The Thirteenth Ember - Chapter 2: Chapter 2

The cave was narrow, hidden behind a curtain of ivy and rock. Aeryn hadn’t used it in months — not since the ceasefire that no longer mattered — but it was the safest place she had to hide a man no one should have seen alive.
Kael.
He hadn’t said much after passing out again in the forest. She had dragged his weight through the woods like hauling a secret that wanted to scream.
Now, he lay on a bed of woven straw and furs, chest rising slowly, bandaged from shoulder to hip. Outside, the wind howled and night pressed its weight against the mountains. But inside, all was still — except for the fire inside Aeryn.His eyes darkened. “Then call me a blade.”
She looked back at him. “And if I do, will you cut me?”
His voice softened. “Not yet.”
Silence fell again. The kind that isn’t peace — just a pause before the world shifts.
And in that silence, the emberstone glowed.
Aeryn looked down at it and knew something she couldn’t yet explain: Kael wasn’t just another wounded man.
He was the start of something.
Something dangerous.
Something burning.
She couldn’t stop looking at him.
Silver eyes. That wasn’t Ardyn or Velmiran. Itwas... something older. Something wrong.
She glanced at the medallion she’d taken from his neck. A broken crest — a winged blade over fractured stone. She didn’t recognize it.
Which meant he didn’t want to be recognized.
She stepped to the back of the cave, grinding herbs into a paste. The faint glow of the emberstone at her chest pulsed softly, like a heartbeat — his, not hers.
He stirred.
“I know you’re awake,” she said without turning.
A pause. Then, “I was trying to be polite.”
She turned around slowly. He was sitting up, barely, his back against the stone wall.
“You shouldn’t be moving.”
He ignored her. “This isn’t a healer’s hall.”
“No.” She crossed her arms. “It’s mine.”Then why am I here?”
She hesitated. The ember pulsed again. “Because you didn’t die fast enough for me to walk away.”
Kael tilted his head, something between a wince and a grin. “Lucky me.”
“Not yet,” she muttered.
They were silent a while. The fire cracked. Outside, a hawk screamed. Then he spoke again.
“You’re flameborn.”
She stiffened. “What makes you say that?”
“The elixir. The stone. The way you pulled me back from the edge without flinching.”
Aeryn’s fingers twitched near her knife. “Don’t flatter me. I flinched.”
He studied her, the fire casting gold shadows across his face. “You don’t trust me.”
“You’re a stranger. Wearing no crest. Bleeding in enemy woods.”
“And yet… you saved me.”
She didn’t answer.
Kael leaned forward. “So what now?”
“Now I decide if keeping you alive was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”
He let out a low breath. “I’ve been called worse.”
Aeryn turned to stoke the fire, trying to ignore the prickle at her spine.
“You have a name?” she asked finally.
“Kael.”
“Just Kael?”
“That’s all that matters.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Names matter. They’re like knives — you hide them until you need to cut something.”His eyes darkened. “Then call me a blade.”
She looked back at him. “And if I do, will you cut me?”
His voice softened. “Not yet.”
Silence fell again. The kind that isn’t peace — just a pause before the world shifts.
And in that silence, the emberstone glowed.
Aeryn looked down at it and knew something she couldn’t yet explain: Kael wasn’t just another wounded man.
He was the start of something.
Something dangerous.
Something burning.