Chapter 54: Ashes of the High Realm
They camped at the foot of Mount Voresh, its shadow looming behind them like a silent sentinel. The night was cold and clear. Stars hung above like watching eyes.
Andrew sat beside the dying fire, Ashren laid across his knees.
"The blade's different now," he said, more to himself than anyone. "It feels… louder."
Elira sat across from him, turning a glowing ember between her fingers.
"You absorbed a god-fragment. The fact you're not screaming in madness is already a miracle."
"Should I be?" he asked.
"Most mortals who touch divine remnants get reduced to dust. You? You just look… tired."
-Flame and Shadow-
Elira leaned forward, gaze flicking between him and the sword.
"What you did in that vault… choosing to carry your guilt, not bury it… that's what heroes do."
Andrew shook his head.
"I'm not a hero."
"Not yet," she said. "But you're not him anymore either."
He looked at her. "Why did you really come back? After what I did to you?"
A long silence.
"Because the gods still fear you. And part of me wants to see why."
She stood and walked away, leaving Andrew alone with the stars—and his sword.
- Divine Interruption -
Somewhere, above the clouds, a divine council convened.
"He now holds two pieces," said a hooded god, voice like iron grinding.
"If he reawakens the third, the chain will break," whispered a goddess cloaked in starlight.
"Then send a Scourge," said another. "Send Vaelith."
From the void stepped a tall, skeletal figure draped in robes made of silence. Its face was a mask of broken halos.
"He will not survive the next moonrise," Vaelith said.
- Visions of War -
That night, Andrew dreamed again.
He stood atop a black throne in another world, armies of shadows kneeling before him. Elira knelt too—but with tears in her eyes.
"You promised," her dream-self whispered. "You said you'd save us."
Suddenly, a sword of fire burst from her chest. Behind her stood himself—the past Andrew, eyes cold, Ashren glowing brighter than ever.
"Saving is weakness," the old Andrew hissed. "We conquer. That is salvation."
Andrew awoke sweating, breathing hard.
Elira sat beside him, concerned.
"Same dream?" she asked.
He nodded.
"No. Worse."
- Chapter End Hook: Arrival -
At dawn, a scream echoed through the forest.
A tree split apart, seared by invisible energy. Birds fled. The sky pulsed with a strange hum.
Mihai sprinted toward them, out of breath.
"Something just tore a hole in the sky above the valley. A gate… opened."
Andrew grabbed Ashren.
"What came through?"
Mihai's face was pale.
"Not what. Who."
In the distance, lightning crackled unnaturally. A presence pressed down on the world like gravity.
"Something's hunting you, Andrew. Something not of this world."