Chapter 5 Under Flame and Water

Nyxira POV

The moment I hit the water, it wasn't water anymore.

It was light.

Blinding. Burning. Cold and hot at the same time. It wrapped around me like fire-but it didn't hurt. It pulled me down fast. I couldn't see. Couldn't scream. Couldn't think.

My lungs didn't fill with water.

They filled with air.

But it didn't feel like air from this world.

It felt like stars.

Then everything stopped.

No sound. No movement.

Just me-floating.

Alone.

I opened my eyes slowly.

The world around me had changed.

I wasn't in the underground room anymore.

There were no roots. No stone walls. No stairs.

I was standing in a field.

But not a real one.

The grass was silver. The sky was purple. The stars above moved like they were alive. They danced.

Wind blew, but I didn't feel cold.

The mark on my palm was still glowing.

I looked down. My cloak was gone. So were my boots. I was wearing something I had never seen before. A long robe, soft as feathers, white with glowing threads. My hair floated around me like it was underwater-but it wasn't wet.

I took one step.

The ground felt soft. Warm.

I looked behind me.

Nothing.

No pool. No doorway. No Zeryn.

My heart started to race.

"Zeryn?" I called.

No answer.

I turned slowly.

And then I saw her.

The woman from the pool.

She stood not far from me, under a glowing tree. Her body shimmered like light through glass. Her eyes were not just one color-they changed, like fire, like moonlight.

She didn't smile.

But she didn't look angry either.

Just... waiting.

"Where am I?" I asked her.

She lifted her hand and pointed at my chest.

At the mark.

Her lips moved-but no sound came out.

I stepped closer. "Please. Say something."

She lowered her hand and opened her mouth.

And I heard my own voice.

But younger.

Like a little girl.

Screaming.

I stepped back, shocked.

Then came another sound-laughter.

A different voice.

Cold.

Cruel.

Not human.

The world around us shifted fast.

The silver grass turned black.

The sky darkened.

The stars vanished.

Flames rose all around me-but they didn't burn.

The woman stepped back into the shadows.

And I saw a new figure standing in the fire.

He was tall.

Broad shoulders.

Eyes like glowing coal.

He didn't have skin.

He had scales.

Dark red. Sharp.

And wings.

Huge wings that stretched wide and blocked the sky.

My breath caught.

He stepped closer.

Each step shook the ground.

But his face-

It looked like mine.

Not exactly.

But close enough.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

He tilted his head. Smiled with sharp teeth.

"You already know."

"No, I don't."

He reached out a clawed hand and touched my forehead.

Images exploded in my mind.

A girl-me-flying through a burning sky.

A city of gold and stone crumbling below.

A voice shouting my name-but not Nyxira.

A different name.

One I couldn't remember.

I fell to my knees.

The ground was hot now. Too hot.

The dragon-man leaned down.

"You were born twice," he said. "Once in fire. Once in flesh."

"I don't understand."

"You will."

The world around me began to spin.

The flames roared higher.

The stars returned-but they were red now.

Bleeding.

"Wake up," the dragon-man said.

"What?"

"WAKE UP."

The world shattered.

I gasped.

My eyes flew open.

I was lying on cold stone.

A ceiling of roots and stone above me.

Zeryn's face appeared over mine.

"Nyxira!" he said. "Are you okay?"

I sat up fast. My head hurt. My chest burned.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You jumped," he said. "Into the pool. It pulled you under. You didn't come back up for almost five minutes. I thought-"

He stopped.

He looked pale.

Even his wolf eyes were scared.

I touched my face. It felt real again.

My robes were gone. My cloak was back.

But the mark on my palm was brighter now.

Glowing gold.

I looked around.

We were back in the underground room.

The pool was still there-but it was dark now. No light. Just cold water.

Darian stood near the wall. Watching.

I struggled to my feet.

"I saw something," I said. "A man. A dragon. I think he was... part of me."

Darian nodded slowly. "You saw one of your past selves."

"My what?"

Zeryn frowned. "You mean she's reincarnated?"

"She's not just a dragon," Darian said. "She's an echo."

"An echo of what?" I asked.

Darian looked at the pool. "Of a creature that once ruled flame. Long before names. Long before this school."

My knees felt weak again. I sat on a nearby stone.

"Why me?"

"No one knows why the flame chooses who it does," Darian said. "But once it marks you, you can't run from it."

Zeryn stepped closer. "You said the hunters are already here."

"They are," Darian said. "But they're not looking for students anymore."

"They're looking for me," I said.

"Yes."

"Then why haven't they found us?"

Darian looked at the ceiling. Cracks had formed. Dust fell slowly.

"Because this place is hidden from magic. But not for long."

A loud groan came from above.

Stone shifted.

The roots trembled.

"We have to move," Zeryn said. "Now."

"But where?" I asked.

Darian pointed to a narrow passage behind a broken column. "That leads to the outer crypts. We can go up from there."

"And then?"

"You decide," he said. "Fight. Flee. Or awaken fully."

"What does that mean?"

But he didn't answer.

He walked ahead into the dark tunnel.

Zeryn touched my shoulder gently. "We'll figure this out. Together."

I nodded.

But I didn't believe it.

Not fully.

Not yet.

We followed Darian through the narrow path. It twisted like a snake, up and down, through broken stone and strange shadows. Sometimes we saw things on the walls-paintings, old and faded. Sometimes eyes stared at us from cracks.

Not all of them blinked.

Some of them breathed.

Zeryn kept a blade in his hand.

Darian never looked back.

I didn't know how long we walked. But finally, the air grew warmer. Brighter.

We reached a round stone door.

Darian pushed it open.

Outside-sunlight.

Real sunlight.

But it was red.

The sky was red.

Ash fell like snow.

The fields around the school were burning.

And above us-black shapes moved through the smoke.

Some flew.

Some walked.

All of them carried weapons.

"They've breached the school," Zeryn said.

Darian's face was tight. "They've breached the world."

Suddenly, one of the flying things turned its head toward us.

It saw us.

It screeched.

The sound broke the sky.

Darian pushed me back. "Run."

But I didn't move.

Because something inside me had changed.

I could feel it.

The mark on my palm wasn't just hot.

It was alive.

It pulsed like a heartbeat.

And deep in my chest-I felt wings.

Not real ones.

But something close.

I looked at the red sky.

At the falling ash.

At the dark thing flying toward me.

And I didn't run.

I stepped forward.

My feet burned the grass.

Zeryn shouted my name.

Darian reached for me.

But it was too late.

The fire inside me broke free.

A wave of gold light shot out from my body.

The ground cracked.

The air shook.

The hunter flying toward us screamed and fell from the sky-burning before it hit the ground.

Zeryn grabbed me from behind. "Nyxira! What did you-"

More shapes were coming.

Dozens.

Maybe hundreds.

Darian's voice was calm but cold.

"You just lit the signal fire."

"What fire?" I asked, my voice shaking.

He looked at me.

And smiled for the first time.

"The one they've been waiting for."

Then the sky split in half-

And something huge stepped through the rift.