Kael didn't sleep that night.
The fire in his blood wouldn't let him.
He sat with his back against the tree trunk, sweat soaking his collar despite the cold. His hands trembled. His heartbeat thrummed not in his chest, but in the roots beneath him.
The First Flame hadn't left.
It had nested.
Riven watched from across the camp.
She didn't speak.
Didn't ask what haunted him.
But in the hour before dawn, she moved to his side—quiet, bare-footed, no weapons between them.
"I can feel it," she said softly. "You're slipping."
Kael didn't deny it. "I can't stop the memories. They're not mine. But they're inside me. I see faces I've never met. Hear spells I don't know. Smell the burning of cities I've never touched."
Riven knelt in front of him.
"You're not him."
"I don't even know who he is."
"But you're not him."
Her hand brushed his cheek, fingertips tracing the edge of the burn that hadn't fully healed. Kael flinched—but didn't pull away.
"You think if you let go of control, you'll become a monster," she said.
He looked away. "Isn't that what happens to all Binders in the end?"
She leaned closer.
"No."
Then her forehead pressed to his.
Soft.
Steady.
Grounding.
"I've seen monsters," she whispered. "You're not one."
He wanted to believe her.
But the whispers were louder now.
In the wind.
In the soil.
Even in his veins.
Burn them.
Root them.
Bind the world until it kneels.
Kael grabbed his head with both hands. "They're inside me—!"
Riven caught him as he buckled, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
"You are Kael," she hissed into his ear. "You are mine. And I will tear this whole forest apart before I let it take you."
He froze.
Then collapsed fully into her arms.
She held him until the tremors passed.
Until the voices dulled.
Until the fire burned low enough that he could breathe again.
"I'm not strong enough," he said hoarsely.
"You're stronger than you think."
"I'm afraid I'll hurt you."
"Then promise me you won't."
"I can't."
Her fingers dug into his back.
"Then let me help you hold it back."
Later, when the sun finally rose, Kael opened his eyes to find her beside him, still watching.
Still there.
And in her gaze, he saw something he hadn't seen in anyone's eyes since before the Awakening.
Faith.
Not in what he could become.
But in what he already was.