A Flame in the Shadow

A Flame in the Shadow

Morrigan Ravenscroft

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For a thousand years, the city of Crescent Falls has survived beneath the shadow of an ancient savior. Each century, a man is chosen as an offering to Sariyah-the being said to have once driven demons from the world. When Bastion, the man Ember loves, is taken after daring to refuse her, Ember's grief turns into defiance, and she vows to bring him home no matter the cost. Her search forces her into an uneasy alliance with Orion St. James, a dangerously charming immortal with a violent past and secrets tied to Sariyah herself. Bound together by a magic neither of them wants nor understands, Ember and Orion are drawn into a hidden war beneath the city-one involving cultists, monsters, and an ancient order known as the Watchers. As Crescent Falls begins to fracture, Ember experiences unsettling visions that hint her bloodline is far more entangled with Sariyah than anyone ever suspected. Strange new powers awaken within her, blurring the line between protector and destroyer, while enemies gather and old loyalties are tested. With the city on the brink of collapse and unseen forces moving in the shadows, Ember must decide how far she is willing to go to save Bastion-and whether becoming something darker is the only way to stop an evil that has ruled unchallenged for centuries. Because some thrones are not inherited. They are taken.

A Flame in the Shadow Chapter 1 Prologue

The sky burned red as fire rained down on the city of Celestial Falls. Thousands of large leathery wings flapped blocking out most of the light. The city felt as if it was midnight in the middle of the day.

The roars of the beasts were deafening as they swooped down grabbing anyone who was unfortunate enough to be on the streets. People screamed in agony as their loved ones and children were taken never to be seen again.

Celestial Falls had been a quiet place to live before the portal opened and the creatures arrived. One day they were happily going on with their lives and in an instant, they were living in a city of fire and blood.

They came when the portal opened, demons, beasts, and shadows that appeared directly from nightmares. They poured from the mountains like a sickness, crawling down through the trees dragging darkness behind them. Crops rotted in their wake. Churches burned in their unholy fire, and no prayer could stop the hunger coming in waves.

The people begged for mercy; none came. Not until she arrived.

Sariyah.

She stepped from the heart of the Black Woods, alone and cloaked in shadows, as the city writhed in what would have been its final hour. The skies split above her. The monsters turned toward her with open jaws and dripping claws.

She did not raise a weapon; she raised her hand. Shadows formed from her fingertips. With a whisper the air turned to ash. The demons screamed, shadows peeling from their forms as they dissolved into nothing. The ground split, the sky howled. Every creature that hunted in the name of darkness was banished.

When the smoke cleared, she stood alone at the edge of a ruined temple. Her skin untouched, her eyes black as the void between the stars. Her dark hair flowing as if blown by wind that wasn't there.

The people bowed to her and wept in gratitude, she only smiled.

"I have delivered you from this evil," she said. "And I offer my protection to this city. I will keep the darkness that stirs at bay, but all things have a price."

She would sit on the Obsidian Throne in the Black Spire Castle and an offering would be made. Every hundred years, on the blood moon, one man would be given to her. He would be hers, body and soul for all eternity.

The people, desperate and grateful agreed. The first offering came willingly, seeing it as an honor. A war orphan who believed her to be a goddess. He kissed her hand before the gates closed behind them. They heard his screams for three days.

The second offering tried to run. The city guards dragged him to her feet.

The third was a priest who believed he could pray her away. He could not.

And so, the centuries passed. Celestial Falls rebuilt, not with stone, but with blood and sacrifice. The monsters never returned; the crops never failed. The city grew proud, prosperous, and untouched.

All she asked was obedience, all she took was one man every hundred years. No one spoke of what she did with them. Until the tenth offering refused and the fire she once saved them from began to rise again.

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A Flame in the Shadow A Flame in the Shadow Morrigan Ravenscroft Fantasy
“For a thousand years, the city of Crescent Falls has survived beneath the shadow of an ancient savior. Each century, a man is chosen as an offering to Sariyah-the being said to have once driven demons from the world. When Bastion, the man Ember loves, is taken after daring to refuse her, Ember's grief turns into defiance, and she vows to bring him home no matter the cost. Her search forces her into an uneasy alliance with Orion St. James, a dangerously charming immortal with a violent past and secrets tied to Sariyah herself. Bound together by a magic neither of them wants nor understands, Ember and Orion are drawn into a hidden war beneath the city-one involving cultists, monsters, and an ancient order known as the Watchers. As Crescent Falls begins to fracture, Ember experiences unsettling visions that hint her bloodline is far more entangled with Sariyah than anyone ever suspected. Strange new powers awaken within her, blurring the line between protector and destroyer, while enemies gather and old loyalties are tested. With the city on the brink of collapse and unseen forces moving in the shadows, Ember must decide how far she is willing to go to save Bastion-and whether becoming something darker is the only way to stop an evil that has ruled unchallenged for centuries. Because some thrones are not inherited. They are taken.”
1

Chapter 1 Prologue

12/01/2026

2

Chapter 2 Ember

12/01/2026

3

Chapter 3 Ember

12/01/2026

4

Chapter 4 Ember

12/01/2026

5

Chapter 5 Bastion

12/01/2026

6

Chapter 6 Ember

12/01/2026

7

Chapter 7 Orion

12/01/2026

8

Chapter 8 Ember

12/01/2026

9

Chapter 9 Ember

12/01/2026

10

Chapter 10 Bastion

12/01/2026

11

Chapter 11 Ember

12/01/2026

12

Chapter 12 Orion

26/01/2026

13

Chapter 13 Ember

26/01/2026

14

Chapter 14 Ember

28/01/2026

15

Chapter 15 Ember

28/01/2026

16

Chapter 16 Ember

28/01/2026