The Thirteenth Ember - Chapter 13: Chapter 13
You are reading The Thirteenth Ember, Chapter 13: Chapter 13. Read more chapters of The Thirteenth Ember.
The ruin had been quiet for too long.
Aeryn stood at the altar’s edge, heart still trembling from the vision the ember had shown them — the thirteen children, the command word, and Kael, alone, surviving something not meant to be survived.
Kael sat near the broken statue, elbows on his knees, eyes lost to shadow.
“You okay?” she asked softly.
He didn’t look up. “I remember their names now.”
Aeryn waited.
“Rhaen. Tovin. Lira. Aedric.” His voice cracked. “We were chosen together. Bound by fire. They trusted me.”
She knelt beside him. “You didn’t fail them.”
“They’re dead, Aeryn. And I’m alive because I disobeyed.”
“No,” she said gently. “You’re alive because you refused to be a weapon.”
Kael looked at her. “Then what am I now?”
A sound cracked through the ruins above them.
Aeryn was on her feet instantly, dagger drawn. Kael rose slower, holding the emberglass. The warm glow from earlier had changed — now pulsing faster, like a heartbeat climbing toward panic.
“Trackers?” Kael asked.
She shook her head. “No.”
She felt it.
Magic. Flameborn. And familiar.
Another crash — and then voices. One low. Calm. Deceiving.
“He’s here. The boy.”
Kael’s expression changed. “That voice.”
A figure stepped through the opening above them — a tall man, Flameborn robes marked by a crimson sash.
Master Talor.
Aeryn’s stomach dropped.
“You said you weren’t here to stop us,” she hissed.
Talor smiled thinly. “I lied.”
Behind him, six Flameborn soldiers descended — disciplined, masked, their fire glowing under their palms.
Kael stepped forward. “You betrayed your oath.”
“I served it,” Talor said. “I protected what the world wasn’t ready for. But now… must be contained.”
Aeryn moved between Kael and Talor. “You’re not
touching him.”
Talor’s face flickered with something unreadable. “You care for him?”
She didn’t answer.
“You’ll watch him burn you,” Talor said coldly. “That’s what he was born for.”
Kael raised his hand.
The emberglass ignited — not red, not orange, but white. A clean, blinding flame.
The chamber roared with power.
Aeryn cried out as the heat swept over her — not harming, but testing.
Talor stumbled back, eyes wide.
“Impossible,” he whispered.
Kael stepped forward. His voice was clear. Controlled.“No more running.”
And the flame leapt from him — not as destruction, but as judgment.
It circled the guards, pressed them down. It didn’t burn — it revealed. Their masks melted away, and their faces showed what they were.
Afraid.
Children trained to kill.
Kael’s flame dropped. The fire vanished.
No one moved.
“Go,” he said.
One by one, the guards turned and fled.
Only Talor remained. His pride didn’t let him move.
But his silence did.
“You were wrong about me,” Kael said.Talor looked at Aeryn. “And you? You’ll protect him until the end?”
She met his gaze. “Even after.”
Talor’s jaw clenched — but he vanished into the dark.
Later, in the quiet of the ruin, Kael sat beside Aeryn. Neither spoke for a long while.
Then, softly, he said, “You stood between me and the world.”
She turned to him, her voice barely a whisper.
“I think I always would.”
Aeryn stood at the altar’s edge, heart still trembling from the vision the ember had shown them — the thirteen children, the command word, and Kael, alone, surviving something not meant to be survived.
Kael sat near the broken statue, elbows on his knees, eyes lost to shadow.
“You okay?” she asked softly.
He didn’t look up. “I remember their names now.”
Aeryn waited.
“Rhaen. Tovin. Lira. Aedric.” His voice cracked. “We were chosen together. Bound by fire. They trusted me.”
She knelt beside him. “You didn’t fail them.”
“They’re dead, Aeryn. And I’m alive because I disobeyed.”
“No,” she said gently. “You’re alive because you refused to be a weapon.”
Kael looked at her. “Then what am I now?”
A sound cracked through the ruins above them.
Aeryn was on her feet instantly, dagger drawn. Kael rose slower, holding the emberglass. The warm glow from earlier had changed — now pulsing faster, like a heartbeat climbing toward panic.
“Trackers?” Kael asked.
She shook her head. “No.”
She felt it.
Magic. Flameborn. And familiar.
Another crash — and then voices. One low. Calm. Deceiving.
“He’s here. The boy.”
Kael’s expression changed. “That voice.”
A figure stepped through the opening above them — a tall man, Flameborn robes marked by a crimson sash.
Master Talor.
Aeryn’s stomach dropped.
“You said you weren’t here to stop us,” she hissed.
Talor smiled thinly. “I lied.”
Behind him, six Flameborn soldiers descended — disciplined, masked, their fire glowing under their palms.
Kael stepped forward. “You betrayed your oath.”
“I served it,” Talor said. “I protected what the world wasn’t ready for. But now… must be contained.”
Aeryn moved between Kael and Talor. “You’re not
touching him.”
Talor’s face flickered with something unreadable. “You care for him?”
She didn’t answer.
“You’ll watch him burn you,” Talor said coldly. “That’s what he was born for.”
Kael raised his hand.
The emberglass ignited — not red, not orange, but white. A clean, blinding flame.
The chamber roared with power.
Aeryn cried out as the heat swept over her — not harming, but testing.
Talor stumbled back, eyes wide.
“Impossible,” he whispered.
Kael stepped forward. His voice was clear. Controlled.“No more running.”
And the flame leapt from him — not as destruction, but as judgment.
It circled the guards, pressed them down. It didn’t burn — it revealed. Their masks melted away, and their faces showed what they were.
Afraid.
Children trained to kill.
Kael’s flame dropped. The fire vanished.
No one moved.
“Go,” he said.
One by one, the guards turned and fled.
Only Talor remained. His pride didn’t let him move.
But his silence did.
“You were wrong about me,” Kael said.Talor looked at Aeryn. “And you? You’ll protect him until the end?”
She met his gaze. “Even after.”
Talor’s jaw clenched — but he vanished into the dark.
Later, in the quiet of the ruin, Kael sat beside Aeryn. Neither spoke for a long while.
Then, softly, he said, “You stood between me and the world.”
She turned to him, her voice barely a whisper.
“I think I always would.”
End of The Thirteenth Ember Chapter 13. Continue reading Chapter 14 or return to The Thirteenth Ember book page.