Cinders Ashes Novels & Stories

“It doesn’t stay. It comes and disappears.” Cassian pretended to look disappointed. He wore his shirt back on and used his fingers to adjust his hair. “You should go to sleep,” he said. “You should return to your dorm too,” Julianne said to him. Cassian walked to the window and before he jumped out, he turned and said to her, “Goodnight Ash.” “Good…night.” Julianne said those words in her head. She watched him disappear in the night and she moved to the window, looking around to see where he had gone, but there was no sign of him. She released a sigh and pushed her head back in before shutting the window.

Then, abruptly, the trees fell away. They stepped out onto a wide shelf of black stone at the base of the spire. Up close it was even larger than it had seemed from the ridge — a jagged tower erupting from the earth, its surface veined with glowing sigils that writhed slowly like living script. The silver-veined forest ended at its edge as if cut with a knife. Ava’s breath caught. “This is it.” The token flared against her ribs, a steady burn that was almost pain. The whisper filled her head, clearer than ever: Daughter of ash. Come.

Ash’s POV The roar of the clubhouse hit me before I even turned off my engine. Laughter, shouts and the sound of bottles clinking rent the air and for a moment, I wonder how they could easily fall back into their normal lives less than twelve hours after an attack. It was chaos the way I remembered it, but somehow louder and more… non challant. Inside, the air was thick with smoke and sweat. A few brothers cheered when they saw me, others nodded, their eyes sharp, reading me like they weren’t sure what version of Ash had come back.

The discarded pile consisted entirely of matching items I'd bought after getting together with Cole. One of the maids, Laura Brown, glanced at the pile headed for the trash. "Ms. Cavendish, are you really sure you want to throw all of this away?" I nodded. "Yeah. It's all stuff I don't want anymore." "What do you not want?" Cole's voice came from the doorway. I answered evenly, "Just some old things. There's no point keeping them here." "Makes sense. Out with the old, in with the new. When we get engaged, we'll be buying plenty of new things any—"

Ignoring him completely, Caleb said to Daisy, "Let's go." Daisy turned around and followed him away. Whispers immediately came from behind them. Daisy's steps faltered slightly. Caleb gently pressed a hand against her back. "Don't look back. Keep walking." Daisy took a deep breath and continued moving forward. Caleb led her through a hallway and pushed open a door. Before she entered, he glanced down at a message on his phone. [East side staircase cleared. The fire will start at a quarter past nine. Follow the green markers. Fake Daisy is already in position at the southern gate.]

CASSANDRA The horrible sight before my eyes was the worst nightmare I’d ever seen, yet no matter how hard I pinched myself, it wasn’t going away. As the fire covered Asher’s body, his skin began to peel down. Soon, the black burnt skin became ashes, and then the ashes disappeared entirely and blew down the corridor. “No!” I screamed out of anger and sorrow. “No, no, no!” My lungs ached as I cried out, but I couldn’t stop. Tears spilled down my face like a river, and my vision started to break out with spots as I shook.

Therefore, at this moment, when the others saw Journey Doney take out a handful of black powder from the jar, which was neither black nor gray, and showed a look of interest, Caspian and Yvonne Johnson already knew what the powder was-it was ashes. In addition, on the battlefield, the corpses full of violence, unwillingness, anger, despair, and other negative emotions were turned into ashes. Journey Doney sprinkled the ashes out. The ashes emitted a strange green light in mid-air, and then disappeared as if they had been absorbed by the darkness of the Chaos. For some reason, everyone present felt their hearts tighten when they saw this scene. Immediately afterwards, a gurgling sound rang ou