Chapter 137: The Dual Flame

The world was silent for a heartbeat.

Then, as if a storm had ripped through the fabric of space, the energy around Evryn snapped like lightning. Her vision blurred with aftershocks, a mixture of gold and red swirling through her mind. The shard—the Lattice—was inside her, a searing presence that consumed her thoughts, making everything feel distant, like she was floating above herself.

But beneath the brilliance of the flames inside her, there was something else—something darker. A pull. A hunger.

And she wasn’t alone anymore.

The false Evryn—her shadow counterpart—stood tall, her presence a sharp contrast to the energy Evryn now carried. Cold, calculating, and with an edge of knowing that Evryn had never before felt.

"How does it feel?" The false Evryn's voice was cool, almost mocking. "To be both the seed and the flame? To carry me inside you?"

Evryn staggered back, clutching her head. The pain was unbearable, a war between the two flames tearing at her core. Her breath hitched as the two voices fought for dominance—her own and the one she had created. The one now fused with her essence.

"I'm not you!" Evryn spat, but even as she said the words, the whisper in her mind grew stronger.

You are. You always were.

A surge of red energy rippled from the shard embedded in her chest. It was as though the flame was waking up—stretching out, pushing against her skin, making her feel as if she were splitting into two.

Kai's voice broke through the fog of her mind. "Evryn! Don't let it take over!"

But it was too late.

She felt the power shift—like a door opening, a threshold crossed. The Lattice was alive inside her, and now it wasn’t just her anymore. The other—Elaia—was waking up again. The flame that had once been hers, that had been locked away, was now spilling into her veins.

Her body trembled with the oncoming storm, her eyes flashing between gold and red. A deep rumbling filled the chamber, an unnatural vibration that seemed to seep into her very bones.

"Evryn!" Kai's voice was desperate now, pulling her from the deepening spiral. "You need to fight it!"

But how could she fight something that had always been a part of her? Something that she had been? Her mind fought to hold onto her identity as Evryn Hale—the woman who had known love, loss, and the truth of her legacy.

But it doesn’t matter, the voice whispered again. You are Elaia. You are what the Flame needs you to be. The world you wanted… the future you built… it’s all mine now.

The Lattice's pull became more insistent, more demanding. Evryn’s chest tightened as her hands crackled with unstable energy.

“No!” she screamed, struggling to push the foreign presence out, but it was too much. Too strong. It felt like drowning in flames, suffocated by a storm of power.

The false Evryn watched with a faint smirk. "You can’t escape it. You never could. The flame is yours, now."

Evryn gritted her teeth, fighting against the overwhelming tide of fire in her veins. Her heartbeat pounded like a drum, synchronizing with the fluctuating pulse of the Lattice within her. There was a battle going on—not just for control of her body, but for her very soul.

You wanted to change the world, Elaia’s voice whispered from the depths of her mind. I’ll give it to you. But in my image.

"Shut up!" Evryn’s voice cracked, raw with emotion. She raised her hands, a blinding golden light radiating from her fingertips. The energy swirled around her, a protective barrier forming in an attempt to hold the invading presence at bay. But the red flame roared from the Lattice, fighting to break through her defenses.

Kai moved closer, his expression stricken with fear. "Evryn—focus! You can control this! You are stronger than this!"

But the red flame surged forward again, threatening to engulf her entirely. Evryn’s body jerked with the strain, the golden and red lights colliding in violent waves. The chamber trembled beneath the force of the conflict.

She could feel the Lattice, the core of the Flame, trying to pull her deeper into its dark gravity. But then, a surge of clarity hit her. A memory—of her time in the Abyss Pack, of Raven Hale’s voice whispering words of strength and resilience. Her own memories flashed before her, a reminder of who she was—and who she had been before she had allowed herself to be swept into this madness.

I am Evryn Hale, she thought fiercely, I am not Elaia. I control this.

With one final, desperate push, she reached deep into herself, pulling the Lattice’s power into her center. A cry of pain and power tore from her chest as she tried to bend the flame to her will. The forces within her collided in a violent explosion of light and sound.

And then, silence.

When the light finally faded, Evryn was kneeling on the floor, her body trembling as she fought to regain control. Her chest rose and fell with ragged breaths, the world around her spinning.

The false Evryn had collapsed to the ground, the red flame flickering weakly around her. She was no longer smiling.

Evryn’s vision blurred, but she saw Kai kneeling beside her, his hand resting gently on her shoulder.

“Evryn…?” His voice was cautious, concerned, but there was hope there too.

She looked at him, and for the first time since the chaos began, she felt like herself again—whole. She took a shaky breath, the last remnants of the Lattice’s influence receding.

“I’m… I’m okay.” Her voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.

Kai's grip tightened. "You’re not just okay, Evryn. You just fought off Elaia. The Lattice. You won."

She shook her head, disoriented. "Did I? Or is this just another form of control?" Her eyes shifted to the false Evryn, still unconscious on the ground. "She’s not… gone. Is she?"

The false Evryn stirred, her lips curling into a dark smile. "You think you’ve won?" Her voice was laced with venom. "You think you’ve rid yourself of me? I’ve just begun. The real battle… is only starting."

Evryn’s stomach dropped. The presence inside her was still there, lurking in the shadows, waiting to take control once more. But now, she knew the truth—she could fight it. She could control it.

The question was: For how long?

As the false Evryn pushed herself up, the chamber rumbled again, louder this time. The walls cracked, and the ceiling above them began to tremble. Something was coming—something more dangerous than either of them could anticipate.

“Get ready,” Kai said urgently, pulling Evryn to her feet. “This isn’t over.”

And just as the ground shook beneath them, a voice from the Lattice echoed through the chamber—a new presence, one that neither Evryn nor the false Evryn had expected.

> “Let the true architect rise.”

Evryn’s heart skipped a beat as she felt the air shift, the presence in her growing stronger. The Lattice was calling to someone—or something else.

And in that moment, Evryn knew the battle was far from over.