The image of my teacher faded away as the smoke in the room cleared. I fell silent as I considered his words. Facing a single person with an ability to see the future was problematic enough. Two was a disaster, especially when one was unknown.

I bit my lip as I walked out of the hall to where everyone was waiting for me. Cyra was glaring at me with an intensity that made me uncomfortable. It looked like she might pounce on me if not for the large hand of Svend resting across her shoulders.

Svend stepped in front of Cyra, blocking her view. “Did I hear right? Envy’s seven generals have invaded this realm?”

I nodded. “A traitor made sure to that. Worse, Berith has grown stronger since the last time anyone saw her.”

“That explains the reports I have been receiving of Demonkin acting strangely. Envy’s seven generals… At best I can only fight one with any guarantee of victory, maybe two if I am willing to risk my life.”

“Are you?” I asked, raising my eyebrow skeptically.

“No,” Svend replied firmly, “I will fulfill my end of the deal made with Michael, nothing more, nothing less.”

Charly stepped forward, clenching his fist as he stared at the giant man. “How can you say something like that? If Envy’s invasion succeeds, millions will die!”

“Millions die every day across the realms. A few more will make little difference,” Svend said with a low chuckle, “Regardless, I will still be helping you fight this threat. Just do not expect Cyra or me to sacrifice ourselves for this backwater place.”

“It will be enough,” I replied, cutting off Charly before he could say anything more, “I hope you are ready. We need to prepare for war.”

“I am always ready for war,” Svend said with a big grin, “I will send out the order for my men to gather immediately. In the meantime, Cyra will help you regain your strength.”

Svend nudged Cyra forward. The two stared at each other for a moment before Cyra gave a long sigh. “Fine, let me show you why I specifically was chosen to prepare for your return. Your family should stay with Svend.”

I nodded towards my family and followed Cyra deep into the building. Once again, I was led underground, but rather than a spiral stairway heading down, this time I was led down a long, dim corridor that gently slopped down. Cyra did not say a single word until we came to a stop in front of a large engraved door.

Cyra came to a stop in front of the door and placed her hand on the engravings. Flames ignited on her hand as fire flowed along the lines of the engraving and into four holes along the edges. Her fire felt surprisingly soft and warm in a way that was hard to explain. There was the sound of a soft click as the door was unlocked and began to swing open.

A wave of heat blew over me as if I had just stepped into a desert. Past the door, I could see hundreds of small red crystals that radiated waves of heat that caused shimmers in the air.

Cyra turned to me and crossed her arms. “This room draws and absorbs all the heat from the caverns above. Anyone without a talent for fire will not be able to survive for long inside. The crystals are a creation of my own innate talent, solidified flames. Raw power in solid form. Each one takes weeks of work to create, but another person with a talent similar to my own can absorb the energy from those crystals without having to worry about the corruptive effect of raw chaotic energy.”

I understood the full weight of Cyra's words immediately. This room was basically a less refined version of the Chronicle I had left for my own student, Lucia, before my death. Here, I could regain my full strength in only a few months rather than spending years practicing normally.

Ecstatic at the prospect of finally regaining my power I took a step forward, but before I could enter the room an arm blocked my way. Cyra leaned across the doorway while glaring intently at me.

“I gave up fifty years of my own practice to create this room for you. However, I have no intention of giving it to a dying child.” I paused as I glared back at Cyra and she chuckled in response. “Did you think I would not be able to tell? I can feel the flames in your body, working desperately to repair it even as everything crumbles and fails. You are little more than a walking corpse yourself right now. Even regaining your strength might not be able to fix it. You would only be delaying the inevitable.”

“Perhaps,” I replied as I pushed her hand out of the way, “But even if I cannot fix the damage done, I will still be able to delay long enough to kill Envy.”

I stepped into the room and instantly felt the waves of heat start to sear my skin. It was only when I activated my own innate talent that I was able to prevent being cooked alive. The moment my flame came to life I could feel it being nourished by the heat in the room. It felt like a soothing balm, dampening the pain that had wracked my body since my encounter with Irene.

Cyra followed me into the room. Her own flame wrapped around her. It moved in a spiral as it spread and cut off my connection to the energy in the room.

“Because the other times you have confronted Envy in the past have all gone so well. How many times has he gotten away when victory was within your grasp?”

I spun back towards Cyra and crossed my arms. “If you think you can do better? Then prove it. Envy and his horde are coming. Go and face him. I would love to see how you fare.”

The invisible pressure of a domain pressed down on my shoulders as Cyra’s fire burned even brighter. “I am not the one claiming to be able to kill the Demon. I do not want my hard work wasted on a dead girl.”

“If you had these complaints, why did you not say them to Michael when you had the chance? Whatever deal you made, it was struck with him, not me.”

“You think I can talk back to a former Patriarch?” Cyra asked with her hands on her hip, “I agreed to give you my support and I will, but if you want access to this room, first you must prove to me that it will not be wasted.”

I sighed as I looked up at Cyra. “Prove how?”

“I challenge you to a competition in flame control. Win and I will give you this room as well as a few other things I have picked up over the years that you might find useful. Lose and I will be using this room to increase my own strength instead. Show me what makes you so special that a founder of Tressa was willing to take you as his student.”

“Fine,” I replied with an annoyed shrug, “But I have three conditions. First, you must lower your strength to my level during the contest. Second, no using a domain. Third, win or lose, you will not tell my family about my body’s condition. I do not want to worry them unnecessarily.”

“I agree.”

Cyra and I both stepped out of the room so that we could have no distractions. I heard the door softly lock behind me as it latched closed.

“I assume you know how this works,” Cyra said as she walked over to the wall and pulled an unlit candle off a sconce that decorated it. she then placed the candle on the ground between us and sat down.

“Yes, yes, I have been to Tressa. I have played this child’s game before,” I replied with a dismissive wave of my hand as I sat down across from Cyra.

Cyra smiled as she waved her hand over the candle. A small flame sparked to life, casting shadows that danced in the dim light of the hallway. “This may be a children’s game, but there is no better way to see who is better at controlling fire. Since you are the guest, I will let you go first.”

I let out another sigh as I looked down at the flickering candle. My innate talent flared to life as I exerted my will on the flame. The small flickering light turned green as I took control of the flame. As soon as I did, I felt another talent attempt to rip control away from me. I gave Cyra a small smirk and easily disregarded her attempt. The flame flowed and twisted at my command until it formed a lifelike image of Sylvie. I was even able to make the image move and pretend to clean nonexistent feathers in the way Sylvie did. After about ten seconds, I released my control on the flame and the image disappeared.

“Your turn,” I said with an exaggerated bow and wave of my arm.

Cyra scowled at me silently as she took control of the candlelight. The flame burned bright yellow as Cyra attempted to recreate the image of the small bird. I gave Cyra a few seconds to get started before I activated my innate talent once again. This time I was the one trying to rip control of the fire away from her. The flame wavered and flickered unsteadily for a moment but Cyra grit her teeth and kept it under control. It took her nearly twice as long for her as it did me, but eventually, Cyra managed to create a replica of the small bird. I could hear her let out a small sigh of relief as she succeeded.

I stopped exerting pressure on the flame and grinned at Cyra. “That was a good warmup. Now, let’s try something really complicated.”

“Warmup?” Cyra squeaked.

Once again it was my turn to take control of the flame. This time, I did not create a simple image. Instead, I started forming the most complicated of the glyphs my dad had taught me so far. I only used a single green flame, so it would not cause any effect, but still an incredibly convoluted design. Every line had to be a precise width, cross in the correct location, and twist at the right time.

It took me more than ten minutes to complete the design. The entire time, Cyra wrestled for control of the flame in an attempt to steal it away or collapse my image. Cyra had started sweating. She was completely focused on stopping me, no longer using her talent to make her skin glow. The distinctive tattoos under her skin were now the same color as her glowing yellow eyes.

To Cyra’s credit, she never once cheated. She kept her talent at the same level of strength as mine and never once used her domain. Unfortunately, this also meant she was unable to stop me.

Cyra stared down at the completed design in a mixture of exhaustion and confusion. The pressure faded as she gave up trying to disrupt me and just watched. “You win.”

“Are you sure you do not want to keep going?” I asked, “Bellum is usually played in three rounds of three.”

Cyra shook her head and her shoulders slumped. “It would be a waste of time. Even if you did not interfere, I cannot create anything that complicated.”

“Do not feel too bad,” I replied with a casual shrug, “I learned how to play this game from its creator. When I was young, Michael took me to see two different Patriarchs of the family of fire to help me learn to control my talent. You did well, but out of everyone in the Thirteen Divisions, I doubt you can find ten people that can best me under the conditions I gave you, especially now that I know how to create glyphs.”

“Why do you even know how to do that in the first place? What is the point?”

I smiled as a blue flame ignited in my right hand and began tracing half the glyph.

Cyra’s look of confusion turned to awe as a brilliant golden flame the size of a campfire flared to life between us. “What a beautiful fire,” Cyra whispered, “But… it feels like something is missing compared to the kitten from before.”

I waved my hand and the flame disappeared. “I am working on that, but first, I am going to need to get stronger. Will you help me?”

“Yes, a deal is a deal. I will give you full access to the room whenever you want.”