NOVEL WEB Chapter 17: Chapter 17: The Third Flame Stirs
Kun collapsed.
The moment the Emberheart fused into his chest, a radiant sigil flared—first golden, then deep crimson. A tremor passed through his spine. His eyes rolled back. His breathing stopped.
And then, the third seal broke.
---
A World Without Sound
There was no ground.
No sky.
No flame.
Only a void.
Kun floated in a realm of utter stillness—neither light nor dark, but a canvas where meaning had not yet been painted. His limbs moved, but nothing changed. His voice echoed, but made no sound.
Then, something shifted.
One by one, embers began to drift around him. Small. Gentle. Remembered.
A whisper cut the silence.
> "You've come far, Spark."
---
The Girl of Gold
From the swirling ash emerged a figure.
A young woman, barely twenty in appearance. Barefoot, cloaked in a garment made of woven starlight and smoke. Her hair glowed like dying coals, and her eyes—brilliant molten gold—pierced through Kun like blades of memory.
He knew her.
But not from this life.
He had seen her in the Flamefall Rite.
In the crystal vision.
In the dying star's core.
> "Who are you?" he asked.
She smiled. "I'm the one who lit the first match."
---
Origin of the Fireseed
She reached out, and the world around them burned into form.
Mountains of glass. Oceans of liquid data. A planet orbiting a dying red sun.
A massive forge floated in space, powered by gravitational chains. On it, humans worked in silence—thousands of them—each bearing glowing implants in their spines, forging spheres of condensed energy.
The Fireseeds.
> "When the old stars died, humanity didn't. We found ways to remember. Ways to burn without fuel."
She gestured to Kun's chest. "You're carrying one of the last. A failed one. Broken in orbit. Crashed into a primitive world. And yet…"
She smiled wider.
> "It lived."
---
Kun's Past Revealed
The vision shifted.
Now he stood in a lab. Walls of crystal. Machines humming.
He saw himself.
Not in armor.
But in a white coat, scarred, exhausted. Standing before a stasis pod.
Inside… was the girl.
She lay asleep, her body connected to tubes and glowing roots. Labels flickered across the glass.
> "Subject I: FLAMECORE SYMBIOTE. Status: Dormant."
And a message:
> "To be awakened by spark-bond imprint. Incomplete without host memory."
Kun staggered back.
"No… I was a scientist?"
She stepped forward, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
> "You were more. You were the last Lightbearer."
---
The Fire Inside
Kun clutched his chest.
Flames burst out—not from his body, but from his memory.
Moments returned like sparks catching wind:
A ship spiraling into a black hole.
The Fireseed ejecting moments before impact.
A final voice recording: "If I survive… may the fire find me."
She nodded.
"You were never sent here by accident."
"You brought the fire home."
---
Awakening
Suddenly, the dreamscape shattered.
Kun gasped as air filled his lungs again.
He sat bolt upright—sweating, glowing faintly, eyes alight with swirling gold and red. His heart beat like a forge hammer.
Lyra knelt beside him, visibly shaken.
"Kun—you were gone. For two days."
Rein stood nearby, arms crossed. "You were burning the whole time. We thought we lost you."
Kun placed a hand over his chest.
"No," he said softly.
"You just found me."