Ashes Of Aetheria

moved like breath - sl

footsteps. Above him, obsidian arches cradled the ceiling like a ribcage. Pillars veined with molten

ompared to what

ne - b

raised dais, tethered to nothing, yet entirely unmoved by the sw

't take his

beside him. Her hood was down, h

step forward. "Why

e last true Flameborn died." She glance

owed har

nodded

edge - tall, proud warriors cast from blackened bronze, each holding

statue. "They were the ones who swore eternal loyalty to the thro

"You mean c

es

hey st

dn't a

is sparked a small flame with a gesture, lighting a pot of tea as if by

the surface - whispering mirrors, monsters of s

alled

d after a while. "The throne

. "And if I

ed. "Then every

idn't

nger, maybe eight or nine - standing in the Lower Ring, watching a procession of sky-knights ride past in go

be they

. Seris sat cross-legged across from him, sharpe

said suddenly. "What h

to it. The throne accepts your blo

"

e w

a Flameborn heir sat on that throne, the war between the emberbl

"And the Shrouded Flam

uild it in their image. They think t

restless. "And what

ed her hea

"

ey assumed was dawn

was dimming the heartbeat of the earth. The flames on the thron

ped towar

his satchel b

"If you do this, th

. "I didn't come t

ed onto

touched the stone,

eat. The flame around the throne swirled. T

did not burn him - it parted, sw

efore the

d

ame ex

ward -

im - not just heat, but memory. Names. Bloodlines. Lives. Voices. Echoes of kings and

chwork garb of a Lower Ring weaver. He saw a man who looked li

flame ruled not with

th

ame se

ened hi

cloak of light, a crown of flickeri

sto

e stat