The silence inside the temple felt heavier after the Mirror King vanished.
Kaelen lay in Aelira's lap, his skin pale, breath uneven.
"The seal didn't just reject him," Riven said quietly. "It punished him for being too close."
Aelira touched Kaelen's face gently, guilt curling in her chest like smoke. I should've known. I should've protected him.
Ashar handed her a cloth. "We need to get him out of here. Fast."
They left the Vault chamber in silence.
But as they reached the temple threshold, Aelira noticed something glinting on the ground where the Mirror King had stood.
A silver key.
Delicate, moon-shaped, and carved with the mark of Seraiya.
She picked it up, and a whisper echoed through her mind:
"The truth is sealed in silver. And only memory opens the door."
They made camp just beyond the Hollow, beneath a canopy of stars.
Kaelen slept, feverish, while Ashar brewed healing herbs.
Aelira sat by the fire, staring at the key.
"You should rest," Riven said, joining her.
"I can't. That Vault… it felt like it knew me. All of me."
Riven didn't look at her, but his voice was soft. "It did. And so did he."
Aelira frowned. "Did you… know him? The Mirror King?"
He hesitated.
"Only stories. That he was the balance to your flame. Where you brought fury, he brought stillness. Where you burned, he endured."
"So why did I leave him?" she whispered.
Riven met her eyes.
"That's the part of your past you were too afraid to remember."
That night, the key pulsed in her hand.
Aelira stood and walked away from camp, following an invisible pull.
The silver glowed brighter as she climbed a narrow ridge, until she found a stone altar bathed in moonlight.
It looked ancient — almost forgotten — and at its center was a lock.
The key fit perfectly.
As it turned, a ripple of magic burst outward.
Then the air shimmered, and a memory unfolded before her eyes — vivid and glowing like a dream:
A younger Seraiya — battle-worn, crown cracked — stood in the rain. Before her knelt the Mirror King, injured and pale.
"It's over," he said. "You've won. The kingdoms will kneel."
"At what cost?" she whispered. "The Starfire is feeding on me. I can feel it burning everything I love."
"Then seal it," he said. "Seal your magic. Forget me. Forget all of this."
"If I forget you… I'll never come back."
He smiled, rain dripping from silver lashes. "You always find your way to me. In every life."
She cried, then kissed him — desperate and slow.
"Swear it," she said. "Swear you'll wait."
"Until the stars die," he replied.
The vision faded.
Aelira dropped to her knees, tears streaking her face.
She had chosen to forget.
To bury her power. To lock away her love.
To protect a world that would never even remember her sacrifice.
She returned to camp before dawn.
Kaelen was awake — barely — eyes soft and searching.
"You went somewhere," he murmured.
"Just to remember," she said, kneeling beside him.
His fingers brushed hers. "And did you?"
Aelira looked at him — the man who had stolen her heart in this life… and the ghost of the one who had loved her across centuries.
"I remembered why I gave everything up," she whispered. "And now I don't know how to take it back… without losing you."
Kaelen closed his eyes. "Then don't lose me."
Aelira curled beside him, watching the stars flicker above.
She didn't know if her heart had room for two great loves — or if it was slowly breaking under the weight of both.