The Thirteenth Ember - Chapter 26: Chapter 26
You are reading The Thirteenth Ember, Chapter 26: Chapter 26. Read more chapters of The Thirteenth Ember.
The clearing burned with light not seen in centuries.
Not since the old world.
Not since flame chose silence over war.
And yet here it was again — roaring from Aeryn’s hands, Mirael’s staff blazing like a comet as it spun in her grip.
The judges of the Flame Court faltered.
For the first time, they hesitated.
Kael should have felt triumphant.
Instead, he felt empty.
He stood over Mirael’s still body, fists clenched, eyes locked on the judge who’d stabbed her.
The man didn’t even look at him.
Like he wasn’t worth the memory.
The fire in Kael’s chest surged.
And something inside him — something unlearned, something buried — began to twist.
Aeryn fought like someone who had nothing left to fear.
She struck with fire, but also with memory.
With love.
With choice.
The Emberroot beneath her responded, vines blooming mid-battle, giving her footing even as the ground trembled beneath flame. Her mother circled slowly, warily now — not as predator, but as priestess unsure of her own gods.
“You shouldn’t be this strong,” she hissed. “You weren’t designed—”
“I wasn’t designed,” Aeryn snapped. “I was
forged.”
She lunged.
Their flames collided in a burst of spiraling white and red, a storm of heat so intense the trees at the edge of the wilds caught fire just by witnessing it.
Aeryn pushed harder.
And for a moment — the High Priestess fell to one knee.
Kael didn’t see it.
He was somewhere else now.
Somewhere inside the flame.
It pulsed through his ears. Through his hands. Through his memory.
He saw Mirael.
Then Oryn.
Then his mother, faceless and silent, giving him away to the Order’s seers.
He saw fire.
He saw every time he had to hold it back.
And now, it asked just one thing:
Let go.
Kael let out a scream that wasn’t words — just force.
His fire exploded outward, golden flames turning dark red, licking the air like living things. One of the Flame Court judges caught the blast full on and disintegrated mid-swing.
Aeryn spun, eyes wide.
“Kael—!”
He didn’t hear her.
The ground beneath him cracked.
The balance — the one they’d fought for, the one they’d begun to master — began to collapse under the weight of his fury.
Aeryn ran to him, ducking past her mother, slashing through a wave of flame with Mirael’s staff.
She reached Kael’s side just as the fire began rising from him — not around.
It wasn’t a weapon anymore.
It was a flood.
She grabbed his face.
“Kael, look at me!”
His eyes were glowing — no longer gold, but molten crimson.
“I can’t stop it,” he choked. “I can’t—”
“Yes,” she said. “You can. We can. Together.”
She placed her forehead against his.
Let her flame wrap around his.
And whispered, “You are not a weapon.”
The fire stilled.
Then, it collapsed into light.
And Kael fell into her arms.
Breathing.
Whole.
But barely.
The Court had retreated.
Her mother was gone.
And Aeryn… knelt beside Kael, brushing sweat from his brow.
“We’re not done yet,” she whispered.
But in her voice was something new.
Not defiance.
Not hope.
Determination.
Not since the old world.
Not since flame chose silence over war.
And yet here it was again — roaring from Aeryn’s hands, Mirael’s staff blazing like a comet as it spun in her grip.
The judges of the Flame Court faltered.
For the first time, they hesitated.
Kael should have felt triumphant.
Instead, he felt empty.
He stood over Mirael’s still body, fists clenched, eyes locked on the judge who’d stabbed her.
The man didn’t even look at him.
Like he wasn’t worth the memory.
The fire in Kael’s chest surged.
And something inside him — something unlearned, something buried — began to twist.
Aeryn fought like someone who had nothing left to fear.
She struck with fire, but also with memory.
With love.
With choice.
The Emberroot beneath her responded, vines blooming mid-battle, giving her footing even as the ground trembled beneath flame. Her mother circled slowly, warily now — not as predator, but as priestess unsure of her own gods.
“You shouldn’t be this strong,” she hissed. “You weren’t designed—”
“I wasn’t designed,” Aeryn snapped. “I was
forged.”
She lunged.
Their flames collided in a burst of spiraling white and red, a storm of heat so intense the trees at the edge of the wilds caught fire just by witnessing it.
Aeryn pushed harder.
And for a moment — the High Priestess fell to one knee.
Kael didn’t see it.
He was somewhere else now.
Somewhere inside the flame.
It pulsed through his ears. Through his hands. Through his memory.
He saw Mirael.
Then Oryn.
Then his mother, faceless and silent, giving him away to the Order’s seers.
He saw fire.
He saw every time he had to hold it back.
And now, it asked just one thing:
Let go.
Kael let out a scream that wasn’t words — just force.
His fire exploded outward, golden flames turning dark red, licking the air like living things. One of the Flame Court judges caught the blast full on and disintegrated mid-swing.
Aeryn spun, eyes wide.
“Kael—!”
He didn’t hear her.
The ground beneath him cracked.
The balance — the one they’d fought for, the one they’d begun to master — began to collapse under the weight of his fury.
Aeryn ran to him, ducking past her mother, slashing through a wave of flame with Mirael’s staff.
She reached Kael’s side just as the fire began rising from him — not around.
It wasn’t a weapon anymore.
It was a flood.
She grabbed his face.
“Kael, look at me!”
His eyes were glowing — no longer gold, but molten crimson.
“I can’t stop it,” he choked. “I can’t—”
“Yes,” she said. “You can. We can. Together.”
She placed her forehead against his.
Let her flame wrap around his.
And whispered, “You are not a weapon.”
The fire stilled.
Then, it collapsed into light.
And Kael fell into her arms.
Breathing.
Whole.
But barely.
The Court had retreated.
Her mother was gone.
And Aeryn… knelt beside Kael, brushing sweat from his brow.
“We’re not done yet,” she whispered.
But in her voice was something new.
Not defiance.
Not hope.
Determination.
End of The Thirteenth Ember Chapter 26. Continue reading Chapter 27 or return to The Thirteenth Ember book page.