Chapter 11: The emberless king
The battlefield fell silent.
Ash floated through the air like snow, dancing between the dying embers of shattered siege beasts and broken men. Ral’Tir still stood—barely—but the weight of what was coming made even victory taste bitter.
I stood at the highest peak of the city, the Ember Tower, flames still coursing through my body like a second bloodstream. The battle had ended, but the war had only just begun.
Kaela approached, limping from a burn across her side. Blood stained her tunic, but her eyes burned with resolve.
"We bought time," she said grimly, "but not much."
From the far horizon, the sky cracked with black lightning.
A storm wasn’t coming.
He was.
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Whispers in the Core
As the remnants of the Ashborn prepared to reinforce the gates and tend to the wounded, I descended alone into the Heartchamber—deep within Ral’Tir, beneath even the city’s roots.