All Chapters of THE HIDDEN FLAME OF LUTHERCHRIS: Chapter 31
- Chapter 40
45 chapters
Chapter 31 — Where Water Meets Shadow
When Collins hit the surface, he didn’t burn this time — he sank.Cold water closed over his head, thick as glass. He tried to swim upward, but the current dragged him deeper. Shafts of faint blue light filtered down through the depths, revealing ruins scattered across the ocean floor — broken towers, fallen statues, fragments of ships from another age.His lungs screamed for air. Just as darkness crept into his vision, something stirred in the deep. A faint glow — like the heart of a sapphire — flickered beneath him.Then a hand, soft but strong, gripped his wrist.He was pulled upward.Collins broke the surface, gasping. His eyes blinked against the misty light of an endless sea, its waves glowing faintly with silver veins of magic. Floating above the waves were enormous rings of stone — bridges that seemed to lead nowhere.“Easy,” said a voice beside him. “You’re safe for now.”Collins turned. A woman was treading water beside him, her hair shimmering like liquid glass, her eyes a
Chapter 32 — The Hollow Sea
Darkness.Cold.Silence.Collins floated weightlessly, suspended between dream and death. He could no longer tell which way was up or down. The world was only a vast black sea, endless and still.His eyes opened slowly, and the faintest glimmer of blue light pulsed far below — like a heartbeat deep in the ocean’s veins.He tried to move, but his limbs felt heavy, his breath hollow. He was neither drowning nor breathing. It was as if the water itself was alive — watching him, whispering secrets in a language he couldn’t understand.> “The Hollow Sea…” he murmured.A voice answered — soft, echoing from every direction.> “Welcome, son of the Flame.”Collins turned in the water. “Who’s there?”The darkness around him stirred. From the depths, a figure began to rise — tall, cloaked in black currents that moved like smoke underwater. Its face was hidden beneath a silver mask shaped like a sun split in half.> “You’ve come far,” the voice said. “Too far.”The presence felt suffocating, vast
Chapter 33 — The Sanctum of Wind
The morning sky blazed with silver and blue. Clouds rolled beneath Collins’s feet like an ocean of mist as he stood at the cliff’s edge, clutching the Shard of Stillness. His father’s final words still echoed through his mind.> “Find the Wind Sanctum, in the ruins above the clouds.”He gazed upward. Floating islands drifted above, massive and ancient, chained together by currents of pure air. Lightning flashed between them like veins of light, and enormous feathered beasts soared in the distance.He took a deep breath and whispered, “Wind… lend me your strength.”The mark on his chest shimmered faintly, the fire and water sigils glowing in balance. Then, the wind beneath him shifted. It coiled gently around his body, lifting him off the ground. For a moment, he felt weightless — free.He rose higher and higher until the world below was swallowed by fog. The air grew thinner, colder. He landed on the first floating isle — a massive stone platform cracked with ancient runes that glowed
Chapter 34 — The Serpent of Storms
The sky trembled.Lightning streaked across the heavens like veins of light, and thunder rolled through the floating isles with a force that shook the very air.Collins stood beside the Guardian of Wind on the highest platform of the Sanctum. The Shard of Stillness pulsed violently in his hand, glowing with blue light that flickered in rhythm with the storm itself.“What’s happening?” he asked.The Guardian’s eyes narrowed, her voice low and grim.> “The balance has been disturbed. By awakening the Wind, you’ve broken the seal that held the Serpent beneath the clouds.”Collins’s stomach twisted. “A serpent?”The guardian raised her arm, and with a gesture, the clouds below parted — revealing a horror that made his blood run cold.Beneath them, coiled through the ocean of mist, was a creature larger than any mountain — a colossal serpent made of storm and cloud, with eyes of molten lightning and scales that shimmered like black glass. Every time it moved, the air cracked with thunder.
Chapter 35 — The Order of Embers
The air grew colder as the laughter faded into silence.The Guardian of Wind stood still beside Collins, her silver hair dancing in the faint breeze, eyes fixed on the dark shapes that loomed across the horizon.There were five of them — cloaked figures standing effortlessly upon the clouds, their forms shifting like smoke. Each carried an aura of fire, ancient and deep, but tainted with something darker.Collins tightened his grip on the Shard of Stillness. “Who are they really?”> “The Order of Embers,” the guardian said softly. “Once, they were protectors — chosen by the Flame itself to guard the balance of elements. But power… corrupted them.”She turned her gaze toward Collins. “When your mother sealed the Fifth Flame within you, they called it treason. They believed no mortal should wield what once belonged to the gods. When your parents vanished, the Order swore to reclaim the Flame — even if it meant burning the world to ash.”Collins’s chest tightened. “And now they’ve found
Chapter 36 — The Echo of Althea
The wind was still.The chaos of battle had faded into silence, broken only by the faint hum of the glowing sphere floating before Collins. It shimmered with soft gold light, its warmth cutting through the cold air around him.He stared at it, his chest rising and falling with uneven breaths.> “You said…” His voice faltered. “You said you’re the Echo of Althea. My mother.”The sphere pulsed gently in response, and then — as if the air itself held its breath — a voice emerged from within it.> “Yes, my son.”It was warm, calm, and heartbreakingly familiar.Collins’s heart twisted. He hadn’t heard her voice in years — not since she’d disappeared. Hearing it again made the air thicken with emotion.> “Mother…”The golden sphere began to change, shifting into a faint, shimmering projection — the image of a woman cloaked in white, her long hair glowing faintly like threads of light. Her face was soft, gentle, and filled with sorrow.> “Collins,” she said, her eyes full of love. “You’ve co
Chapter 37 — The Heart of Earth
The ground split open before Collins like a wound in the world.The glowing green fissure pulsed with rhythm — as if the land itself was breathing. He could feel the pull from deep below, the same energy that had echoed in his mother’s final words.Behind him, the sky over Lutherchris darkened, heavy clouds gathering as if trying to hold him back. The floating isles shuddered, breaking apart one by one, pieces falling into the mist.But Collins didn’t hesitate.He stepped toward the fissure, the Shard of Stillness in his hand vibrating with faint energy.> “The Heart of Earth…” he whispered.“If this is where the truth is buried, then I’ll dig until my soul bleeds.”He leapt into the chasm.The fall lasted longer than it should have. The air around him grew heavy, glowing with faint green sigils that spiraled along the walls. It felt like falling through the memories of the world itself — flashes of forests, mountains, cities long buried.When he landed, the ground beneath him wasn’t
Chapter 38 — The Son of the Flame
The chamber burned with a silent fire.No smoke. No heat. Just a constant, shifting glow that danced across the black stone walls. The colossal tree before Collins pulsed with golden veins, its roots coiling like sleeping serpents.At its heart stood the figure — tall, regal, and terrifyingly calm.Flames licked around his shoulders, but his face was human, eerily similar to Collins’s own.Collins felt his breath catch. “Who are you?”The man smiled faintly. “I am what your world forgot. What your blood remembers.”His voice carried like thunder trapped in glass. “I am Eryndor, the Flame Unending.”Collins blinked, his hands tightening around his sword. “Eryndor… the god of the Fifth Flame. The one who destroyed the heavens.”“Destroyed?” The man’s laughter was hollow. “Is that what they told you?”He stepped closer, the fire dimming as though it obeyed his will. “No, Collins. I didn’t destroy them. I freed them.”Collins’s pulse raced. “Freed them from what?”“From eternity,” Eryndor
Chapter 39 — The Shadow Army
The air reeked of smoke and blood.Collins stood on the edge of a ruined cliff, his eyes fixed on the horizon. Below him stretched a sea of black — an army of thousands marching through the ash-choked valley, their armor glinting with the faint shimmer of corrupted light.Each soldier moved in perfect rhythm, their eyes glowing faintly red. Above them, a banner of torn black silk flapped in the dry wind. At its center, the sigil burned like a wound — a crimson circle crossed by two blades.His father’s mark.Collins clenched his fists, feeling the new runes on his skin pulse like a heartbeat. He could sense the corruption in the air — not just magic, but something older. Something that whispered destruction.> “The Keeper of Shadows,” he murmured. “He’s building an army to swallow the light.”Behind him, the faint rustle of footsteps made him turn.Lyra emerged from the mist — her silver hair damp, her staff glowing faintly with blue light. “So it’s true,” she said, her voice low. “Th
Chapter 40 — The Eclipse Begins
The wind screamed like a dying beast.The mountain trembled under Collins’s feet as the twin lights — his own fiery glow and the dark radiance of his father — stretched toward each other across the horizon. The very sky split in two, half crimson, half black.Lyra’s staff flickered violently. “Collins! You have to control it!”“I can’t!” he shouted, his voice breaking through the roar. His veins blazed like molten gold, and the ground around him melted into glowing cracks.Eryndor’s voice thundered in his skull.> “You are losing yourself, boy. This power answers to will, not fear!”“I’m not afraid!” Collins yelled, though his trembling hands betrayed him. “I just—”The words never finished. The air erupted with an explosion of raw energy. The flames around him shot upward, spiraling into the storm clouds. The world bent — as though reality itself couldn’t decide what to become.Lyra shielded her face as shards of burning stone flew past. “He’s tearing the barrier!” she screamed.Acro