The fire did not roar this time.
It breathed.
Low and restrained, curling around her hands like something alive and waiting. She stood at the edge of the ruined shelter, eyes fixed on the darkness beyond the trees. The hunters did not rush forward. They never did. Fear made people reckless. Knowledge made them patient.
Elion struggled to stand beside her. His legs shook, but he refused to sit.
"You should rest," she said without turning.
"If I sit," he replied, "I may not get up again."
She hated how calm his voice sounded. As if pain had become a language he spoke fluently.
The first figure stepped into the moonlight.
Then another.
Then many more.
They wore no uniforms. No banners. Just hardened expressions and weapons that had seen too much blood. These were not villagers driven by panic. These were people who had chosen this life.
One of them spoke her buried name aloud.
The sound of it sliced through her chest.
She closed her eyes for a moment, and the city rose again in her mind. The lanterns. The river. The screaming when the ground tore open.
Elion's hand found hers.
She opened her eyes.
"I will distract them," she whispered. "When I say run, you run."
His grip tightened painfully. "No."
She turned to him, desperation cracking her composure. "You are hurt. You will slow me down."
"And you will destroy yourself trying to protect me," he said. "We move together."
The hunters advanced.
The leader raised a hand, and the others stopped. His gaze never left her.
"You have been difficult to track," he said calmly. "You hide well. You love poorly."
Elion stepped forward despite the pain. "She is not coming with you."
The man smiled faintly. "You think this is a choice."
She felt the pressure spike.
The ground beneath her feet trembled, small cracks racing outward like veins. Heat flooded her chest, threatening to explode.
She breathed.
Slow. Controlled. Just like she had practiced alone in the dark.
Flames burst outward, not wild, but sharp and precise. Trees ignited. The night glowed orange.
"Run," she said.
Elion did not argue this time.
They fled into the forest as shouts erupted behind them. Arrows sliced through the air. One grazed Elion's arm. He grunted but kept moving.
Her focus fractured.
The fire responded.
It surged violently, tearing through the trees behind them. Screams echoed. The smell of burning wood and flesh clawed at her senses.
She stumbled.
Elion caught her.
"I am sorry," she gasped. "I am losing control."
"You are still here," he said. "So am I."
They reached a cliff edge as dawn threatened the horizon. Below them, a river churned violently.
The hunters closed in.
There was nowhere left to run.
She laughed softly, broken and breathless. "This is how it ends."
Elion shook his head. "This is where it changes."
Before she could stop him, he pulled her close and stepped forward.
They fell together.
The river swallowed them whole.
Cold replaced fire. Darkness replaced fear.
And for the first time since the city burned, she let herself go.
---
The world believed they drowned.
The world was wrong.
Love was not finished with them yet.