Ashy Sky Novels & Stories

The northern sky did not dawn with the familiar hues of amber and rose; it broke in a sickly, bruised violet, choked by a dense, suffocating cloud of black soot. High above the permafrost, the Ashen Wastes—once a pristine, blinding expanse of white snow and blue glacial ice—had been transformed into a smoking graveyard of obsidian earth. What had only days ago been the Frostpeak Outpost was now a vast, gaping crater, seething with liquid magma and roiling columns of radioactive ash. The air was thick with the taste of sulfur and ancient death, heavy enough to rip the breath from mortal lungs.

The sky was falling. Neither rain nor snow, but something more dire. Black shards dropped through a sereg of blue sky, flawless and deadly as they blanketed all things—the tents, the arms, the upturned faces of her people. Ash. It blanketed the world in mortuary gray and transformed their haven into something from a horror. "There are no fires," the pack's elder, Elena, replied softly. She stretched out her hand to catch the snow falling from the sky and winced as it dissolved on her skin. "Where is this coming from?"

You seem like someone who has spent too much time chasing their destiny. A tiny smile tightened her lips, but she remained silent. Now their issues were more serious. The sharp peaks of the Ashen Spires towered in the distance as she looked beyond the horizon. As though sensing her uncertainty, the shard pulsed softly in her backpack. As the sun began to set, the sky turned scarlet and amber, and they paused to rest. Zara discovered a safe haven behind a crooked tree, its twisted branches extending like skeletal fingers into the darker sky.

˙❥ VALKYRIE Our feet dug into the damp earth as we plunged deeper into the forest. Our footsteps were hushed on stones and tall grasses. “You are sure we won't be caught?” My voice came out shaky. Almost trembling. “Yeah. This is where Azi takes her training.” Skye gave me a brief glance. He was ahead, his body snatched and fit within his slightly-tight warrior coat. He moved seamlessly, like he didn't have two Omegas trailing behind him, who might be punished if caught.

Morga whispered, dropping the scroll as she fell to her knees. Ash lunged for the balcony railing, his eyes scanning the horizon. Far to the north, beyond the Silverfang Valley, the black disc of the sun began to crack. But it wasn't white light that bled through the fissures. It was a thick, oily darkness that moved with a sickening, liquid grace. The sky didn't turn blue; it turned a bruised, bleeding red.

KYLA POV The sky cracked open just before dawn. One moment, there was only silence—the kind that coils around your spine and whispers that something is wrong. The next, a jagged slash of fire ripped through the heavy stormclouds like the heavens themselves had been torn in two. And then… it rained. But not water. Not cleansing. It rained ash. Thick, black, stinking ash that fell in slow spirals like death’s confetti, coating every stone, every blade, every inch of bare skin. It clung to my lashes. It filled my mouth with the taste of charred bone and ancient curses.

Because Mercy’s bound in the dungeon and the story flipped. The sky splits. Not cloud. Not jet. Girl. Maybe fourteen. Maybe older. Hard to tell when she rides lightning. She drops from the clouds wreathed in white fire that isn’t fire, hits the ground fifty yards out, and the earth craters. She stands. Barefoot. Shaved head. Eyes like storm glass. No burn marks. No smoke. The ground around her turns to glass and stays glass. Vessel Three. “Mother,” Ash breathes beside me. She doesn’t mean me. She means the Tree. “That’s Sky.”

"Hello, where are you?" Vicky, wake up, it's time!' Ashley exclaimed atharotatively, as they embarked on their evening stroll under the full moon. The lunar glow danced across the sky, peeking through wispy clouds like a celestial showcase. Ashley's mahogany hair flowed in the gentle breeze at night, harmonizing with the midnight dark blue sky.

spoke with both palms up and when I obeyed and put my hands on yours, an icy wind passed through my body and Asra’s forehead glued to mine. Her eyes shone, shone brightly and a picture took my mind. It was blue. Deep blue and bright spots spread everywhere. The crescent moon shone among all those dots and the deep blue was like endless immensity. Stars -, I get it. Those were stars. Bright stars in an ancient sky, a sky before Callisto, Asra and the Apocalypse that had happened. I took a deep breath and could almost feel the cold air of that night in my lungs. Asra had shown me a beautiful starry sky. ⋅• ♱ •⋅

The cold wind whipped through the barren landscape as Asha and Darian trudged forward, the snow beneath their boots crunching with every step. Their breath misted in the freezing air, and the shadows of the Greywatch Spire loomed behind them, a dark silhouette against the starless sky. The sounds of pursuit—the growls of Blood Pact Beasts, the shouts of the royal guard—faded into the distance, but Asha knew it wouldn’t last. They had only just begun their flight, and the storm was far from over.