Chapter 195: The Decision Once More

Chapter 195: The Decision Once More
Adira’s POV

We arrived at everything's edge. A precipice in the heavens. Time unravelled beneath us. The light winked out above us.

The truth emerged from that silence.

The last flame was only open to one of us.

Only one could burn indefinitely.

I turned to Ash. He was aware already.

Slowly, he shook his head. "You won't be the one."

I tightened my grip on his hand. “It has to be.”

He declared, "You are the flame." "The start."

I answered, "And you're the ember that carries it forward."

Both of us moved forward.

But just one was permitted by the fire.

Like wind over water, it softly pushed him back.

Ash gave me a broken look. “Don’t.”

"I must," I said. "I always carried this fire."

He opened his mouth to speak, but I was taken by the blaze.

I got up.

Time, memory, and fire all contributed to my ascent.

Ash reached out beneath me.

"I will wait," he exclaimed.

"I'll be back," I said.

Then I was gone.

In the ensuing quiet, there was just one flame left above the sky, and Ash was standing by himself below, with a single tear streaming from his bright eyes.

There was never enough fire.

It encircled me like a blanket of grief and recollection. Unlike before, it didn't hurt. It had no intention of destroying me. It asked for my selection this time.

And I was there already.

With his arms extended and his eyes full of tears that he would not let go, Ash stood at the edge of the emptiness. His light trembled as if it wanted to follow me, pulsing with sadness.

He begged, "Adira, no—Ellarien." "Allow me to replace you."

With my hair gleaming like flames, I gave a gentle smile. "You can't. I must be the one.

He stepped forward unsteadily. "Why? Why must it be you every time?

I said, "Because I remember the beginning." "I recall the things we lost, as well as what we battled for. That memory must remain with someone to the very end.

Broken, he shook his head. "Let it be you if one must remember," he added softly.

My heart ached as I looked at him.

I said, "You're the ember now." "You tell the tale. I am carried by you.

I climbed higher in the light, and Ash dropped to his knees. "I cherish you," he said.

"I understand," I answered. "And I'll also carry that."

Someone stepped into the glow beside Ash. She had silvered her hair. Her once-childish and mischievous eyes had grown wise and ancient.

The kid. Expanded.

To get here, she had travelled through numerous lifetimes. She was now standing with her hands over her heart at the very end of the flame.

"This is how flame turns into legend," she remarked softly.

I saw the girl she used to be when I looked at her, even if she had changed since then.

Once she had referred to me as mother.

I had been saved by her once.

She was now bidding farewell.

She approached Ash and put something in his hand. One tear. One with a star-like glow.

"Retain this," she said. "This is her final light."

The tear was caught in ash like a universe.

I gave her a final look. "Thanks," I replied.

"For everything."

Slowly, she nodded. "Do a good job burning."

I took one final look at the blaze.

It loomed over me, older than any god and towering than any mountain. It throbbed with the recollection of each cycle, rebirth, setback, and triumph. It spoke to me now, not as a warrior, nor as a queen, nor as a ship.

But as I am. Only me.

Ellarien, Adira. The fire. I moved onward, each stride reverberating across time. I heard Ash sob softly behind me. I didn't turn around.

I'd gone far enough.

I saw everything again as soon as I stepped into the center of the flame. The birth of the stars. The first shimmering light in the empty space. The First Flame's grief. The parasite's birth. All the incarnations of myself that had fallen. Each life that has died.

And I blazed through them all. I wasn't fleeing from it this time.

I agreed to it. I turned into it. I put a lid on it.

The parasite broke its cycle. Under my feet, I could feel it break like glass. It sent out a final cry, a cry of terror and grief, and then it fell silent.

Gentle and full, the light encircled me.

Then I disappeared.

Silently, Ash knelt.

An explosion did not occur. Not a roar. No shouts of combat. Nothing but silence. The sky was dark. The world is silent. But the ember she left behind was in his palm. Her final tear. Her final present.

He gave it a downward look. Brighter after that.

The tear drifted above Ash's hand. Slowly and gracefully, it climbed into the sky.

And the stars came back, one by one, as it rose higher.

The sky was once more filled with light.

However, Adira's flame had vanished from the planet.

And one spoke down from the sky as the stars came back. "This isn't farewell."