Chapter 22: The Ash Awakens
The air in Pyranthos shifted with a tension so thick it seemed to crackle, like dry leaves on the verge of catching fire. The grand flame-temples hummed louder than usual, their molten veins glowing brighter in the twilight. Mira sat by the brazier in her chamber, the flame whispering to her in languages she only half-understood. Kael stirred in her womb, more aware than any unborn child should be.
Her dreams had returned, vivid and terrible—visions of a withered land of blackened trees and scorched sky, a shadowed figure cloaked in ash watching her with eyes like molten coals. She had told no one. Not even Jaxon.
The court had grown restless. Rumors of the elemental courts growing bolder in their ambitions had reached Pyranthos. The Council of Sovereigns had not yet responded to Mira's calls. And the Ash King—the ghost of a forgotten lineage—was no longer just a whisper in ancient texts.
As the fire in her chamber flickered suddenly blue, Mira placed a hand over her belly.
"Kael… what are you showing me?"
She saw flickers in her mind—visions passed through the bloodline. A cloaked figure speaking in guttural tongues. Fire weeping. A court betrayed. And Jaxon bleeding, alone.
She gasped awake.
Across the palace, Jaxon paced in the west wing, unaware of the danger stirring. He had just returned from a secret meeting with Thalor emissaries. The tides were uneasy. The storms had grown erratic, reacting to Kael's latent energy like a tide pulled by twin moons.
Lord Maelon approached him, voice low. "The Pyranthian high priests sense an imbalance. The divine council grows restless. You need to ensure Mira is protected."
Jaxon clenched his fists. "She won't let me. Not since the dream-walkers warned her about me."
"You must try again. If the Ash King rises, he'll go after Kael. You know what that prophecy said."
Jaxon stormed back toward Mira's chamber.
—
The next morning, the fire court held an emergency assembly. High Priestess Virell read from a scroll older than the palace stones.
"...and in the twenty-second turning, the Ash shall rise from the forgotten womb, born not of divine will but vengeance. He shall seek the child's flame..."
Gasps filled the hall.
Mira stood, voice steady but sharp. "Are you saying my child is a threat or a target?"
Virell hesitated. "Both."
Jaxon stepped forward. "Then we protect him. No court will touch Kael. Not ash, not ice, not storm."
An older noble interjected. "And who gave you the right to speak for Pyranthos, Thalor prince?"
Mira raised her hand. "He speaks because I trust him. And because no one here seems ready to act."
That night, Mira and Jaxon finally spoke alone. The firelight between them flickered like the distance still not fully bridged.
"You're hiding things from me again," she whispered.
"So are you," he replied. "You think I don't feel Kael's heartbeat against mine when I hold you? We're connected. All three of us."
Her voice broke. "Then why do I feel like I'm walking through smoke, alone?"
Kael kicked, hard.
Both froze.
A glow emanated from Mira's belly. Symbols flared around her, ancient and fiery.
"He's marking you," Jaxon whispered.
Suddenly, a gust of cold air swept through the sealed chamber. Ash drifted in from nowhere.
And in the shadows, a voice echoed:
"Fire will always burn, but ash remembers everything."
Mira turned. No one was there. Yet the floor was coated in soot.
—
Across the continent, hidden deep within obsidian mountains, the Ash King opened his eyes.
"The fire womb stirs. The child of flame and tide grows strong. The world has forgotten the cost of betrayal. I shall remind them."
He stepped forward, flames extinguishing beneath his touch.
Behind him, his generals—ashen husks with burning veins—began to move.
War had found its herald. And Pyranthos would be first to burn.
—
Back in the palace, Mira sat by her son's echoing heartbeat, her fingers curling in the warmth of the brazier.
"We'll stop him, Kael. We have to."
Jaxon joined her, kneeling beside her as flames danced silently.
But even in the stillness, the air now tasted of smoke.
The Ash had awakened.
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