All Chapters of Where Ashes and Oaths Collide: Chapter 141 - Chapter 150

174 Chapters

Chapter 141: Visions

The children hurried toward Amelia, the girl wrapping her arms around her waist while the boy eagerly began telling her some excited story that Amelia could barely understand through his laughter. She smiled down at them, warmth blooming in her chest as she listened. Then the cottage door opened, letting in a rush of cold air and a scattering of snow. Luz stepped inside, tall and broad-shouldered beneath a thick fur coat dusted with frost. In one hand he carried a bow, and over his shoulder hung a small bundle. His face was bright with a warm, unmistakable smile as his amber eyes found Amelia across the room. The children immediately rushed toward him, their excitement filling the cottage as Luz laughed and crouched to greet them. Amelia watched them together, her heart aching with a happiness so deep it almost hurt. She turned back toward the hearth, stirring the stew once more as Luz approached and slipped an arm gently around her waist. The children settled near the fire, arg

Chapter 142: Four Statues

The cut on Luz’s cheek stung, a thin line of red blooming against his ask-silver hair. He did not flinch. He could not afford to. “A God?” he spat the word like it was poison. “You are a soldier who stopped asking questions. That is all.”Luz shoved Estrela back, not with the strength of a corrompido, but with the practiced efficient leverage of a knight. He stepped between her and Amelia, his broad shoulders forming a barrier. The black veins at his throat pulsed violently, the corruption sensing her rage and feeding on it. “Amelia, get away from the fountain!” he commanded, his voice dropping into that dual-toned growl. “Now!” Estrela recovered quickly, her smaller blade held in a low guard, her eyes wild with the fervour of someone who believed their own myth. Amelia still did not move. “I give the orders,” Estrela said and held her blade ready for battle. “I started the Santo Order. This world is mine

Chapter 143: Superbia in imagine aquae residet

Amelia gasped and moved again. She smashed the vial in her hand against the side of the fountain, so the liquid and glass poured into the fountain. The statues stopped and crumbled. Estrela screamed loudly and fell to her knees, gripping either side of her head. Memories of what she had done, what she had become pulse sharply in Estrela’s mind:It was right after Escuro and Estrela turned on the fountain. She was looking down at the golden bottom of the basin, at the inscription: ‘Superbia in imagine aquae residet.’ She gently stirred the water with her finger, and something happened, a flash of a memory. A man, covered in golden armour stood in front of the fountain. His voice was loud and clear as he spoke. “With this we have conquered water. Overshadowed the Gods. It is proof that we can take the seas and whatever else follows.” Then the memory shifted, the same man was lunged over the fountain, soaked and choking. With his last breath he

Chapter 144: Orgullo

Estrela turned her head toward the tent where Escuro slept. A cold, calculating look crossed her face– an expression she would never make. “The boy,” the voice said, her mouth forming the words with a chilling curiosity. “He knows too much already. He must not interfere with what comes next.” She began to walk, not toward the exit of the ruins, but toward Escuro’s tent, her movements stiff and precise like a soldier on parade. Estrela struggled from within and managed to jerk her hand to the side. The sudden jerk of her hand had been small, but it was enough to disrupt the rhythm of the intruder’s control. “Feisty one are you not?” the voice echoed in a low, amused chuckle that sent a shiver down her spine. Estrela felt her own mouth open, but the words that came out were not hers. They were heavy with an ancient authority. “Alight, alright. Let’s talk.” Her body came to a halt just outside

Chapter 145: Surrender

A heavy silence felt over the chamber. “Alright, so let’s compromise,” Orgullo said seductively. “If I do this alone, imagine the damage I could do. But if we work together…” The suggestion hung in the air, wrapped in a tone that felt far too intimate for a voice inside her own head. Estrela’s body leaning back against the stone wall, her posture relacing into something that felt dangerously comfortable. “Work together,” Orgullo repeated, his voice dropping to a low, conspiratorial purr. “You have the mind, the knowledge of this era, the ability to move through the world unnoticed. I have the will, the power, and the strength of a king. Think of what we could accomplish.” Orgullo paused, letting the silence do the work. “You do not have to be my slave, little researcher. You can be my partner. My eyes and ears. I will grant you access to my memories– the secrets of the ancients, the l

Chapter 146: Vanishing Amber

Luz turned back to Estrela. She was curled on the ground, a broken thing, her screams tapering off into a low, rhythmic whimpering. The divine radiance that had surrounded her movements before had vanished, leaving her looking small and terribly mortal against the backdrop of the ruined courtyard. “It is over,” he said, though whether he was speaking to Amelia or Estrela he did not know. Luz felt something drain from him. like water washing away dirt. The black veins along his neck spread rapidly covering his body and his eyes went completely crimson. The sensation was terrifyingly hollow. It was not pain– not exactly. It was the feeling of everything that made him him being scooped out by a cold, unseen hand.Luz’s knees hit the stone. His breath came in ragged, shallow gasps as the black veins raced across his skin like ink dropped into water. They climbed over his collarbone, raced across his chest, and surged up his jawline until they reached his t

Chapter 147: Okay

Amelia’s hands gripped his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin as she moaned loudly. The sounds of her voice, raw and uninhibited, along with the feeling of her nails digging into Luz’s shoulder, tore through the last of his control. His fingers dug into the stone beside her head, his knuckles white, his body shuddering with every thrust. The corruption surged in response to her pleasure, the black veins on his arms pulsing in a violent rhythm. He was losing himself. The world outside the courtyard– the war, Mestre Escuro, the betrayal– all of it dissolved into the heat of her body and the sound of her name on his lips. “Amelia,” he groaned, his name a ragged sob. He tilted his head back, his throat bared, the dark marks there throbbing.For a spit second, the crimson in Luz’s left eye flickered– a flash of warm amber, bright and desperate– before the darkness swallowed it again. He moved faster now, driven by

Chapter 148: Almost

“We are almost done,” Amelia said soothingly. “We stopped the fountain and Estrela.” She looked over at Estrela who was unconscious on the floor. Luz’s gaze shifted to Estrela, lying still on the stone. The tension in his body did not disappear, but it changed– from violent, jagged edge of the corruption to something quieter, more focused. “You did it,” he said, and for the first time, there was genuine pride in his voice. Not the pride of a general, but the pride of a man watching someone he cared for hold their own against the dark. He looked back at Amelia, his thumb still tracing her knuckles. “The fountain is stopped. Estrela is safe.”“Now we just need to get her off the island and to Mestre Escuro,” Amelia said sitting up straight. “Then he will take the darkness away, just like he promised.” The amber in his left eye flared– not with corruption, but with a sudden, sharp dread. He

Chapter 149: Fountain Vision

Luz set Estrela down gently on a flat rock near the water’s edge. His breath cam in heavy, controlled pulls, the dark marks on his collarbone pulsing faintly with the exertion. He stood over her like a sentinel, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, the other wiping sweat form his brow. He looked down at the river. The yellow tint was fading, swirling away in thin ribbons toward the mouth of the cave. “It is working,” he said, his voice rough. “The corruption in the water is breaking down.” He knelt beside Estrela, checking her pulse with tow fingers. Her breathing was steady, but she remained deep in unconsciousness. He looked up at Amelia, his crimson eyes catching the dim light of the cave entrance. “We can’t stay here long,” Luz warned. “The Santo Order knights will be patrolling the riverbanks by now. If they find us–”“It is weird how quiet it is, is it not?” Amelia commented looking up a

Chapter 150: Wrong

“It was not easy, walking away from that. But I knew you were fight for us,” Amelia said looking up at him. “I knew you needed me.” His hand went to his left wrist, fingers digging into the leather beneath his gauntlet where the white ribbon was hidden. The metal of his bronze armour felt impossibly cold against his skin. “You should not have seen that,” he said, his voice cracking. “That was not a vision. It was a trick.” Luz was lying. Even as he said it, the amber in his eye would not go away, pulsing stubbornly against the crimson tide. He knew the fountain did not show futures– it showed what the soul hungered for most. He closed the distance between them in two long strides, his hands coming up to cup her face. his palms were rough, calloused from years of sword work, his this tough was incredibly gentle.“I am not that man anymore,” Luz breathed, his forehead dropping to rest against Amelia’s. &ldq

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