8. Chapter 8: What Remains After the Flame

Ren is fading. The cracked Scar is unraveling his existence — not just his memory, but his physical self. Eiris watches the man she has spent three years chasing literally dissolve at the edges, like ink bleeding off a page. She refuses to let him go. She attempts a forbidden Covenant ritual — the Soul Anchor — to tether him to her own existence. The ritual requires her to sacrifice her ability to remember him. If she does this, she saves his life — but she will forget him, as he forgot her. They will be strangers again. This time, by her choice.