Chapter 7 The Sky of Fire and Wings

Nyxira POV

The golden sky looked too bright. Too full. Like it couldn't hold everything inside it anymore.

Shapes moved above us. Slow at first. Then faster.

I held my breath.

Zeryn stood beside me, tense like a wolf about to fight.

Darian didn't blink. He was staring at the sky like it was reading him a secret.

The glowing figures came down.

Not falling.

Not flying.

Floating.

They had wings-huge ones, made of light and gold fire. Their armor shined like stars. Their eyes were white, like the Herald's, but warmer somehow.

Not cold.

Not empty.

I still felt small looking at them. But not scared.

Not like before.

One of them stepped forward. A woman. Tall. Hair like fire. Her wings spread wide, almost touching the black trees.

She looked at me.

And bowed her head.

Everyone froze.

Even Darian.

Even Zeryn.

I blinked. "What...?"

She knelt.

"Child of Flame," she said, voice echoing like bells and storms. "We have come."

I looked around. "Come for what?"

"To serve," she said. "Until the flame remembers who it is."

My chest felt tight. "I'm not-whatever you think I am."

Another Guardian landed behind her. A man, his armor cracked and glowing from inside.

"You are the lost ember," he said. "The one who fell."

"No," I said. "That wasn't me."

But the mark on my hand pulsed again.

Warm. Bright.

Like it was telling me I was wrong.

Zeryn stepped closer to me. His voice low. "You okay?"

"No."

Darian didn't move. "You need to ask them why now. Why here."

So I asked. "Why now?"

The woman Guardian stood. "Because the Herald has broken the seal."

"And the end has begun," the man added.

I swallowed. "The Herald. It came through the rift."

The Guardians all nodded. At once. Like they shared one thought.

"The rift was sealed," the woman said. "By your flame. Long ago."

"I didn't seal anything."

"You did," she said gently. "Before the forgetting."

My hands shook.

"What do I do now?" I asked.

The woman looked up at the sky.

"You choose."

"Choose what?"

"To become who you were."

I looked at Zeryn. At Darian.

"I don't even know who I am."

"Then come," the man Guardian said. "We will show you."

But I didn't move.

Because deep down, I didn't know if I wanted to know.

Zeryn POV

Nyx looked lost.

Scared.

But not weak.

Not ever weak.

I wanted to grab her hand. Pull her away. Take her back to the tunnels, the crypt, anywhere but here.

But she didn't run.

She looked at them. The shining ones.

And she stepped forward.

Only one step.

The woman Guardian reached out.

Light ran from her fingers to Nyx's skin.

And suddenly-

Nyx changed.

Her eyes glowed.

Not like fire.

Like stars.

Her hair lifted in the wind.

The mark on her palm burned gold, then white.

And behind her, a shape formed.

Wings.

Not real ones.

Not yet.

But I saw them. Big. Burning. Beautiful.

Then she gasped and fell to her knees.

I rushed forward.

Held her.

Her skin was hot. Burning under my hands.

But I didn't let go.

"Nyx," I whispered.

She looked up at me.

And her eyes were back.

Blue. Human. Hers.

"I saw it," she said.

"Saw what?"

"The fall."

She was shaking.

"I was there. Falling. Fire everywhere. I saw the sky crack. I saw a name carved in stars."

"What name?"

She swallowed.

"Rayn."

"Your name?"

She nodded. "But it wasn't just a name. It was... a warning."

Darian stepped closer. "What kind of warning?"

Nyx stood slowly.

She looked at the Guardians.

Then at us.

"It said, 'When Rayn returns, the war begins again.'"

Darian POV

I felt the ground shift under my feet.

Not from the Guardians.

Not from the sky.

But from what Nyx had just said.

The War of Stars.

It was real.

And she had been part of it.

Not just part.

She was the cause.

Or the key.

And now... it was waking again.

The woman Guardian spoke, her voice soft. "The enemies will come. The Herald was only the first."

"What enemies?" I asked.

"The Hollowborn," the man Guardian said. "The ones who eat light."

Nyx frowned. "They were in my vision."

"They're coming," the woman said. "Through the rift. Through time. Through death."

I looked at Nyx. "Then we need to close the rift."

She looked at her hand. "How?"

"By becoming flame again," the Guardian said.

Nyx whispered, "But what if I lose myself?"

The woman Guardian stepped closer.

"You already did. And you survived."

Nyxira POV

I didn't know what to say.

What to feel.

The fire in me was getting louder. Stronger. But I didn't feel ready.

Not for this.

Not for war.

But then-

The wind shifted.

All the birds flew away at once.

The trees shook.

The snow turned black.

Zeryn grabbed my arm. "What now?"

Darian's sword was out.

Even the Guardians stepped back.

And from the sky-

Another rift opened.

But this time, it was wrong.

Crooked.

Cracked.

Like something was forcing its way through.

Then I heard it.

The Herald's song.

Again.

But broken.

Slower.

Like it was limping.

I backed up.

"No," I said.

But it came.

Through the sky.

Through the light.

Its body was different now.

Wounded.

Burning.

Its face half-gone.

But its eyes-

Still white.

Still full of hate.

Zeryn growled. "We didn't kill it?"

"No," I said. "We woke it."

The Guardians stepped forward.

Their swords glowed.

But the Herald wasn't alone.

Behind it-

Came more.

Not Hunters.

Not Hollowborn.

Something worse.

Twisted things. Half-shadow. Half-metal.

Their mouths opened sideways.

Their legs bent the wrong way.

Darian cursed under his breath. "Those are Scorchborn."

"The forgotten army," one Guardian said.

"They were sealed in the old war," another said.

"But the seal is broken now."

The snow melted under them.

The trees withered.

The ground turned to ash.

Nyx raised her hand.

Light flared.

But it shook.

Flickered.

Died.

She fell to one knee.

"I can't," she said. "It's too soon."

The Guardians stepped in front of us.

"We will hold them," the woman said. "But only for a short time."

Zeryn helped me lift Nyx.

"We have to go," he said.

Darian looked at the forest edge. "There's a gate. An old one. It leads to the Archive."

"What's the Archive?"

"A place that remembers everything," he said. "Even what was lost."

The Guardians fought now.

Light against shadow.

Fire against scream.

I saw one Guardian fall.

Then another.

Zeryn growled. "Move!"

We ran.

Through the trees.

The snow now black under our feet.

Nyx leaned on me, still burning, still glowing.

We reached a stone arch.

Covered in runes.

Cracked. Ancient.

Darian pushed his hand against it.

Nothing.

"No," he said. "It's sealed."

Nyx stepped forward.

She didn't touch it.

She just stood there.

And the stone lit up.

One rune at a time.

Slow.

Like it was waking from sleep.

The arch shimmered.

Opened.

And behind it-

A long hallway.

Filled with light.

No floor.

Just stars.

Endless stars.

Nyx turned.

She looked back at the forest.

At the battle.

She whispered, "I'll come back."

Then she stepped through.

And the gate closed.

Behind us-

The world burned.