Ayesha rules with absolute power in the tombs and temples of Kôr and leads Leo toward the living flame to grant him immortality while seeking to reaffirm her own eternal youth. Yet love and jealousy distort her judgment and the very force that preserved her begins to turn beyond her control. When she steps once more into the pillar of fire an unforeseen transformation overtakes her and her body rapidly withers. The fall of the immortal queen destroys the illusion of divine permanence and exposes the tragic cost of obsession. Holly and Leo return over the mountains to civilization carrying the memory of lost eternity and unanswered mystery.
