The night after Yun opened the scroll, he couldn't sleep.
The words haunted him.
You are that heir.
Even now, standing in his late mother's meditation chamber with the scroll rolled tight in his hand, he could still feel the burn of the pendant against his skin.
The sigil wasn't just a power.
It was a key.
But to what… he still didn't know.
Lady Shen had retired early. Whether from fear or something deeper, she hadn't spoken much since last night's conversation.
Their near-confession lingered between them like a breath held too long.
As dawn crept in, a low knock echoed on Yun's door.
He opened it to find a young outer servant standing in the hallway, trembling.
She held out a letter sealed in black wax.
"Th-this came for you," she whispered, eyes wide. "No one saw who left it."
Yun took it slowly.
The seal wasn't from the Li clan.
It bore a sigil shaped like an eye — inside a triangle of flame.
He waited until the servant vanished before returning to his table and breaking the seal.
Inside, the parchment was stained in ash at the edges.
But the writing was crisp.
Heir of the Twin Lineages,You have opened the scroll meant only for the bound blood. The gate has begun to crack.We watched your father fall. We watched your mother burn. We will not watch you sleep while the world is consumed again.
You have seven days.Come alone to the Temple of Hollow Sky.Or the gate will open without you.
— Order of the Third Flame
Yun reread the letter three times.
Seven days.
The Temple of Hollow Sky.
He had heard the name once before.
A forbidden site. Abandoned after the last Flame War nearly twenty years ago.
His father used to call it cursed.
His mother had never spoken of it.
Yun burned the letter in the incense bowl, watching the paper curl and vanish into smoke.
He didn't tell Lady Shen.
Not yet.
That afternoon, while walking the inner halls, Yun passed his uncle, Li Chen.
The man was smiling again. Too easily.
"Training again, nephew?" he asked. "You've looked restless lately."
Yun didn't respond.
He only nodded politely and kept walking.
But Li Chen turned with a smirk and added, "Be careful where you wander. Some doors are better left unopened."
Yun stopped.
But he didn't turn.
He didn't need to.
He understood now—his uncle knew. Not everything. But enough.
Let him watch, Yun thought. He won't see the storm until it breaks.
That night, Yun returned to Lady Shen's chambers without announcing himself.
She was seated by the window, her long hair loose over one shoulder, a book resting in her lap.
He closed the door behind him.
"I need to leave the manor," he said.
She looked up instantly. "Where?"
He met her gaze. "The Temple of Hollow Sky."
Her breath hitched.
Then she stood slowly, closing the book.
"Who told you about that place?"
Yun pulled the pendant from under his robe.
"The people who watched my mother die."
Lady Shen's voice dropped. "The Order."
"They sent a message. Seven days. I need to meet them."
Her face darkened.
"No one returns from there unchanged," she whispered. "That place… it feeds on your fear."
"I'm not afraid," Yun said.
"Then you're a fool."
He stepped closer.
"I have to know what they know. About the Flame Sigil. About me. About what's coming."
Lady Shen reached out, grabbing his wrist.
"Then I'm coming with you."
"No."
Her grip tightened.
"You think I'll stay here and let you walk into a death trap?"
Yun didn't pull away.
But he said quietly, "If they see you, they won't speak. They called me. Not us."
Lady Shen's eyes searched his face.
Then, reluctantly, her fingers let go.
"At least let me help you prepare," she said.
He nodded.
In the dead of night, they met in the lotus garden—just the two of them.
She brought a small satchel of spiritual herbs, a talisman-inscribed scroll, and a curved dagger engraved with silver flames.
"This blade is from the Mei clan," she said. "It was given to your mother. She told me once—if you ever awaken the Flame Sigil, you'd need steel that remembers her blood."
He accepted the dagger with both hands.
Their fingers brushed again.
This time, neither of them looked away.
"You shouldn't do this alone," she said again, voice soft. "Let me come."
"If I return," Yun said gently, "I want you to be here."
Lady Shen looked at him for a long time.
Then nodded.
"Then return to me."
He reached out, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"I will."
He didn't kiss her.
But the space between them no longer felt like a barrier.
It felt like a promise.
As the first rays of dawn broke across the sky, Yun left the Li manor, wearing plain robes and carrying only three things:
His mother's pendant.
The sealed scroll.
And the dagger she left behind.
The road to the Temple of Hollow Sky stretched into the mountains—jagged, narrow, filled with fog.
Yun didn't look back.
Because for the first time, he didn't feel like a child chasing ghosts.
He felt like a flame.
Finally learning how to burn.