Bella was burning.
But there were no flames on her skin—no crackling, no scent of smoke. The fire was inside her. Twisting. Twining. Becoming.
Chains bound her limbs to the throne. The black stone beneath her body pulsed like a heartbeat—her heartbeat—as the mark over her chest glowed brighter and brighter, each pulse driving deeper into her soul.
Across from her, Isadora stood with a smile carved like sin, her violet eyes gleaming with ancient, terrible knowledge.
"Do you feel that?" she asked softly. "The truth clawing its way free?"
Bella gritted her teeth, sweat beading on her brow. Her muscles spasmed beneath the chains. Her vision blurred at the edges, flickering between the cavern and something else—another time. Another life.
She was no longer just Bella.
She was fire. She was fury. She was—
"No!" she cried, jerking against the chains.
The throne responded, shooting sparks down her spine, punishing her resistance. Her scream echoed off the cavern walls.
"You're not me!" she shouted at Isadora. "You're a monster!"
Isadora took a graceful step forward, her gown of shadow flickering behind her like smoke. She raised a hand—black flame dancing on her fingertips.
"Sweetling. I am you. Just a version you haven't accepted yet."
She knelt before the throne and cupped Bella's face gently, mockingly.
"Do you think the witches sealed me away because I was evil? No. They were afraid. Of what power looked like on a woman who didn't beg."
Bella's jaw clenched.
"You destroyed them."
Isadora's smile widened.
"Yes. And they deserved it."
She stood, turning her back, her voice like velvet dragging across steel.
"The world wants you weak, Bella. Grieving. Guilty. Rejected. But I offer something better."
She spun around, her eyes glowing with flame.
"Rule. Revenge. Resurrection."
Bella's breath hitched. Her body trembled—not from fear, but from resonance. A terrible part of her—deep, buried, broken—wanted it.
Wanted to stop hurting.
Wanted to stop begging for love that was never given.
Wanted to become fire and make the world pay.
"Don't listen to her!"
The voice slammed into the chamber like a thunderclap.
Kael.
He emerged from the shadows, blood dripping down his temple, clothes torn, eyes wild.
He was limping, but still carrying his blade, the hilt glowing blue with runes of sealing.
Isadora snarled.
"You shouldn't be alive."
Kael didn't answer. He threw a charm—silver and crackling—into the air. It exploded with light, creating a shimmering barrier between Isadora and Bella.
Bella gasped as the chains loosened for a heartbeat.
"Kael," she whispered, her voice cracking.
"I've got you," he said, stepping closer. "Just hold on."
Isadora hissed and flung her hand forward.
A black whip of fire shot toward him.
Kael blocked it with his blade—but the force of the impact knocked him back several feet, skidding across the stone.
Isadora advanced.
"You can't save her, little knight."
"I'm not here to save her," Kael growled, blood on his teeth. "I'm here to remind her who the hell she is."
He reached into his coat—and pulled out a shard of moonstone.
Bella's eyes widened. The stone glowed silver in his palm. The same stone he once used to seal her first awakening.
"This is your anchor," he said, voice hoarse. "Your light. Your choice."
He tossed it.
Bella caught it just as the chains pulled tight again.
The stone pulsed in her hand.
And for the first time—
She remembered everything.
She stood in a hall of mirrors, every reflection a different version of herself.
Some wore crowns.
Some wore chains.
Some held daggers. Others held children.
All stared at her.
Waiting.
She looked down at the sigil on her chest.
The Thirteenth Mark.
Then up at the throne behind her.
It no longer looked cruel.
It looked… empty.
Waiting for someone to fill it.
Bella took a breath.
And sat down of her own free will.
Back in the cavern, the throne erupted in violet light.
The chains shattered.
Isadora screamed.
"No! You can't—!"
Bella rose from the seat, no longer bound.
Her hair whipped around her face in a wind born from magic. Her eyes glowed silver and violet—two flames, now joined.
"You were right," Bella said, her voice layered with power. "They feared us."
She raised the moonstone.
"But I'm not you."
She hurled the stone into the air.
A blinding surge of light exploded outward.
Isadora shrieked as her body began to unravel—bits of flame and ash ripped from her form.
"You can't kill me! I am you!"
Bella stepped forward.
"Then I'll burn alone."
The cavern cracked open.
The throne split in two.
Isadora's final scream was drowned in light.
And when the magic faded…
Bella was gone.
Only her sigil remained, etched into the stone—pulsing once… then vanishing.
Kael stared in horror.
"No… no, no, no…