Ice and fire - by Mariam Akorede

Chapter Thirteen The Battle of Twin Flames The sky burned black.The earth cracked beneath armies of fire and frost.And the world held its breath… as war began. --- It started with silence. Then came the roar. From the east, the Hollow Flame unleashed its horde—creatures of twisted ash and shadow, flickering with false light. They swarmed across scorched plains, devouring crops, freezing rivers in their wake, burning towns from within. And at their front… two familiar shapes. The Reflections.Perfect, poisoned copies of Seren and Kaelara.Unfeeling. Unbreaking. Born to divide. ---The First Clash---The sisters’ armies met the tide in the Ashen Valley. Kaelara stood on the northern ridge, arms raised. Ice erupted from the earth, carving trenches and walls of crystal. Her monks chanted from behind, summoning blizzards sharp enough to shred steel. Seren led the charge from the south, her blade engulfed in golden flame. Her warriors, marked with sun-sigils, moved like fire through tall grass—fast, fierce, unstoppable. Flame met frost. And for the first time in an age, they did not cancel each other. They combined. Steam exploded through the battlefield, cloaking allies as they struck from shadows. Skyfire rained down as Kaelara launched frozen spears into the storm clouds above, and Seren struck them with fire, splitting lightning across the enemy ranks. ---The Reflections Attack---Then came the twins. Kaelara’s Reflection moved like a ghost, silent and cruel. It froze her soldiers with a mere glance. It whispered lies—"Your sister doubts you."Seren’s Reflection screamed rage. Its flames burned white-hot. It mocked every step she took—"She will leave you. She must." The sisters fought side by side—but the Reflections separated them. Seren found herself face to face with her copy. It looked like her—but without kindness. A monster with her fire, but none of her heart. They clashed. Flame against flame. Screams and firestorms. Kaelara battled her Reflection in the heart of a frozen lake, ice shattering beneath their feet. Every blow from the copy echoed her own doubt, her own fears. “Seren will abandon you,” it hissed. Kaelara stabbed it through the chest with a blade of clear frost. “No. She’s why I won’t fall.” ---The Turning Point----Seren and Kaelara, wounded but breathing, met again at the center of the battlefield. Around them, the fight still raged—but time slowed. They joined hands. For one breath. Then two. And together, they let go. Not of each other. But of their fear. Their powers surged—not as separate forces, but as one. A ring of blue fire and white frost exploded from them, erasing the Reflections, breaking the enemy lines, and forcing the Hollow Flame to recoil. The armies of ash screamed and scattered. The tide had turned. But the war was not over. Not yet. For deep in the Voidspire, the true form of the Hollow Flame began to rise.

Other insights from Mariam Akorede