All Chapters of Where Ashes and Oaths Collide: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The grand city of Dourado, built in white stone and adorned with gold was under catastrophic siege. Flames raged along the rooftops and along the edges of the great Igrexa that stood in the centre of Dourado– its massive domes and towering speres gleamed faintly beneath layers of ask and smoke. Flames licked up the sides of towers and bursts from windows. The golden domes reflected the firelight, creating a haunting contrast between beauty and devastation. Thick plumes of black smoke coil into the sky, blotting out much of the light and from above, fiery projectiles streak downward leaving trails of flames and smoke as they arc toward the city. Broken stone, shattered arches, and collapsed building litter the ground. The once-grand archway that led into the city stands partially intact, its structure cracked and crumbling, framing the destruction beyond like a grim monument to what has been lost. Splintered wood, fallen masonry and torn banners cover the street which leads toward the

The moment Amelia turned her back; something shifted in Luz’s posture. His gauntleted fingers tightened around the reins, the black leather groaning in protest. The crimson glow in his eyes intensified for a fraction of a second– a visible tremor running through his as if an unseen current had just passed through his body. “Commander,” Salvaxe’s voice cut through the air, dripping with suspicion. “Your orders conflict with our standing protocols. Evacuating civilians weakens our strategic position.” Luz’s head snapped towards Salvaxe, his jaw working beneath the helmet’s visor. “Silence.” His voice was low but carried the weight of command– yet there was something else underneath it now; something raw and strained. “This is not a negotiation.”Amelia enters Luz’s line of sight again, with a brown bag over her shoulder. But then she sees an elderly woman packing her cart and she stops to help the women. For the first time Luz notices how little has change in her appearance in

“What in the bloody hell are you doing here?” Luz’s voice emerged rougher than intended, betraying both anger and something deeper he couldn’t quite name. His grip tightened on the hilt until his knuckles turned white against the black veins crawling up his fingers. “Luz?” Amelia asked softly, her voice laced with doubt. The single word, spoken with such fragile hope, struck Luz harder than any blade. His sword lowered another inch, the tip resting against the ground. The carefully maintained mask of the Commander of the Corrompido army cracked completely, revealing the man beneath, with a flicker of amber in his left eye. “Don’t,” he bit out, though his voice lacked its usual commanding tone. “Don’t call me that name.” he placed his sword on the table alongside his gauntlets once more.His crimson gaze locked onto hers, searching her face as if trying to memorize every detail before reality crashed back in. “You should not be here. This place is death for anyone stupid enoug

“That is not you fate,” Luz declared firmly, his voice carrying the authority of someone used to giving orders that were obeyed without question. “You are not some chattel to be bartered away to the highest bidder.” He closed the distance between them again in two long strides, his armoured form towering over Amelia’s smaller frame. The black vein in his neck pulsed brightly as his emotions surged. “No one touches you but me,” he stated plainly, as if this were an undeniable fact rather than a declaration from a man who claimed he couldn’t offer anything anymore. “So, I can stay?” Amelia asked shyly. Luz’s entire posture shifted at her hopeful question. The rigid command in his stance softened into something more human– a vulnerability he had not shown anyone in years.“Stay?” His voice cracked slightly, the word catching in his throat. “Stay with me? As what– my prisoner? My concubine?” The vulnerability in his voice surprised even him. He ran a hand over his face. “You want

“I don’t mind being consumed either,” Amelia said softly. “You don’t know what you are saying,” Luz whispered harshly, his hands trembling slightly as they frame Amelia’s face. “Being consumed means becoming a monster. Losing everything that makes you human.” The darkness on his chest pulsed violently at the intensity of his emotions– anger at himself for putting her in danger mixed with overwhelming gratitude for her blind faith in him. “This isn’t some romantic gesture,” he insisted desperately. “It if consumes you too, we will both be lost. The darkness inside me will have two souls to feed on instead of one.” His thumb brushed across her cheeks roughly, as if trying to erase the words he couldn’t un-hear. “You can’t scare me away, Luz,” Amelia said stubbornly.The stubbornness in her voice– the sheer refusal to be frightened– was Luz’s undoing. A raw laugh escaped him, half-laugh and half-sob, as he finally admitted defeat. “Fucking hell, you are impossible,” he muttered,