We did not run.
That was the first mistake they made.
The crusaders expected pursuit. Panic. A fleeing monster leaving fire and ruin behind him. They advanced cautiously through the trees, boots crunching against frost-burned leaves, iron charms clinking softly against their armor. They whispered prayers under their breath, each syllable sharp with fear disguised as faith.
I felt them long before I saw them.
Their presence pressed against my senses like grit in my lungs. Not magical in the way vampires were, not radiant or dense. Human belief had weight, though. It carried conviction. Purpose. And something else.
Hunger.
Seraphina moved beside me, silent as falling ash. She touched my wrist once, briefly.
"Remember," she murmured. "You do not need to prove anything."
I nodded.
But the fire inside me stirred anyway.
The first crusader stepped into the clearing with his sword already raised. He was young. Younger than me. His armor was mismatched, scavenged from different eras, etched with symbols meant to ward evil. His eyes locked onto mine, and I watched the moment his certainty wavered.
I was not what he expected.
"Hold," he called behind him, voice cracking. "It's just standing there."
More followed. A dozen, maybe more. Crossbows came up. A priest in layered white stepped forward, staff glowing faintly with sanctified runes.
"By the authority of the Radiant Covenant," the priest intoned, "you are commanded to—"
The fire flared.
Not outward.
Inward.
I raised my hands slowly, palms open. "I don't want to fight you."
That only made it worse.
Murmurs rippled through the group. Fear sharpened into resolve. One of them spat on the ground.
"It speaks," someone whispered. "They always do."
The priest lifted his staff higher. "You are an abomination. A thief of light."
Something twisted in my chest at that.
Light.
I thought of Aria then.
Not clearly. Never clearly.
Just the sense of darkness folding around fire without smothering it. The echo of laughter that didn't belong to fear. Fingers laced with mine in another life, another moment, before everything fractured.
The memory slipped away like smoke.
"I'm not here to take anything from you," I said, forcing the words out. "Walk away."
The bolt hit my shoulder.
Pain bloomed sharp and hot, more surprise than damage. The fire reacted instantly, not consuming the bolt but dissolving it mid-impact. The metal disintegrated into glowing fragments that fell harmlessly to the ground.
The clearing went silent.
Then chaos erupted.
Crossbows fired in a volley. Blades flashed. Faith screamed louder than reason.
Seraphina moved.
She was a blur of silver and shadow, not cloaked, not vanishing, just impossibly fast. She disarmed, redirected, struck pressure points with surgical precision. She did not kill. She broke wrists. Sent bodies sprawling. Shattered formations.
Still, they kept coming.
I felt the fire claw at me, begging to be unleashed. The Sun-Seed pulsed, heat climbing my spine, my veins lighting with gold. I clenched my fists, teeth grinding.
No bodies.
I stepped forward instead.
A crusader charged, sword raised high. I caught the blade with my bare hand.
The metal glowed red instantly. The crusader screamed, dropping it as it warped and collapsed in on itself. I pushed him back with a burst of heated air, not flame, just force.
He flew ten feet and landed hard, groaning.
Another rushed me from the side. I sidestepped, palm slamming into his chest. I felt his fear spike as the fire brushed his essence, tasted it, then recoiled.
I pulled away before it could take.
My head rang.
Too close.
Seraphina shouted my name, sharp and grounding. "Liam. Control."
"I know," I gasped. "I know."
The priest raised his staff and slammed it into the earth.
Light exploded outward in a shockwave.
I was thrown back, skidding across scorched leaves. Pain lanced through my ribs as I hit a tree hard enough to crack bark. The fire surged violently in response, furious now.
For a moment, the world narrowed to heat and memory.
Chains cutting into my wrists.
Marcus's voice, the calm and cruel word he had whispered to me in that dungeon. You'll thank me when you understand what you're for.
Aria screaming somewhere I couldn't reach.
My vision burned gold.
I pushed myself to my feet.
The clearing trembled.
The crusaders faltered, some dropping to their knees, others staring in awe-struck terror as the temperature spiked. The priest staggered, struggling to keep his staff upright.
Seraphina appeared at my side again, breath steady despite the chaos. "If you lose yourself now," she said quietly, "they will never stop hunting you."
"I don't want them to," I whispered. "I want them to stop believing."
The fire answered.
I spread my hands and let it rise, not as flame, not as destruction, but as presence. Heat rolled outward in waves, bending light, warping perception. The air shimmered, thick and oppressive.
The crusaders froze.
Some dropped their weapons. Others backed away slowly, eyes wide, prayers dying on their lips.
I stepped forward, every footfall deliberate.
"I am not your god," I said, voice carrying without shouting. "And I am not your enemy. But if you come for me again, I will not be gentle."
The fire flared just enough to underline the truth.
They broke.
Not all at once. One by one. Fear finally outweighed faith. They fled into the trees, leaving scorched ground and shattered conviction behind.
Silence returned slowly.
My legs gave out.
Seraphina caught me before I hit the ground, lowering me carefully. Her grip was firm, anchoring.
"You held back," she said.
Barely.
I nodded weakly. "Did I… take anything?"
She shook her head. "No. You frightened them without feeding."
Relief washed through me, sharp enough to sting.
Then the memory hit.
Not the dungeon.
Not the chains.
Aria.
This time clearer.
Her eyes, dark and bright with something fierce and broken. The way shadows clung to her like they were afraid to let go. The sound of my name on her lips, threaded with pain and longing.
I gasped, clutching my chest.
Seraphina stiffened. "What did you see?"
"Her," I said hoarsely. "She's… farther away. Like someone keeps pulling a veil over her."
Seraphina's jaw tightened. "The covens know how to suppress bonds. Marcus taught them well. Maybe she learned too."
Anger surged, hot and sharp.
"I will burn it out of him," I said without thinking.
She studied me carefully. "Perhaps. But not yet."
We rested only long enough for my breathing to steady.
As we moved on, I became aware of something else.
We were being watched again.
Not crusaders this time.
Vampires.
Distant. Cautious. Curious.
Whispers would spread now. Of a human who burned without flame. Of a trail of scorched earth and broken faith. Of Seraphina walking beside him not as queen above subject, but as something closer to… witness.
Legend was forming whether I wanted it or not.
And somewhere beyond shadow and silence, Aria drifted further into Kael's domain, her presence tugging at me through layers of warded memory and stolen quiet.
I didn't know how to reach her.
But I knew this.
Every step I took left a mark now.
And eventually, the trail would lead us back to each other.
No matter who tried to erase it.