Chapter Seventy-Seven:

  “Embers and Ash”

  The wind had died, but the ruin it left behind remained.

  Emily’s breath was steady, controlled, her pulse, was anything but. She stood amid the wreckage, scanning what was left of Emberwood Village, her bow still clutched in her hand. Smoke rose from the broken remains of homes, the scent of burnt wood no longer familiar, no longer a comfort.

  Her first thought wasn’t of the destruction. It was of the people.

  Her elvish eyes swept across the battered landscape, searching.

  Lucinda.

  She spotted her immediately, already at work, her hands aglow with soft white light. She knelt beside a wounded child, pressing her palms against their shoulder, skin knitting together beneath her touch. Another injured figure sat nearby, watching with quiet, desperate hope.

  Emily exhaled through her nose, relief barely registering before her gaze moved again.

  Ankit.

  He emerged from the splintered remains of a stone building, half its roof gone, the front door torn away. He staggered slightly, shaking off the haze of whatever impact he had endured inside. His dark eyes searched frantically, darting upward, seeking the Aetheris.

  Finding nothing.

  His expression didn’t break, didn’t crack. But Emily saw the moment it settled. The realization sinking in.

  Evelyn. Amari.

  Gone.

  Her heart broke, but she forced herself to keep moving. Keep looking.

  Leo and Keira.

  She found them pressed against the remains of another building, only a fractured wall left standing. Leo hovered over her, his stance wide, protective, his coat torn and dirt-streaked. Keira sat beneath him, her hands raised, a shimmering red-orange barrier of flame still encasing them, shielding them from the worst of the collapse.

  They were breathing. Alive.

  Emily released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

  And then, Asha.

  The last of the storm’s fury had settled, but Asha remained on her knees. Not in grief. Not in despair.

  In honor.

  Her hands pressed against her thighs, her head slightly bowed, her posture rigid, unshaken.

  Emily watched her for a moment, the weight of understanding settling deep. Then, with slow determination, Asha began to rise.

  Emily knew what that meant.

  She had no intention of staying on the ground.

  The survivors gathered, the weight of what had happened settling into their bones. Smoke still hung over the remnants of ruin, but they had no time for grief. Not yet.

  Emily stood at the center, eyes moving from face to face, ensuring they were all truly there.

  Ankit, brushing dust from his tunic.

  Leo, his stance still braced, as if expecting another strike.

  Keira, exhaustion clinging to her, the last traces of her barrier fading into nothing.

  Asha, silent, but standing.

  Lucinda did not join them.

  She remained where she was, kneeling beside another injured villager, hands pressed against an open wound. The glow of her magic had dimmed, barely holding. Only when the wound was sealed did she push herself up and finally turn to them. Her expression was drawn, weary. She locked eyes with Emily before shaking her head.

  “I’m out of MP,” she admitted, regret weighing heavy in her tone.

  Before anyone could react, Ankit was already moving. He reached into his inventory, his mind's grip tightening around a slender glass vial filled with shimmering blue liquid. Without hesitation, he tossed it to her.

  “Mana Tears,” he said simply.

  Lucinda caught it, her nod slow, distant. "Thank you, Ankit," she whispered, exhaustion threading through every syllable.

  Without wasting another second, she uncorked the vial and downed the potion in a single motion. A faint pulse of energy shuddered through her, not enough to restore her fully, but enough. Enough to keep going.

  She didn’t linger. With one last glance at the group, she turned back toward the wounded, already moving to help the next one in need.

  Keira exhaled sharply, steadying herself, forcing away the heaviness clinging to her limbs. She was tired, tired of feeling drained, tired of feeling helpless.

  Enough of that.

  She whipped her attention to Ankit. "Hey, kid. Toss me one of those."

  Ankit, already searching through his inventory, pulled out another vial of Mana Tears. As he did, he brought out something else. Small, but just as important.

  Apples.

  They weren’t much, hardly a meal, but it was what he had thought to grab from the Aetheris before… before it was gone. Without a word, he took out enough for everyone and passed them around.

  Leo caught his with a nod and bit in without hesitation. Asha turned hers over in her hands for a moment before following suit. Emily took hers with a quiet murmur of thanks. Even Lucinda, despite the exhaustion lining her features, accepted it before turning back to her work.

  Keira popped the cork and drank the shimmering blue liquid in one go. The warmth of restoration spread through her, burning away what remained of the fog in her mind. Her breath steadied. Her focus sharpened.

  They ate in silence, the taste of fruit and survival settling in their mouths. It wasn’t a feast. It wasn’t even enough.

  But it would do.

  It had to.

  Emily’s grip on her bow remained firm. The sky no longer bore witness to Sterling. His looming manifestation, vast, unrelenting, had faded into darkness, leaving behind only the wind and the quiet ruin of Emberwood.

  Her sharp eyes snapped to toward the tree line at the village’s edge.

  There they were.

  Sterling and Hex.

  The antlered figure stood as if he had always been there, his form woven from something far more sinister than shadow. At his side, Souleater hung loosely in his grasp, the diamond and emerald set in its base still holding a lingering charge.. Hex stood beside him, her dress swaying lightly in the settling breeze, her porcelain skin untouched by the ruin around her, dark eyes gleaming with impatience.

  Without a sound, Sterling slid Souleater back into its sheath, the final echo of its power dissipating around him.

  Emily didn’t wait. The others followed as she took the first step forward, their feet crunching over splintered wood and fractured stone.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  They closed the distance.

  No words yet, only movement, only the space between predator and prey shrinking with every step.

  Sterling’s voice cut through the group, measured, non-threatening.

  “I wish only for the Guardian.”

  Ankit stepped forward without thought. “Well, you’re not getting her!”

  The words stopped Sterling in his tracks. A slow silence settled, his masked head tilting ever so slightly.

  “Her?”

  His tone carried a low hum of curiosity, layered with something, calculating, dissecting. His fingers brushed against the hilt of Souleater, though he made no move to draw it again.

  “Interesting,” he mused. “Taking into account that the Guardian of Fire has always been referred to as he.”

  A pause. A consideration.

  Asha inhaled sharply, eyes snapping to Ankit in silent reprimand. Ankit's breath stopped, realization crashing down. He flicked a glance back toward Asha, regret already pooling in his eyes, but the damage was done.

  She turned toward Keira, an instinctual, fleeting glance, but it was already too late.

  Sterling noticed.

  And so did Hex.

  For Sterling, understanding settled like a slow, inevitable tide.

  For Hex, it came like a blade between the ribs. The Key Player she had failed to eliminate. The one she had dismissed, overlooked.

  Keira.

  The Guardian.

  Her father did not move, but Hex could feel his awareness turning, the silent force of it closing around her, questioning. Judging.

  Would he punish her for this failure?

  She did not know.

  Yet.

  Before even Sterling could react, Ankit was already on him. Fast, too fast. Twin daggers flashed in his grip, striking for an opening. One barely nicked the surface of Sterling’s armor, the other ripping through the fabric of his cloak.

  Sterling’s response was instant. One sweeping motion, a single arm cutting through the space between them.

  Ankit felt the impact before he even registered the movement.

  The force sent him hurtling backward, his ribs screaming in protest. Pain shot through his body, raw and unforgiving, his HP plummeting dangerously low.

  “Fool!”

  Sterling’s voice cracked through the air, not a bellow, but sharp, edged with the first sliver of real irritation.

  He was already steadying himself, already regaining control, when he saw it.

  Souleater, no longer in its place.

  His gaze snapped to Ankit, who was flipping midair, instincts kicking in even through the pain. The moment his boots hit the ground, he didn’t hesitate. He ran.

  Not away from battle.

  But away with Souleater.

  Sterling did not move, not yet. He simply watched as understanding settled, as realization clawed its way through the moment. The thief had taken his weapon. His weapon.

  Ankit didn’t look back. He couldn’t. Sterling’s hit had been devastating, every nerve in his body screaming. His HP hung by a thread, but his stamina? That was still full.

  And he was going to run it dry.

  Sterling’s posture remained composed, but his voice cut through the battlefield with unwavering command.

  “Hex. Retrieve my weapon.”

  The order had been given. She would obey.

  "Yes, Father."

  But before she could move, the attack begun.

  Emily’s bowstring thrummed as three enchanted arrows streaked through the air, glowing with power, aimed directly at Sterling’s chest.

  Keira found she no longer needed her lighter. Flames ignited at her fingertips, a blazing inferno gathering between her palms. With both hands, she hurled a massive fireball forward, the heat distorting the air as it rushed toward its target.

  Leo slammed his fists together, and a brilliant wave of energy erupted from his form, a cutting beam of pure light slicing toward Sterling in tandem with the others’ attacks.

  Three strikes. Three different forces. All converging at once.

  And still, Asha had not forgotten Hex.

  She pulled a small vial from her pouch, golden liquid swirling within. Her voice rang out, sharp and mocking.

  “I hear you like playing with gases! Play with this!”

  The vial shattered at Hex’s feet. A sickly yellow mist erupted around her, surging into her nostrils before she could react. A strangled cough tore from her throat as she stumbled, her hands clawing at nothing, choking, gasping.

  The battlefield ignited with chaos.

  The impact of the attacks cracked through the battlefield, engulfing Sterling in a blaze of fire, light, and force. The wind howled, whipping dust and embers into the air, obscuring him from sight. For a moment, it seemed as if the onslaught had done its job, if not to wound him, then at least to buy Ankit the time he needed.

  Then the dust began to settle.

  Sterling still stood.

  He had not fallen, nor staggered. But the damage was evident. His cloak had been burned away, revealing the armor beneath, intricate and cruel, a fusion of blackened steel and bone. The plating was molded into the shapes of leering skulls, their hollow eyes and jagged teeth frozen in eternal screams. His poleyns bore horrified, grinning visages, while the pauldrons curled into wicked spines, as though the armor itself had been shaped from the remains of the fallen. His mask was gone, shattered into nothing, leaving his true face exposed.

  Scarred. Wasted.

  Old.

  Eyes smoldering with an unfathomable depth, fixed and unrelenting.

  Whatever Sterling had once been, time had withered it, leaving only the husk of something beyond human.

  The ground smoldered around him, irrelevant. He raised his head, movements unhurried, methodical, taking in the battlefield. Not in anger. Not in pain.

  In quiet calculation.

  Hex still knelt where she had fallen, her slender frame convulsing as the effects of the gas clawed at her lungs. Choking. Gasping.

  She was of no use to him now.

  Sterling exhaled slowly, a rasp of breath that carried more weight than words.

  The battlefield had changed.

  And he would change with it.

  The air fractured.

  A blur of violet and black surged forward, streaking across the battlefield in a heartbeat. Before Keira could even register the movement, Sterling was there, his gauntleted hand clasping tightly around her throat, effortlessly lifting her from the ground.

  Her feet dangled uselessly beneath her, eyes widening in shock and pain. Sterling’s face, scarred and weathered, filled her vision, his icy gaze chilling hers with merciless intensity.

  “Hello... Guardian.”

  His voice hissed with searing certainty, void of compassion, the greeting more chilling than any threat. Keira’s fingers clawed desperately at his armored hand, but he only tightened his grip, watching her struggle with detached amusement.

  Emily and Leo were thrown backward, hurled by the sheer force of Sterling’s sudden strike. They skidded, momentarily stunned by the abrupt ferocity.

  But Asha was already moving.

  Her hand dove into her pouch, retrieving another vial. Without hesitation, she hurled it toward Sterling. Glass shattered as the liquid splashed against his palm, releasing a golden haze that spiraled upward.

  Sterling barely flinched.

  With a snarl of impatience, he flicked his hand, dissipating the mist effortlessly. But it had done its job.

  Leo surged to his feet, roaring as he charged forward. He collided with Sterling, driving his shoulder into the Dark One's armored frame with every ounce of his strength. The impact sent shockwaves through the air, knocking Emily back once more as Leo and Sterling collided.

  Sterling staggered, grip slipping just enough. Keira dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

  For a single, devastating moment, Sterling lost his footing, forced back, sliding slightly against the churned earth. His eyes flared wide, disbelief quickly overtaken by something far darker. Anger, pure and unbridled, surging through him with an intensity he'd never known.

  For the first time in memory, Sterling was angry.

  Sterling’s voice erupted in a snarl, raw and unfiltered, a fury he had never allowed himself to feel, much less reveal.

  “You dare to make me kneel?”

  Emily’s fingers snapped another trio of enchanted arrows into her bowstring, releasing them with lethal accuracy. They streaked toward Sterling, their trajectory perfect, true. For an instant, it seemed they would find their mark, the realm holding its breath in anticipation.

  Distracted by his own wrath, Sterling barely seemed to notice their approach.

  But then, impossibly, his hand lashed out, snatching the arrows from the air as easily as catching leaves drifting lazily on the wind. With a fierce crack, he shattered them, splintered shafts falling to the ground at his feet.

  He turned slowly, the full intensity of his glare pinning Leo where he lay, injured from the brutal collision moments earlier.

  “You,” Sterling growled, his voice burning with uncontrolled menace, “will regret that deeply.”

  Leo met Sterling’s stare, pain and defiance mixing equally on his face. But before he could rise, Sterling’s boot moved forward, poised to crush the defiance from his very bones.

  Keira’s heart burned within her chest. Pain and desperation mixed, sharpening into something else entirely, resolve. She stared at Sterling, at Leo beneath his shadow, at everyone she cared about, their lives hanging by the barest thread.

  Her thoughts surged inward, a plea, urgent, raw.

  Help me.

  She reached deeper, beyond exhaustion, beyond fear. Her pulse quickened, her heartbeat echoing in the flames of her soul, calling out with unwavering determination.

  Help me save him. Help me save them all.

  A whisper stirred within her, quiet at first, then building, answering with blazing certainty. It erupted, an ancient power waking at her core, igniting every nerve, every fiber of her being.

  Keira’s body lifted from the ground, flame engulfing her, a fire that burned not from pain, but from love. Her eyes blazed incandescent, her entire form ignited, becoming pure, living flame. She rose above the battlefield, radiant and terrifying, the Guardian of Fire fully awakened.

  Sterling turned, sensing the power surge, eyes wide with shock as flames erupted from Keira in a ferocious, unstoppable torrent. The searing inferno crashed into him, consuming armor and flesh alike, stripping away his composure. For the first time, Sterling screamed, an unearthly sound filled with agony, raw and primal.

  He recoiled, flesh and armor scorching beneath her wrath, his screams echoing across Emberwood Village.

  Below, Hex watched the scene unfold from her knees, eyes wide, breath catching, not in fear, but in something she couldn't quite remember.

  Joy.

  Sterling, broken and overwhelmed by the searing agony, stumbled back. Without another word, he sliced the air beside him. Violet and black energy tore through reality, creating a portal swirling violently at his side. Without another glance at those who had brought him down, he scurried into the void.

  The portal snapped shut behind him, leaving nothing but the lingering echoes of his anguished screams.

  On the ground, Hex lifted her head slowly, eyes wide with disbelief. She stared at the empty space where her father had vanished, voice catching in her throat. Tears welled, trickling down her pale cheeks, not from pain, but from the sharp, piercing ache of abandonment.

  Her whisper was small, broken.

  "Father?"

  No answer came.

  She pushed herself to her feet, her movements slow, shaky. With a trembling hand, she opened her own swirling portal in shades of violet and shadow, smaller, simpler, swirling darkly at her feet. She crawled through, vanishing as quickly as she'd appeared.

  Emily, Leo, and Asha stood frozen, breathless. Keira was gone, where she had been a crimson ruby pulsated gently with power.

  Leo felt a pull, not from within himself, but from his hand, Sarah’s ring. No, not Sarah's anymore. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew, it was Keira’s. He raised his hand instinctively, drawn to the ruby hovering where Keira had been.

  As his ring neared the gemstone, the ruby shimmered, lifting and merging seamlessly into the band. A wave of pure, blue flame surged outward, enveloping him completely.

  Leo closed his eyes, the heat comforting rather than painful, tears slipping silently down his cheeks.

  He wept.