The Thirteenth Ember - Chapter 28: Chapter 28
You are reading The Thirteenth Ember, Chapter 28: Chapter 28. Read more chapters of The Thirteenth Ember.
The north was colder than Kael remembered.
Not just in temperature — but in feeling.
The further they rode from the southern wilds, the quieter the world became. Trees gave way to rock. Smoke gave way to fog. People no longer spoke the names of the Flame Court.
They whispered them like ghosts.
They traveled under assumed names — fire marked people like them.
Aeryn wore Mirael’s staff across her back, wrapped in coarse linen. Her silver flame barely flickered anymore, hidden beneath layers of calm.
But Kael saw it in her hands when she thought no one was watching.
The power was growing.
So was the weight.
On the sixth day, they reached the pass near Eliras Hollow — an ancient gorge once believed to be uninhabitable. At the heart of the cliffside, hidden behind charred ivy and ashstone, was the entrance.
Aeryn pressed her palm against it.
A faint blue circle flared.
The vault breathed open.
Inside was darkness.
But not empty.
The Vault of Silent Flame was carved directly into the stone. Shelves upon shelves of sealed scrolls, broken relics, melted rings. The history the Court had buried, burned, rewritten.
And at the center of the vault stood a pedestal.
Upon it, rested a shard of mirrorstone — wrapped in golden wire and bound with sigils Kael couldn’t read.
Aeryn reached for it.
A vision hit her like thunder.
She saw a trial.
A boy — no older than ten — standing before robed figures.
His flame was gold. Wild. Terrifying.
They looked afraid of him.
A woman stepped forward.
Silver eyes. Cold smile.
Aeryn’s mother.
“This one will break or be broken. Pair him with the girl.”
Then the vision shifted.
A small chamber. Two children.
Kael. And her.
Touching hands.
Their flames reaching for each other, even then.
Not command. Not war.
Just recognition.
Aeryn staggered back from the vision.
Kael caught her.
“What did you see?” he asked, gently.
She placed the shard into his hand.
“You.”
Together, they placed it in the brazier at the heart of the vault.
It lit — not with fire.
With memory.
Dozens of ghostly voices surged into the room — testimonies of the Flameborn rebels, stolen before the fall. Names, truths, betrayals.
And a final whisper from Mirael herself:
If you find this… then you are not the end.
You are the reckoning.”
Kael looked at Aeryn.
“We can show the world.”
She nodded.
“Not just what the Court did…”
She held his hand tightly.
“…but what we are.”
Not just in temperature — but in feeling.
The further they rode from the southern wilds, the quieter the world became. Trees gave way to rock. Smoke gave way to fog. People no longer spoke the names of the Flame Court.
They whispered them like ghosts.
They traveled under assumed names — fire marked people like them.
Aeryn wore Mirael’s staff across her back, wrapped in coarse linen. Her silver flame barely flickered anymore, hidden beneath layers of calm.
But Kael saw it in her hands when she thought no one was watching.
The power was growing.
So was the weight.
On the sixth day, they reached the pass near Eliras Hollow — an ancient gorge once believed to be uninhabitable. At the heart of the cliffside, hidden behind charred ivy and ashstone, was the entrance.
Aeryn pressed her palm against it.
A faint blue circle flared.
The vault breathed open.
Inside was darkness.
But not empty.
The Vault of Silent Flame was carved directly into the stone. Shelves upon shelves of sealed scrolls, broken relics, melted rings. The history the Court had buried, burned, rewritten.
And at the center of the vault stood a pedestal.
Upon it, rested a shard of mirrorstone — wrapped in golden wire and bound with sigils Kael couldn’t read.
Aeryn reached for it.
A vision hit her like thunder.
She saw a trial.
A boy — no older than ten — standing before robed figures.
His flame was gold. Wild. Terrifying.
They looked afraid of him.
A woman stepped forward.
Silver eyes. Cold smile.
Aeryn’s mother.
“This one will break or be broken. Pair him with the girl.”
Then the vision shifted.
A small chamber. Two children.
Kael. And her.
Touching hands.
Their flames reaching for each other, even then.
Not command. Not war.
Just recognition.
Aeryn staggered back from the vision.
Kael caught her.
“What did you see?” he asked, gently.
She placed the shard into his hand.
“You.”
Together, they placed it in the brazier at the heart of the vault.
It lit — not with fire.
With memory.
Dozens of ghostly voices surged into the room — testimonies of the Flameborn rebels, stolen before the fall. Names, truths, betrayals.
And a final whisper from Mirael herself:
If you find this… then you are not the end.
You are the reckoning.”
Kael looked at Aeryn.
“We can show the world.”
She nodded.
“Not just what the Court did…”
She held his hand tightly.
“…but what we are.”
End of The Thirteenth Ember Chapter 28. Continue reading Chapter 29 or return to The Thirteenth Ember book page.