savage with each passing moment. Evie started to grow weak, her body shaking with the effort. Just when she believed she couldn't continue, she heard Liora's voice in her head.

"The flame is a part of you. It is not to be defeated by being fought against. You must embrace it."

Evie wavered, but she knew she had no other option. When the figure lunged at her, she fell slack and allowed her flesh to burn. It was excruciating pain, but she didn't push back. Instead she concentrated on herself, allowing the flame to mix with her own power.

Then, it was something extraordinary. The flames did not destroy her they made her. Her body filled with dark, blazing light, and the figure facing her staggered, and its sword turned to ash.

"You... have proven yourself," the figure said before its voice was stifled and it fell into the ground. The first spark sputtered out and left a swirling maw of darkness.

Evie stepped over, her body still alight with the heat of the flame. When she came through the other side she was standing in a thick wood with cool crisp air against her skin. She was back among the living but she wasn't the same.

Evie inhaled, the fragrance of pine and earth entering her lungs. She was free, but her journey had just begun. Kael and Seraphine out there living their lives, blissfully unaware of the storm that hunted them.

One fist drew in the dark energy within her, tightening to answer her anger. They had stolen from her everything her family, her future, her love. But here she could have all that and then some.

And she would.