Chapter 20: The Oath of Fire

The moment Ivy uttered those defiant words—“Then let the world burn”—the sky cracked with thunder. Flames licked the mountaintop, but they weren’t from the Eidolon General’s blade.

They came from her.

A golden light burst from Ivy’s chest, illuminating the battlefield. The air shimmered with heat as her hair whipped in the wind, crackling with static energy. Her skin glowed with a soft fire—not destructive, but alive.

The child was no longer sleeping.

They were protecting her.

“Stand down!” Aiden shouted to the Watchers behind them. “Protect the Archives! Ivy and I will hold the front.”

Mira joined him. “No one touches her. Not while I’m breathing.”

Isla laughed, her madness growing. “Oh, you think this is power? That glow is just a flicker. I’ve seen the flame within, and I know how to take it back!”

With a shriek, Isla launched herself forward, the Eidolon General matching her pace. The two moved as one—flesh and spirit bound by the same dark hunger.

Ivy raised her hands instinctively—and the fire within her answered.

A wall of golden flame erupted in front of them, separating Ivy’s group from the attackers.

The General slashed through it, but the flames reformed just as quickly, refusing to yield.

“She’s holding them back,” Lilith gasped.

But Ivy’s knees buckled slightly.

“She can’t hold it for long,” Mira warned. “That power—it’s burning through her.”

Aiden stepped forward. “We end this now.”

He summoned the twin blades of the Dominion—only ever drawn by a firstborn of the line. Fire and frost danced on each edge, and the wind howled with their arrival.

The Eidolon General paused. “That steel is forbidden.”

“I’m not here for rules,” Aiden growled. “I’m here for my family.”

With a battle cry, he lunged forward.

Isla met him midair, her blade clashing against his, sending sparks in every direction. The Eidolon moved with supernatural speed, circling Aiden like a shadow, striking at his blind spots.

But Aiden had trained for this.

And he wasn’t fighting alone.

Mira leapt into the fray, ice-ice-forming as they flew through the air. Each one aimed with precision, forcing Isla and the Eidolon to split their focus.

Meanwhile, Lilith grabbed Ivy’s arm. “You can’t stay here! If they breach this line—”

“They won’t,” Ivy said, panting. “I can feel… something coming. A memory.”

“What?”

“No—a warning.”

Suddenly, Ivy collapsed, her mind pulled into a vortex of gold and fire.

Vision Realm – The Heart of the Echo

Ivy stood inside a cathedral of flames, endless and silent. A child stood at the centre in a cloak of light, eyes too old for their face.

“Mommy,” the child said. “You’re not ready.”

Ivy reached out. “What am I not ready for?”

“The choice.”

The child stepped back, and the flames pulled away to reveal two doors. One was white, pulsing with warmth and promise. The other—black and dripping with shadows.

“Open the wrong one,” the child warned, “and I’ll never be me again.”

“What are they?”

“One saves the world,” the child whispered. “The other... ends it.”

Back in Reality

Ivy’s eyes snapped open.

She gasped, sitting upright.

Lilith was kneeling beside her, shielding her from stray shards of ice and flame.

“I know what the Eidolon want,” Ivy whispered. “They don’t want to raise the child… They want to break them. Corrupt them from the inside.”

Lilith’s face paled. “And if they succeed?”

“They’ll twist the cycle. The rebirth will end—and a weapon will take their place.”

The battlefield erupted again with energy.

Aiden was bleeding from his arm, but still standing. Mira had formed a massive glacier to pin Isla down—but the madwoman smiled, her eyes glowing brighter.

“She’s not stopping,” Mira shouted. “It’s like she’s feeding on the chaos!”

Lilith gritted her teeth. “Then we take her out. Now.”

“No,” Ivy said firmly, standing on shaking legs. “She won’t stop because she still thinks she has a claim to the child. But I can end that.”

She raised her hand and whispered a word she hadn’t known before—but which the child had whispered in her dream.

“Finetel.”

A beam of golden fire erupted from her palm, arcing straight toward Isla.

The flame didn’t hit her.

It struck the Eidolon General.

And for the first time… he screamed.

Not in pain—but in surprise.

His armoarmourcked, his shadows peeled away—and what remained underneath was human.

“Dorian?” Lilith gasped.

The General—no longer an Eidolon—fell to his knees, coughing, his body charred but real.

Ivy’s hand trembled. “He was possessed. Just like Isla was.”

Isla’s mouth dropped open. “No… no, you can’t break the pact! He belonged to them!”

Ivy’s fire began to rise again, spinning around her like a solar storm.

“Then maybe it’s time someone broke all the pacts.”

The power reached its peak—and with one shout, Ivy unleashed a wave of fire and light that swept across the mountaintop.

When the smoke cleared—

Isla was gone.

The Eidolon were gone.

Only Dorian remained, barely breathing.

And Ivy?

She dropped to her knees, her power spent, the bond with the child humming faintly.

But this time… the hum wasn’t peaceful.

It was afraid.

Hours Later – Inside the Reconstructed Archives

Dorian lay in a sealed chamber, guarded by both Watchers and Dominion soldiers.

“He was a highborn general,” Lilith explained. “Taken in the first Rift War. Everyone thought he died in battle.”

“Why reveal him now?” Mira asked. “What’s the point?”

“He’s the key,” Ivy said softly. “To the first breach. To the first pact. He knows how this all started.”

Aiden placed a hand on her shoulder. “And maybe how to end it.”

Ivy didn’t respond.

Her hand drifted to her stomach again.

The child was no longer glowing.

They were silent.

But not gone.

Not yet.

Later That Night – Ivy’s Room

Ivy stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep.

The dream repeated over and over—the child’s warning, the doors, the voice.

A choice.

But she didn’t know what it meant. Not yet.

Suddenly, the door creaked open.

A shadow stepped inside.

Ivy tensed—until she saw his face.

“Killian?”

He was weak, bruised, and pale—but alive.

“I heard,” he said softly. “You saved the world. Again.”

She swallowed hard. “I didn’t do it alone.”

He stepped closer. “Ivy… I never meant for it to go this far. The pact—the deal—I thought I could control it.”

“You were wrong,” she whispered.

“I know.”

They stared at each other in silence.

Then Ivy asked the question that had haunted her since the firestorm ended.

“Why did you really make that pact, Killian? Don’t lie.”

His face changed. The sorrow deepened. The truth came out.

“Because I’m not his twin,” he said.

“What?”

“I’m not Aiden’s real brother,” he whispered. “I was adopted. Switched at birth. The prophecy was meant for him. But I thought… if I claimed the child first, I could steal fate.”

Ivy’s world tilted.

Everything she thought she knew—every bond—was twisted.

Aiden was the true heir.

Killian had known all along.

And made a deal with darkness to cover it.