Sera's POV
Fire exploded from my hands in every direction.
I didn't aim. Didn't think. Just released every bit of fear and rage I'd been holding inside. The flames hit three soldiers before they could even raise their shields. They screamed and fell back.
"RUN!" Cassian yanked me sideways as a sword sliced through the air where my head had been a second ago.
We ran.
Behind us, Uncle Damien's laughter echoed like a nightmare. "You can't escape! There's nowhere to go!"
He was right. We were surrounded by soldiers, trapped in a wasteland with no cover. But Cassian spotted a crumbling building ahead—some kind of ancient temple half-buried in ash.
"There!" He pulled me toward it.
We dove through a hole in the wall just as arrows whistled past our heads. Inside was darkness and silence. I could hear my own heart hammering.
"They'll follow us in," I whispered, trying to catch my breath.
"Let them try." Cassian drew his dagger, his eyes scanning the shadows. "This temple is full of traps. If they're smart, they'll wait us out."
"And if they're not smart?"
"Then we'll hear them dying."
A cold comfort, but better than nothing.
We moved deeper into the temple, away from the entrance. My flames provided the only light, casting weird shadows on ancient walls covered in faded paintings. Phoenix symbols everywhere. This had been my family's place, once upon a time.
"Sera, look." Cassian pointed at carvings on the floor. "A map. I think it shows where the Eternal Flame is hidden."
I knelt down, tracing the lines with my fingers. The carvings showed a path leading to—
BOOM.
The sound of heavy footsteps shook the entire building. Not normal footsteps. Something massive.
Cassian grabbed my arm. "Move. NOW."
We ran down a corridor as the footsteps got closer. Louder. Each one sounded like thunder.
Then we saw it.
A figure emerged from the darkness ahead, blocking our path. Seven feet tall. Made entirely of bronze and steel that gleamed in my firelight. Its eyes glowed ice-blue, and in its massive hand was a sword as big as I was.
My flames flickered and almost died from pure terror.
"Rust," Cassian breathed, and I'd never heard fear in his voice before. That scared me more than the monster. "A tin soldier. I thought they were just legends."
The tin soldier's head turned toward us with a grinding sound like metal scraping metal. When it spoke, its voice echoed like it came from the bottom of a well.
"LEAVE THIS PLACE. I AM BOUND TO PROTECT IT. ALL WHO ENTER MUST DIE."
"We're not leaving," Cassian said, raising his dagger. "We need what's here."
"THEN YOU WILL DIE."
The tin soldier moved faster than anything that size should be able to move. Its sword swung in a massive arc that would've cut us both in half if Cassian hadn't shoved me down and rolled away.
The sword hit the stone floor and split it like paper.
"Sera, stay back!" Cassian attacked, his dagger striking the soldier's leg. Sparks flew, but the blade barely scratched the metal.
The tin soldier backhanded Cassian like swatting a fly.
Cassian flew across the room and slammed into a wall. He crumpled to the ground and didn't move.
"CASSIAN!" I screamed.
The soldier turned those glowing blue eyes toward me. Raised its sword.
I threw fire at it with everything I had. Flames hot enough to melt stone wrapped around the tin soldier's body. It should have melted. Should have stopped.
It didn't even slow down.
The sword came down. I dove aside. Missed death by inches.
I scrambled backward, my mind racing. Fire didn't work. Cassian was down. We were going to die.
No. No, I refused to die here. Not after everything.
The tin soldier advanced slowly, like it had all the time in the world. "YOU FOUGHT BRAVELY. BUT ALL WARRIORS FALL EVENTUALLY."
"Wait!" I held up my hands, not in surrender but trying to buy time. My eyes scanned its body desperately. There had to be a weakness. Had to be—
There. In the center of its chest. A glowing crystal pulsing with blue light.
The same blue as its eyes.
"The heart-key," I whispered, remembering stories Mom used to tell me. "Tin soldiers were created by magic. Controlled by a crystal in their chest."
The soldier paused. Its head tilted slightly, like it was confused by my words.
"Are you being forced to fight us?" I asked, my voice shaking. "Is someone controlling you?"
For just a second—barely a heartbeat—I saw something in those glowing eyes.
Pain.
"I..." The soldier's voice cracked, sounding almost human. "I must... protect... it is my purpose..."
But it was fighting against the words. Fighting against itself.
It was a prisoner. Just like me. Just like Cassian. Trapped by magic and forced to do things it didn't want to do.
I made a decision that was probably incredibly stupid.
Instead of running, I walked toward it.
"Sera, what are you doing?!" Cassian groaned from across the room, trying to get up.
"Trusting my gut," I called back.
The tin soldier raised its sword again, but slower this time. Like it was struggling.
I stopped right in front of it and looked up into those glowing blue eyes. "I can free you," I said softly. "If you let me."
"FREEDOM... IS NOT... POSSIBLE..."
"Yes it is. I promise."
I reached out slowly and placed my hand on the crystal in its chest. The soldier flinched but didn't strike.
I closed my eyes and let my fire magic flow. Not to destroy. Not to attack. But to break chains. To shatter the control spell binding this creature to someone else's will.
The crystal was ice-cold under my palm. My fire was warmth. Life. Freedom.
They fought each other—ice and fire, control and liberty.
The crystal cracked.
The tin soldier stumbled backward, its sword clattering to the ground. It fell to its knees with a crash that shook the whole temple.
"What... what have you done?" The voice was different now. Softer. Confused. Almost afraid.
The blue glow in its eyes flickered and changed to gold.
"I freed you," I said, my whole body shaking from exhaustion. That spell had taken almost everything I had.
The tin soldier looked at its hands like seeing them for the first time. "Freed... I am... free?"
"Yes."
Behind me, Cassian had finally gotten to his feet. He limped over, dagger still ready. "Sera, get away from it. We don't know if—"
"My name is Rust," the tin soldier interrupted, its voice filled with wonder. "I... I remember. I remember my name. I remember..." Its golden eyes found mine. "Who did this to me? Who bound me here?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "But we're looking for the Eternal Flame. Do you know where it is?"
Rust stood slowly, its massive frame casting shadows across the whole room. "I have guarded the path to the Flame for three hundred years. Never knowing why. Never understanding." It looked at the crystal shards on the ground. "You broke my chains when you could have destroyed me. Why?"
"Because I know what it's like to be trapped," I said. "To have your choices stolen."
Rust was quiet for a long moment. Then it picked up its sword—and I tensed, but it simply placed the weapon on the ground between us.
"I will help you," it said. "The Eternal Flame lies deep beneath this temple. But..." Its voice grew darker. "You should know something. The one who bound me here left a message. A warning."
"What warning?" Cassian demanded.
Rust's golden eyes flickered with something that might have been fear. "The Eternal Flame does not give power. It takes it. Every Phoenix who has tried to claim it has burned to ash. Every single one."
My blood turned cold. "What?"
"It is a test," Rust continued. "Only the true Phoenix heir—one with absolute control over fire, absolute purity of heart—can survive touching it. All others die instantly." Its eyes locked on mine. "And the one who bound me said this: 'Let the false Phoenix come. Let her burn. And when she is ash, the true power will finally be mine.'"
The words hit me like a physical blow.
"Uncle Damien," I whispered. "He knew. He wanted me to come here. He wanted me to try to claim the Flame because he thinks I'll die."
"But if you die," Cassian said, his face pale, "and you're the last Phoenix..."
"Then the magic dies with me," I finished. "And Damien can absorb whatever's left. He doesn't need to claim the Flame himself. He just needs me to fail."
From somewhere above us came the sound of marching boots. Damien's soldiers had entered the temple.
"They're coming," Rust said, picking up its sword again. "What will you do, young Phoenix? Will you run? Or will you risk the Flame and possibly die?"
I looked at Cassian. At Rust. At my shaking hands that could create fire but maybe not enough fire.
Behind us, soldiers were getting closer.
Ahead of us, a magical flame that would either save me or kill me.
"I have to try," I said. "It's the only way to stop Damien."
"Sera, no." Cassian grabbed my shoulders. "We'll find another way. We'll—"
The ceiling above us exploded inward.
Uncle Damien dropped through the hole, landing gracefully. His smile was terrifying. "Oh, don't stop on my account. Please, niece, go claim your birthright. I'll wait right here to collect what's left."
We were trapped between soldiers and Damien with nowhere to run.
And the only escape was a magical flame that would probably kill me.