The Thirteenth Ember - Chapter 23: Chapter 23
You are reading The Thirteenth Ember, Chapter 23: Chapter 23. Read more chapters of The Thirteenth Ember.
The southern wilds didn’t welcome travelers.
They swallowed them.
Dense with obsidian-rooted trees and vines that pulsed faintly with emberlight, the forest stretched for miles without map or mercy. Few dared cross the fire-line — a burnt scar of land that marked the end of Order territory.
Kael and Aeryn crossed it without looking back.
By the second day, the trees no longer whispered.
They listened.
They didn’t speak much as they traveled. Not about the trap. Not about the truth Aeryn’s mother had spilled like poison.
Instead, they walked in step.
Sometimes Kael reached for her hand.
And sometimes she let him hold it.
But there was distance now — not physical, but deeper. A question neither had words for yet.
Was it all real?
Or had they just been shaped into something that felt like love?
By the third night, they reached the obsidian pools.
Oryn had mentioned them only once — the place where the Emberroot grew. Not a tree, not a flame, but something between. A living force beneath the surface of the world.
Aeryn knelt by the water’s edge. “This is it.”
Kael crouched beside her, scanning the shadows.
“You think this will help?”
It has to.” Her voice was flat. “It’s the only place not corrupted by the Order’s reach. If there’s any truth left about what we are — it’ll be here.”
Kael nodded. But then he touched her arm.
“Aeryn.”
She looked up.
His eyes were steady. “I don’t care what they planned. I don’t care what they planted. What we’ve done — what we felt — was real to me.”
Her breath caught.
“It was real to me too,” she said softly. “That’s why it hurts.”
They didn’t kiss. Not then. But something opened between them again — not fully, but enough.
Just enough to believe.
The pool stirred.
The water shifted color — from black to deep crimson.
And something began to rise from beneath.
A root. Twisted. Glowing. Alive.
Kael stepped back.
Aeryn reached for it — and the moment her fingers touched the Emberroot, light surged through her skin.
Images flashed:
A woman cloaked in silver, whispering a name.
A child burning in a crib, untouched by flame.
A tree that wept golden sap, carved into two.
And then — her mother.
Younger. Desperate.
Holding Aeryn.
“She’ll be the key. Whether she wants to be or not.”
Aeryn screamed.
Kael caught her as she fell back, panting. Her eyes blazed with light — then dimmed.
He held her tightly. “What did you see?”
She gripped his shirt, trembling.
“I saw the truth.”
He looked at her, heart pounding.
“And?”
She met his gaze — and this time, she didn’t waver.
“I chose you, Kael. Not because of the Order. Not because of fate.” Her voice steadied. “Because I wanted to.”
Then she stood.
And behind her, the Emberroot shifted — not into flame.
But into a door.
Carved from living fire.
Waiting.
They swallowed them.
Dense with obsidian-rooted trees and vines that pulsed faintly with emberlight, the forest stretched for miles without map or mercy. Few dared cross the fire-line — a burnt scar of land that marked the end of Order territory.
Kael and Aeryn crossed it without looking back.
By the second day, the trees no longer whispered.
They listened.
They didn’t speak much as they traveled. Not about the trap. Not about the truth Aeryn’s mother had spilled like poison.
Instead, they walked in step.
Sometimes Kael reached for her hand.
And sometimes she let him hold it.
But there was distance now — not physical, but deeper. A question neither had words for yet.
Was it all real?
Or had they just been shaped into something that felt like love?
By the third night, they reached the obsidian pools.
Oryn had mentioned them only once — the place where the Emberroot grew. Not a tree, not a flame, but something between. A living force beneath the surface of the world.
Aeryn knelt by the water’s edge. “This is it.”
Kael crouched beside her, scanning the shadows.
“You think this will help?”
It has to.” Her voice was flat. “It’s the only place not corrupted by the Order’s reach. If there’s any truth left about what we are — it’ll be here.”
Kael nodded. But then he touched her arm.
“Aeryn.”
She looked up.
His eyes were steady. “I don’t care what they planned. I don’t care what they planted. What we’ve done — what we felt — was real to me.”
Her breath caught.
“It was real to me too,” she said softly. “That’s why it hurts.”
They didn’t kiss. Not then. But something opened between them again — not fully, but enough.
Just enough to believe.
The pool stirred.
The water shifted color — from black to deep crimson.
And something began to rise from beneath.
A root. Twisted. Glowing. Alive.
Kael stepped back.
Aeryn reached for it — and the moment her fingers touched the Emberroot, light surged through her skin.
Images flashed:
A woman cloaked in silver, whispering a name.
A child burning in a crib, untouched by flame.
A tree that wept golden sap, carved into two.
And then — her mother.
Younger. Desperate.
Holding Aeryn.
“She’ll be the key. Whether she wants to be or not.”
Aeryn screamed.
Kael caught her as she fell back, panting. Her eyes blazed with light — then dimmed.
He held her tightly. “What did you see?”
She gripped his shirt, trembling.
“I saw the truth.”
He looked at her, heart pounding.
“And?”
She met his gaze — and this time, she didn’t waver.
“I chose you, Kael. Not because of the Order. Not because of fate.” Her voice steadied. “Because I wanted to.”
Then she stood.
And behind her, the Emberroot shifted — not into flame.
But into a door.
Carved from living fire.
Waiting.
End of The Thirteenth Ember Chapter 23. Continue reading Chapter 24 or return to The Thirteenth Ember book page.