The Thirteenth Ember - Chapter 31: Chapter 31
You are reading The Thirteenth Ember, Chapter 31: Chapter 31. Read more chapters of The Thirteenth Ember.
The Hollow Chamber was colder than Aeryn imagined.
Not in temperature — in soul.
Carved deep into the side of Mount Syrel, it pulsed with old flame runes, most of them faded, some flickering faintly like dying stars. The hallway swallowed sound, so that her footsteps vanished before they landed.
No guards.
No torches.
Just silence.
And then, the voice.
Her mother’s.
“You’ve come further than I expected.”
Aeryn kept walking, fists clenched, Mirael’s pendant warm against her chest.
“It was never about how far I could go,” she said aloud. “It’s about how far I’ll go without you.”
At the end of the corridor stood a circular room, stone-forged and rune-bound. In its center, suspended in a column of binding flame, was Liora — arms bound in embersteel cuffs, her mouth sealed by a silver flamemask.
Her eyes met Aeryn’s.
Terrified. But still… trusting.
And beside the flame, seated like a monarch on a throne of ash, was the High Priestess.
Her mother.
“You could’ve sent soldiers,” Aeryn said, stepping
forward.
Her mother smiled faintly. “And waste the drama? You always did respond better to intimacy.”
“You don’t know me anymore.”
“No,” the Priestess said, rising. “But I know what’s inside you.”
She circled Aeryn slowly, like a flame reading the shape of a candle before deciding to consume it.
“Did you find the vaults? Did you see what they left behind? The half-truths and broken prophecies?”
Aeryn didn’t answer.
Her mother tilted her head. “You’re going to spread them, aren’t you? Incite the frightened. Unleash fire into a world too brittle to hold it.”
Truth isn’t fire,” Aeryn said. “It’s what comes after the burn.”
Her mother’s smile faded.
“You want her?” she said, nodding at Liora.
Aeryn’s eyes narrowed.
“Then give me something.”
The offer dropped like a blade:
“Your rebellion ends. Now.
No more vaults. No more messages.
You disappear. I’ll let the girl go.
She walks free.”
Aeryn’s hands tightened.
“That’s not a deal. That’s blackmail.”
It’s a gift,” her mother said coolly. “Because you’re my daughter. Because I remember the girl who wanted peace more than power.”
Aeryn stepped closer to the flame.
Liora’s eyes begged her.
But something flickered behind them.
A pattern.
Three blinks. A pause. Two more.
Aeryn’s breath caught.
Code.
“Don’t trust the offer. She already knows your plan.”
Aeryn turned.
“You don’t get to rewrite the end.”
Her mother blinked. “Then choose.”
Aeryn looked at Liora.
Then at the pendant in her palm.
And without warning — threw it into the flame column.
The fire cracked, shattered into light.
Liora dropped to the ground, coughing, her cuffs now scorched open.
The pendant exploded in a ripple of echoing sound — a memory burst encoded with the rebellion’s story.
Every flame-bound rune in the Hollow Chamber flared to life.
Voices of the forgotten filled the room.
“We were chosen for flame, not for chains.”
“The Court stole our names. We take them back.”
Aeryn helped Liora to her feet.
Her mother stepped back, shielding her eyes.
“You fool. You’ve lit a match you can’t control.”
“No,” Aeryn whispered, pulling Liora close.
“I’ve become the match.”
As they fled the Hollow, alarms blazing, flames racing up the carved halls, Aeryn knew one thing:
The world was listening now.
And fire… had found its voice.
Aeryn turned.
Not in temperature — in soul.
Carved deep into the side of Mount Syrel, it pulsed with old flame runes, most of them faded, some flickering faintly like dying stars. The hallway swallowed sound, so that her footsteps vanished before they landed.
No guards.
No torches.
Just silence.
And then, the voice.
Her mother’s.
“You’ve come further than I expected.”
Aeryn kept walking, fists clenched, Mirael’s pendant warm against her chest.
“It was never about how far I could go,” she said aloud. “It’s about how far I’ll go without you.”
At the end of the corridor stood a circular room, stone-forged and rune-bound. In its center, suspended in a column of binding flame, was Liora — arms bound in embersteel cuffs, her mouth sealed by a silver flamemask.
Her eyes met Aeryn’s.
Terrified. But still… trusting.
And beside the flame, seated like a monarch on a throne of ash, was the High Priestess.
Her mother.
“You could’ve sent soldiers,” Aeryn said, stepping
forward.
Her mother smiled faintly. “And waste the drama? You always did respond better to intimacy.”
“You don’t know me anymore.”
“No,” the Priestess said, rising. “But I know what’s inside you.”
She circled Aeryn slowly, like a flame reading the shape of a candle before deciding to consume it.
“Did you find the vaults? Did you see what they left behind? The half-truths and broken prophecies?”
Aeryn didn’t answer.
Her mother tilted her head. “You’re going to spread them, aren’t you? Incite the frightened. Unleash fire into a world too brittle to hold it.”
Truth isn’t fire,” Aeryn said. “It’s what comes after the burn.”
Her mother’s smile faded.
“You want her?” she said, nodding at Liora.
Aeryn’s eyes narrowed.
“Then give me something.”
The offer dropped like a blade:
“Your rebellion ends. Now.
No more vaults. No more messages.
You disappear. I’ll let the girl go.
She walks free.”
Aeryn’s hands tightened.
“That’s not a deal. That’s blackmail.”
It’s a gift,” her mother said coolly. “Because you’re my daughter. Because I remember the girl who wanted peace more than power.”
Aeryn stepped closer to the flame.
Liora’s eyes begged her.
But something flickered behind them.
A pattern.
Three blinks. A pause. Two more.
Aeryn’s breath caught.
Code.
“Don’t trust the offer. She already knows your plan.”
Aeryn turned.
“You don’t get to rewrite the end.”
Her mother blinked. “Then choose.”
Aeryn looked at Liora.
Then at the pendant in her palm.
And without warning — threw it into the flame column.
The fire cracked, shattered into light.
Liora dropped to the ground, coughing, her cuffs now scorched open.
The pendant exploded in a ripple of echoing sound — a memory burst encoded with the rebellion’s story.
Every flame-bound rune in the Hollow Chamber flared to life.
Voices of the forgotten filled the room.
“We were chosen for flame, not for chains.”
“The Court stole our names. We take them back.”
Aeryn helped Liora to her feet.
Her mother stepped back, shielding her eyes.
“You fool. You’ve lit a match you can’t control.”
“No,” Aeryn whispered, pulling Liora close.
“I’ve become the match.”
As they fled the Hollow, alarms blazing, flames racing up the carved halls, Aeryn knew one thing:
The world was listening now.
And fire… had found its voice.
Aeryn turned.
End of The Thirteenth Ember Chapter 31. Continue reading Chapter 32 or return to The Thirteenth Ember book page.