Echoes of Fire

My vision blurred.

The world twisted, colors dulling, sounds warping. The roar of the crowd melted into a distant hum, like a tide pulling away from shore.

Pain flared through my chest. My arms hung heavy. I could barely lift my sword.

Everything... felt so far away.

I saw them.

Mother, collapsed and crying in father's arms.

The King yelling, his voice lost in the chaos.

Lady Temina, frozen, unreadable.

And Lumier. His blade raised again. Wind wrapped around it like a predator baring its fangs.

"This is what you get after messing with my family!" he yelled, stepping forward.

I tried to move. My body didn’t answer.

I’m not done. I can’t be done.
Not here.

***

I couldn’t see clearly anymore. The land felt like clouds beneath my body, heavy and shapeless. My sword felt like lead.

Am I really going to lose like this...?

"Basil! Your footwork is wrong again!"
My brother’s voice. Stern, calm. The training ground of the castle flashed before my eyes.

"You can't get closer to your opponent if you do it like this." He stood tall. "Look carefully... Like this."

"How do you do it that effortlessly?"

He looked at me. "It's not something you do cautiously, it should come as a reflex." Smiled just a little. "You can imagine it like... when I throw water at you, don't you jump every time on your own?"

"I see!" I gave it a thought. Then it flashed. "Hey, stop teasing me. What's with that example, you could have used a better one. This is not fair." I pouted feeling embarrassed.

"Alright, alright. Now let's get back to our training session."

...

Another memory.

The duelling ground. A crowd roared in the background. My brother stood in front of his duel-partner, a mercenary, twice his size, chosen by himself. No fancy speeches, just calm focus.

As the bell rang, the mercenary charged like a landslide, his heavy blade swinging with monstrous force. The crowd gasped.

But brother didn’t move. Not until the very last moment.

With a precise sidestep, he let the blade crash beside him. Then struck the land with his open palm.

Terris answered.

Pillars of the terrain erupted in front of the mercenary’s feet, forcing him to stumble backward. The field cracked under his control. Dust rose.

The mercenary grunted, regaining balance and slamming his sword down.

Brother raised his hand again and the terrain shifted.

It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t loud. But it was masterful.

Every strike from the mercenary missed. Slowed by uneven ground, deflected by risen stones, countered by precision. Brother's movements were fluid, controlled, and confident. The way the battlefield shifted around him felt like a quiet storm... beautiful and terrifying.

Eventually, the mercenary fell to a knee, panting, his sword dropped.

Brother hadn’t taken a single hit.

He turned toward the crowd. Then at me, calm as ever, but there was a slight smile.

Afterward, I ran up to him.

"You didn’t even look tired."

He knelt to meet my eyes. "That’s because I can’t afford to be. We carry the pride of our family, Basil."

***

Blood still pooled in my mouth. My fingers trembled around Hellframe.

Brother... I’m not like you. But... I still carry that same pride.

My knees steadied. My jaw clenched.

If I can't win with just my sword skills then I'll use my precision... just like you.

"Finally," Lumier smiled with an uncanny face. "I was nearly going to end you, if you had taken another second. Now, now... let's continue your punishment for being a bad kitty." He laughed at me, his smile darkening. More and more.

My grip tightened around Hellframe. I could still taste blood, but the numbness in my limbs began to fade.

I shifted my stance. No more rushing in. Each movement should have a purpose. I remembered his footwork. The way he waited, not hesitated, like a blade that knew exactly when to cut.

Lumier lunged. His wind-cloaked blade hissed through the air.

But I stood still till the very moment of strike.

My left foot slid diagonally. The strike missed, barely.

It worked.

My shoulder brushed the shockwave, and even that stung like a whip. But I was inside his guard now.

Hellframe sang.

A single horizontal slash, clean. Sparks flared as he parried just in time. But this time, he staggered.

The crowd gasped, but not for the previous reason.

"I see, you’re back from your nap," he snarled, his smile gone.

"You talk too much," I said, my breath still ragged but voice steady.

I adjusted my grip, low guard, blade angled, legs bent slightly.

He stepped back little, then swept forward again, faster now, wind pushing his strikes into a blur.

But this time I deflected the strikes, redirected. Slipped through them. And swung Hellframe when got the chance.

One cut across his thigh. Another across his shoulder. Not deep... but it was progress.
I can win this.

Lumier was fast, vicious, but he was used to dominating. He didn’t know how to adjust with my footwork.

Another step. Another cut—this one along his ribs.

He deliberately rushed with gusty strikes embodied with currents of wind... on and on.

I kept on going with my precisions and avoided direct conflict. Attacked while keeping distance.

He growled, "You damn mutt!"

He became desperate. But with each strikes his breathing grew heavy, his movements became sloppy.

His stance different than before, dashed toward me in this final blow of him.

Lumier reared back his sword, pouring everything into one sweeping strike, wind exploding around it, appeared before me from nowhere.

I was already inside his swing, before I could realize. I bent down to dodge and drove my knee into his gut.

He gasped, eyes wide.

I didn’t stop. I lift up Hellframe with a heavy slash, hammering it into his side.

The blade bit deep.

He screamed. He staggered, barely holding on.

I have him.
One final move, one final strike to end it.

I pulled Hellframe back, poised to strike.

But Lumier’s body suddenly snapped forward, twisting unnaturally.

Wha—?!

His eyes glowed a sickly crimson red. Wind surged again, but now it didn’t move around him.

It sank into him. He grinned.

I barely had time to raise my sword.

A gust exploded from his body, like a bomb going off. I flew backward, crashing into the dirt with a crunch. Before I could move, he was already above me.

"Your turn to fall." he whispered.

He striked with his foot fueled with a strong gust; straight into my side-ribs.

Crack.

I felt bones snap.

My lungs seized.
Everything... everything blurred again.
Hellframe slipped from my fingers.
The world tilted sideways.

I couldn’t even scream.
Only my ears, 
They caught Lumier's panting and smirking.

***

Everything went dark.

I was falling in an infinite void.
A black space. Quiet.
A presence, familiar yet terrifying, shifted in the emptiness.

Then I heard the voice. Deep. Echoing.

"Are you finally ready to stop pretending?"

I gasped. "Who's there...?"

A shadowy figure materialized. It laughed, low.

"You know me. You always have. After all, I’m the reason you’re even here."

"What do you mean? Where am I? What happened to the duel? Did I... lose?!"

"Still asking too many questions. That hasn’t changed."

I clenched my fists, even though I couldn’t feel them. "Am I... dead? But this place… it’s the same as back then... when Vulcan awakened. Right?"

"Yes."

"Then are you Vulcan and is this my subconscious?"

"The former is wrong I'd say, but you've guessed the latter one correctly."

"Wrong you say,... then you are—?"

"Even though you remember that incident happened when you were just a kid, you don't seem to remember me. Then I guess I wasn't able to bring your memories back with yourself, it's all because you were an interrogating machine, huh!"

"I don't get anything that you are saying, but I need to be conscious again. Can you tell me how to go back?"

"That's why you are here. Please don't tell me you think that you can win with your current circumstances..."

"There is nothing to think about, all I know—is I need to win."

"Don't be reckless, you can lose your life here, though that won't be a matter, but here's a parting gift for you.
Help the kid, Vulkan! It's your time to blaze!"