The creatures didn't move closer. They stood like sentinels, watching, waiting — as if the River itself had told them to.
Ash's hand hovered near his blade, but Elira touched his arm gently.
"No," she murmured. "They could've attacked already."
The lead figure stepped forward. His eyes dimmed slightly, as if he were trying to recall something lost. "You burned with us once," he said to Elira. "Before they stole your name. Before the Hollow Flame was fractured."
Elira's breath caught. "Stole my name?"
The creature nodded. "Your memory was not taken. It was offered."
Ash's jaw clenched. "Why would she offer her memory?"
But Elira wasn't listening. Her mind churned. The River still shimmered behind them, casting ghostlike ripples along the canyon walls.
"What do you want from us?" Ash asked.
"We were once Keepers," said the creature. "We guarded the memory fire. Then the Hollow Flame turned, and it devoured the names of those who bound it. You two among them."
Elira's voice was hoarse. "We were Keepers?"
The figure bowed his head. "You chose to forget to protect what remains. But time is shifting. The Flame stirs again. You must remember before it does."
Behind them, a cry echoed from the cliffs — Kale.
Ash turned, tense. "I'll find him."
Elira nodded, barely able to pull her eyes from the figures.
"Be careful," she whispered.
Ash gave her a faint, unreadable look — one filled with all the things they hadn't said since the river revealed their past.
"I always am," he said, and vanished into the mists.
Elira turned back to the creatures. "If I was a Keeper, how do I reclaim what I gave away?"
The figure held out a stone vial — identical to the one Marian left behind, but cracked.
"You must follow the Ember Path. Beyond the cliffs, past the Cinderspire. There, you'll find the altar of the Bound Flame."
"And Ash?" she asked.
The figure looked up. "He was bound with you. What you reclaim... he will remember too."
---
Far ahead, Ash found Kale.
He was injured — a shallow gash along his ribs — and standing beside him was a woman cloaked in deep green, her hand glowing with soft healing light.
"Kale?" Ash narrowed his eyes. "Who is she?"
The woman looked up. "Not your enemy."
Kale winced. "She calls herself Lira. Says she's been tracking the Hollow Flame longer than any of us. Claims she knows what it really wants."
Ash stared hard at the woman. She met his gaze and said:
> "You think you're hunting it. But it's always been hunting her."