Chapter 1 Ember’s POV:

The world smelled of smoke and death.

I pushed myself up, my hands sinking into the crumbling earth, fingers brushing embers that still glowed faintly. My chest heaved as I sucked in air, each breath tasting of ash and fire. Fuck, everything hurt, my bones, my muscles, even my soul if there is such a thing.

This was the price of rebirth. A laugh escaped me, sharp and bitter. How many times have I done this now? Ten? Twenty? More? It didn’t matter. The pain never changed, and neither did the emptiness that followed.

I glanced down at my hands. Different. Pale, unscarred, trembling like the hands of someone who hadn’t yet fought for their life. My hair fell forward, streaked with fiery red, and I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the puddle of charred water nearby.

Another face. Another version of me. “How many more of these do I have left?” I whispered, my voice hoarse. The puddle didn’t answer. It never did.

The air was still, the kind of silence that felt unnatural, too heavy. It pressed against my skin like a warning. I pulled my knees to my chest, trying to make sense of the fragmented images flashing in my mind: fire, a blade, and then nothing. I fucking died! Again.

The crunch of boots shattered the silence, and I froze. I turned sharply, my heart slamming into my ribs.

A figure emerged from the haze, tall and cloaked, his movements precise and deliberate. He was a shadow against the still-smoking ruins, his steps slow and measured, like a predator stalking wounded prey. My fists clenched instinctively, but I felt the hollowness in my chest where my fire should have been. My power was there—I could feel it simmering, but it was out of reach, just like always after a rebirth.

“Stay back,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt.

The figure didn’t stop. As he stepped closer, I saw his face—sharp angles, dark hair falling over a hooded brow, and eyes like steel—cold, assessing, dangerous.

He looked like the kind of man who followed orders without question, the kind who wouldn’t hesitate to cut someone down if it served his purpose. But there was something else, too. A shadow behind his eyes, like he carried more weight than his broad shoulders could bear.

I hated that I noticed it.

“I’m not here to kill you,” he said, his voice calm, almost clinical. My laugh was harsh, loud in the stillness.

“How kind of you. And here I thought you hunters were all monsters.” His hand flashed, and before I could react, something cold and metallic snapped around my wrist.

A cuff.

It glowed faintly with intricate runes, and I immediately felt the weight, the suffocation. My fire, my strength, gone.

I stared at it in disbelief, fury bubbling beneath my skin.

“What have you done?”

“Insurance,” he said simply as if that explained anything.

I yanked at the offending cuff, but it didn’t budge. My fire flickered faintly, like a match caught in a storm, then vanished altogether… shit!

The silence it left was deafening. I looked up at him, meeting his cold gaze head-on.

“You think this will stop me?” Something flickered in his eyes then, just for a moment. Pity? Regret? Whatever it was, it vanished as quickly as it came.

“Keep up,” he said, turning away. “If you fall behind, I won’t stop for you.”

The air shifted, then, a low hum cutting through the quiet. It was faint at first, but it grew louder and sharper. He froze mid-step, his hand moving instinctively to the hilt of his blade.

“Do you hear that?” I asked, my voice low. Before he could respond, a shape moved in the shadows, a hulking mass, its eyes glowing faintly like molten gold. I took an involuntary step back. It wasn’t just a creature. It was something worse.

The fire-born’s, drawn to my rebirth like moths to a flame. The hunter didn’t hesitate. His blade was out in an instant, his stance shifting.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered.

My lips curled into a bitter smile. “How noble of you.” But I didn’t argue. Not yet.

The creature stepped into the clearing, its body massive and covered in cracked, ashen skin that glowed with faint embers. Its mouth opened, revealing rows of jagged, obsidian teeth, and a deep, guttural growl rumbled through the air.

I stepped back, my body reacting before my mind could process. My fire was gone, and the damn cuff weighed heavy on my wrist, reminding me how vulnerable I was.

The hunter didn’t hesitate. He lunged forward, his blade slicing through the air with precision. The creature roared as the steel struck its shoulder, embers spilling like blood.

It swung a massive claw, and the hunter barely dodged, the force of the blow shaking the ground. I watched, my fists clenched, every instinct screaming at me to fight. To burn. But the cuff tightened, and the fire in my chest flickered weakly, refusing to rise.

He was fast, I’d give him that. His movements were calculated, and his strikes were efficient. But the fire-born weren’t easy to kill.

The creature lunged again, and he stumbled, the edge of its claw catching his shoulder. He grunted but didn’t fall, his blade cutting deep into its side.

And then it turned to me.

The fire-born turned its molten gaze on me, its growl deepening into a guttural snarl. My blood turned cold. It crouched low, its ember-like body flickering with energy as it prepared to strike. I staggered back, instinctively lifting my cuffed hand, as though it could do something… anything to stop it.

“Don’t!” the hunter barked; his voice sharp.

He moved faster than I thought possible, placing himself between me and the creature. His blade caught the dim light as he lunged, the tip slicing through the beast’s chest in a clean arc. Sparks sprayed into the air, glowing like fireflies before fading into ash. The fire-born howled, the sound rattling through my bones. It reared back, swiping its massive claw at him, but he ducked, rolling beneath the blow with practiced precision.

I felt useless, frozen in place as the battle unfolded before me. The cuff around my wrist pulsed faintly, mocking me with its weight. I clenched my fists, willing the fire to come, but nothing happened. For the first time in a long while, I felt helpless.

“Move!” the hunter shouted, his voice breaking through my haze.

I stumbled to the side just as the creature lunged again, its claws tearing into the ground where I’d been standing. He was on it instantly, his blade sinking deep into its side. The fire-born let out another roar, its body flaring brightly before it began to dim. It collapsed with a heavy thud, embers scattering across the ash-covered ground.

For a moment, the only sound was the hunter’s ragged breathing. He stood over the creature’s still body, his blade slick with ember-like blood. His shoulders were tense, his movements slow as he turned to face me.

“You almost got yourself killed,” he said, his tone flat but laced with irritation.

I bristled, the weight of the cuff forgotten in the heat of my anger.

“You’re welcome,” I shot back, crossing my arms.

His brow furrowed. “Welcome?”

“For giving you something to kill,” I said, gesturing to the fire-born’s corpse. “Otherwise, what would you have done with all that pent-up aggression?”

He stared at me for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then he sheathed his blade, wiping the ember-blood from his hands with an almost mechanical precision.

“You’re lucky that thing didn’t rip you in half,” he said, his voice quieter. “The next one won’t hesitate.”

“The next one?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

He didn’t answer, but the faint tightening of his jaw was all the confirmation I needed.

Of course, there would be more. The fire-born never traveled alone, not when they were hunting me.

I glanced at the creature’s still-smoldering body, unease curling in my stomach. It had been close, too close.

I hated how it made me feel, like I was fragile, breakable. Like I needed him. But more than that, I hated the stupid cuff. The way it stole my fire, my strength. Without it, I could have turned the fire-born to ash in seconds. Instead, I’d been forced to stand there, powerless, while the hunter saved my life.

I followed him reluctantly, my thoughts churning. I needed to escape. I needed my freaking fire back. But as I trailed behind him, I couldn’t ignore the damn feeling clawing at the back of my mind. The fire-born had found me quickly this time, almost as if they’d been waiting.

For me or him.

The silence after the fight felt louder than the creature’s roars. The air still hummed faintly with residual energy, a reminder that the fire-born wasn’t the only threat lurking in the shadows.

The hunter walked ahead, his steps steady, purposeful, as if the fight hadn’t taken anything out of him. He didn’t look back to see if I was following, but I could feel his expectation like a weight pressing against my chest.

The ash-covered forest around us seemed to stretch endlessly, each gnarled tree clawing at the sky like skeletal hands. Embers clung to the bark, glowing faintly in the dim light. Everything about this place felt wrong.

I hesitated, my eyes darting to the fire-born’s corpse. The embers in its cracked body were already dimming, but its presence left a chill in the pit of my stomach.

Something about how it had found me so quickly gnawed at my thoughts.

“They shouldn’t have been here,” I said aloud, more to myself than to him. The hunter stopped, turning his head slightly.

“What?” “

The fire-born,” I said, louder this time. “They don’t just…wander. Not like this. Not alone.”

He faced me fully now, his gray eyes narrowing. “You’re saying there are more?”

I lifted my cuffed wrist in mock acknowledgment. “Congratulations, hunter. You’ve officially made yourself a beacon for every creature in a hundred-mile radius.”

His expression didn’t shift, but I caught the faintest flicker of something in his eyes. Concern, maybe. Or calculation.

“Good thing I’m prepared for that,” he said, but his voice had an edge, like he didn’t entirely believe it.

I wanted to push him, to make him admit that he hadn’t thought this through. That taking me to bind me was more dangerous than he realized. But the words caught in my throat. Because I wasn’t sure either, the fire-born had always come for me. It was their nature, drawn to the heat of my rebirth.

But this felt different. They’d been waiting. For me or maybe for him.

We walked silently for what felt like hours, the sound of our boots the only thing breaking the stillness. The forest grew darker, the ember-lit trees thinning into jagged cliffs and rocky terrain. The path was uneven, winding through deep crevices and narrow passes.

Each step felt heavier than the last, the cuff on my wrist a constant reminder of what I’d lost.

“Where the hell are we going?” I finally asked, breaking the silence.

He didn’t answer right away. His hand rested on the hilt of his blade, his eyes scanning the shadows as if he expected something to leap out at us.

“Somewhere safe,” he said finally, his voice low.

I laughed, the sound bitter in the cold air. “Safe? There’s no such thing. Not for me.” He didn’t respond, but the tension in his shoulders said enough.

Ahead, the path narrowed, disappearing into the darkness of a cave carved into the cliffs. A faint, flickering light glowed from deep within, casting eerie shadows against the jagged stone.

He stopped at the entrance, his hand tightening on the hilt of his blade.

“Inside,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

I stared at the cave, unease prickling at the back of my neck.

“And what’s in there?” He glanced at me, his expression as cold and unreadable as ever.

“Answers,” he said. “And maybe more questions.”

The light flickered again, brighter this time, like a warning. Or an invitation. Without another word, he stepped inside. And for reasons I couldn’t fully explain, I followed.