The mirror pulsed—alive, rippling like water, even though it was set deep into the stone wall.
Kaela stepped back, her blade raised. "That's not a mirror. It's a portal."
"No," I said, my claws digging into the frost-laced stone. "It's a trap."
The face in the reflection wasn't mine anymore.
It wore my features—my horns, my eyes—but twisted. Mocking. Cruel. Like a version of me that wanted to burn the world and laugh while it crumbled.
And it smiled.
> [Warning – Identity Distortion Detected]
Mirror Entity: "Eidolon of the Flame"
Class: Soulbound Mimic
Objective: Assimilate Host
The glass cracked. My reflection blinked once—and stepped out.
Kaela screamed as the creature lunged.
---
I met it mid-air. Flame and fang collided, and for the first time since hatching, I fought something that moved like me. Its tail snapped with the same curve. Its fire was my own—only colder, sharper, laced with unnatural hunger.
> [You are being mirrored]
[Combat Efficiency Reduced: -15%]
[Adapting…]
"Kaela, don't fight it directly!" I roared, narrowly dodging a burst of mimic flame. "It copies. It learns."
The mimic's eyes blazed. "So do I."
Its voice was mine. Perfectly. But hollow. Dead.
Kaela leapt onto its back, stabbing downward—only for her blade to phase through, like mist. She hit the ground rolling.
I lunged forward, driving my talons deep into its throat—but even that felt wrong. There was no flesh, no warmth. Just… reflection.
> [New Skill Learned – Flame Echo]
Type: Adaptive Counterfire
Source: Eidolon of the Flame
I inhaled sharply. "It's giving me its powers."
Kaela blinked. "Then use it against it!"
With that, I flared my wings and channeled the new skill. Fire erupted—not from my mouth, but around me. Ghostly flame, silent and silver. The mimic tried to match it.
But it burned itself instead.
It howled—finally showing pain.
And I struck.
With a roar, I surged forward and slammed it back into the mirror. The glass screamed, fracturing into a thousand shards. My double shattered with it, vanishing into mist.
Then all was still.
> [Victory Achieved – Eidolon Defeated]
Skill Acquired: [Flame Echo – Lv.1]
Soul Integrity: 87%
Threat Level: Lowered
Kaela leaned against me, panting. "You okay?"
I looked at the shards still swirling in the air. "Better than the last me."
---
Later, deeper in the tunnel…
The path beyond the mirror room had changed.
It looked older now. Wilder. As if the mountain recognized me differently after the fight. The runes along the walls pulsed with soft, draconic light—responding to my steps.
Kaela walked in silence beside me, her eyes scanning every shadow.
"That thing… it wanted your flame."
"Yes," I said. "And it nearly took it."
She looked up at me. "Why would a reflection want your soul?"
I hesitated.
Because part of me already knew.
When I first reincarnated, I thought I was just a lucky dragon egg, born by chance in the dying age of magic.
But the more power I unlocked… the more ancient doors I touched…
> [System Update – Hidden Lore Fragment Recovered]
"The Last Flame shall inherit the seven shadows of ruin. Only in fire will the echoes kneel."
My claws flexed.
"I wasn't born by accident, Kaela. I was reborn."
She stared at me, silent.
Then she said: "Then we need to make sure you stay you."
---
Meanwhile… in a distant chamber of frost…
The Watcher stood before a frozen lake, where reflections whispered and swirled across the surface.
Beside him, the masked man spoke. "The mimic failed."
"It was only a test," the Watcher replied.
He held up a single mirror shard from the Eidolon's body.
And within it… the face of the dragon blinked.
"Now," the Watcher said, "we move to the second trial."
The mountain opened up before us.
Gone were the frostbitten tunnels and shattered mirrors. In their place stretched a vast, ruined cathedral—half-swallowed by stone, half-alive with firelight that flickered without a source.
Kaela stepped ahead, her boots crunching on glassy ash. "Is this... a temple?"
"No," I said, my voice echoing oddly through the vastness. "This is a cradle."
At the center, a dais rose—carved in the likeness of two dragons: one of molten stone, the other of shadow and ember. Twin flames curled around their throats, locked in eternal combat.
And behind them… a single, massive egg. Charred black. Cracked.
And pulsing.
> [System Notice: Trial Initiated – Twin Flame Sequence]
Origin Core Recognized: Darian, Last Flamebearer
Opposing Core Detected: ???
Warning: Legacy Threat Level – Critical
Kaela read the rune inscriptions carved into the dais. Her voice trembled. "Only one flame shall ascend. The other must be consumed."
Suddenly, the egg cracked.
And something stepped out.
It wasn't like me. It wasn't like any dragon I had seen.
It looked human—at first. A boy. Barefoot. Cloaked in smoke. With eyes like burning coal and hair of blackened ash.
He tilted his head and smiled at me.
"Brother," he said.
I froze. "What?"
"I'm what you left behind," he said softly. "The flame you shed to be reborn. I am your twin. Born from the same soul. And I have come to take back what is mine."
The fire in the cathedral roared.
> [New Entity Detected – "Ashborn Echo"]
Class: Prime Flame Fragment
Status: Incomplete. Aggressive. Soulbound.
Kaela stepped in front of me. "Darian, what is he?"
"I don't know," I whispered. "But I can feel him inside me."
The boy—Ashborn—raised his hand, and a surge of dark flame burst from his palm. I countered, our powers clashing mid-air, igniting the very stones around us.
Fire met fire.
And for the first time, mine wasn't stronger.
> [Warning: Soul Interference – 43% Overlap Detected]
Flame Origin Conflict Imminent
Choose: Consume or Merge
"I don't want to kill you," I growled.
The boy smiled, eerily calm. "Then you've already lost."
He vanished—blinking behind Kaela—and struck. She barely deflected him, tumbling backwards, singed and bleeding.
I roared.
Flame erupted from my mouth, engulfing the Ashborn in silver fire—but he only laughed through the blaze. "That won't work, Darian. You're burning yourself."
> [Your flame is being siphoned – Echo Assimilation Active]
Solution: Sever the soul-link or dominate it
I closed my eyes.
Inside me, I reached inward—not toward power, but toward memory.
And I saw it.
The moment of my death in the old world.
A fire. A choice.
To survive… I had split.
One soul became two. One carried memory. The other… rage.
I opened my eyes and stepped forward.
"No more splitting," I said. "I won't fight you."
The Ashborn's smirk faltered. "You'll be consumed."
"No," I whispered. "I'll reclaim you."
> [New Skill Unlocked – Soulflare Union]
Merge Success Rate: 19%… 35%... 71%...
Warning: High risk of soul collapse
I lunged—not to kill, but to embrace.
We collided, fire against fire, soul against soul.
And everything went white.
---
Inside the Soulflame Plane…
It was quiet.
A flicker of ash drifted through silver flame.
"You were angry," I said to the child-version of myself sitting in the fire.
"I was alone," he whispered. "You left me."
"I'm sorry."
He looked up. "Do you still want me?"
I knelt beside him and held out my claw. "You are me. I never should've left you."
The boy hesitated. Then placed his burning hand in mine.
And we merged.
Not as enemies.
But as one.
---
> [Twin Flame Trial: Completed]
Soul Integrity: 91%
New Evolution Path Unlocked – "True Flame Incarnate"
Skill Gained: [Ashflame Rebirth] – Upon death, ignite a second life with enhanced stats
Status Effect Removed: Flame Distortion
---
I woke with Kaela kneeling over me. Her hands were burned. Her eyes wide with tears.
"You're back…"
I blinked—and felt it.
The twin flame. Whole again.
"I'm here," I said, my voice deeper now, layered with something ancient and raw. "And so is he."
From the ashes, I rose—no longer the last dragon egg.
But something reborn.
---
Meanwhile… far away…
The Watcher stared into a pool of flame.
"He chose union," he murmured.
The masked man stiffened. "Impossible."
"No," the Watcher whispered. "He's rewriting the prophecy."
He turned to a black scroll, long sealed in dragon bone.
"Summon the Obsidian Court. The Ashborne King has risen."