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Another ricochet of shouts; more feet pounding.
More hands raised in praise to the fire and its bounty.
“Runa now carries my bloodline. She is second in line to rule in my stead. She will guide our spirits and mystical fates while Aktor will guide our mortal forms and earthly journeys once he ascends to the chiefdom. Together, they will ensure that our clan remains strong and prosperous, in this world and in the next.”
Another thundering of feet, a few cries and whoops as the excitement continued to grow. The air no longer sparkled but throbbed with excitement and celebration.
My heart skipped the louder the Nhil became.
My eyes cast to Aktor who stood with both hands fisted on his walking stick. His jaw clenched, and the tendons in his neck stood out in stark relief as he met my stare and looked away just as fast.
How much it must irk him to have the girl he tried to traumatize suddenly become as powerful as he.
To know that, one day, he must rule beside me.
That I was no longer nameless and vulnerable.
I was gifted and untouchable.
“Vow, here and now, to keep Runa safe and secure within our family. Recognize her as your own because we all share the same blood, same bone, same breath. We are Firenese. We are Nhil. The fire element sparks within each of us, granting its warmth, its light, and its power.”
I recognised the words from when Solin held Bon into the sky. Unwilling to pick me up, Solin merely raised my arm. “Reveal that spark within you. Share the element we all carry. She is ours, she is one of us, she is yours.”
Heat darted down my back as everyone raised their arms, jubilant females with exultant males, young and old, all so accepting of a stranger who’d suddenly been named Solin’s successor.
I didn’t feel worthy of such an honour.
Darro...
I looked for him again, blinded by the constellations of flames as every clan member sparked fire onto their skin. The night was lit with so many flickering fires, fluttering in the cool moon breeze, some barely there while others proudly held aloft their palm-given candles.
“She is ours, she is one of us, she is yours.”
It was happening so fast.
So sudden.
My head ripped to Solin as he held out his other arm and conjured his own flame. His fire didn’t remain in his palm—it ignited his entire forearm, licking around his elbow with silvery smoke.
“Now you,” he whispered. “Show our people that you belong.”
My heart jangled; I shook my head.
I couldn’t control my trembling.
This was wrong.
I’d made a mistake.
I-I can’t do this.
“Runa...” Solin pulled me closer. “It’s almost over. Just summon your flame, and you can go.”
Go.
Yes, I wanted to go.
More than anything.
“A flame, Runa, then you’re free.”
Free...
A simple fire and then I could be alone with Darro.
Closing my eyes, I sank into the nervous jumble inside me. All my trapped energy, all my worry, confusion, and guilt.
All of it churned and twisted.
I was a ball of restrained intensity.
I was bottled to the brim.
Denied the urge to run.
Forbidden the need to hide—
“Runa...” Solin commanded.
I closed my eyes and gave in. “Burn...”
All it needed was a single spark.
The smallest tinder.
The quietest call.
All that nervous energy.
All that blinding power.
It fermented into something uncontrollable.
The entire clan went deathly silent. Their pounding feet ceased. Their happy voices cut off mid-word. Solin’s touch fell away from my elbow, and I opened my gaze.
I blinked at a blazing world.
I looked at my ash-tattooed hands as my skin danced and billowed with white-bright gold. Black smoke curled off me. Flames spat and crackled.
Fire didn’t just flicker in my palm.
It cloaked me from crown to toe.
I stood in a pyre of my own making.
I burned brighter than the sun.
I burned so vibrantly, so otherworldly, that every member of the Nhil slowly dropped, one by one, to their knees.
Their faces upturned.
Their lips whispered prayers.
And their worship sank into my flesh, feeding false belonging, believing I was someone I wasn’t, showing me a future that wasn’t mine to tread.
I’ve made a mistake.
A horrible, horrible mistake.
This wasn’t who I was meant to be.
This was wrong.
Darro appeared from the grasslands with a silver-furred wolf at his side, his lips parted wide with concern.
Our eyes met.
My heart cracked and shattered.
Instincts hissed that this was the moment when everything changed.
All my hopes.
All our dreams.
They went up in smoke because I finally saw.
I saw what was about to happen.
And I couldn’t believe I’d been so blind.
I should’ve seen.
Should’ve known.
Should’ve run—
Chapter Thirty-Six
. Darro .
SHE REALLY SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE that.
I’d told her by the river not to summon such light, such heat, such power. And just like by the river, the longer she stood in the heart of such fire, the less substantial her body became. The outline of her hair, face, and form glowed brighter and brighter until every member of the Nhil squinted and raised their hands to shield their eyes from her gilded luminosity.
