Page 478 of Axis of Fire

"Are you afraid everyone will see the thing that hurt you the most?" I asked, desperate to distract myself.

"I'm afraid of living through those memories again," Pria admitted quietly.

Kaeron said nothing.

"I'll go first."

Without waiting for either of us to answer, he stepped into the glowing dome.

I froze.

It felt as though the entire world froze with me.

The silence wasn't oppressive.

Nor was it tense.

Yet somehow, it still refused to let me breathe.

Then images began to form inside the dome.

No...

memories.

Kaeron's memories.

Seen through his own eyes.

A room swallowed by blackness.

Not painted black.

Covered in soot.

The only light came from a lone lamp resting on a charred wooden table.

Across from it sat Kaeron.

His gaze wandered around the room before settling on a boy no older than ten, dressed in black clothes stained with ash.

I couldn't tell how old Kaeron was.

He never once looked down at himself.

The boy picked up a medium-sized hammer.

Then he began speaking in a language I didn't recognize.

Kaeron stretched out a small hand toward the table.

He was just a child.

The boy slowly moved the hammer as he spoke, pointing to himself at one word...

then to Kaeron at the next.

Almost like he was reciting a counting rhyme.