Shadow In The Ember Series Novels & Stories

she whispered, her voice small and scared. Lucas Antonio,a man in his late thirties, a name whispered in boardrooms with reverence, a titan of industry, knelt before the small, broken child. The man who commanded vast energy empires, whose decisions swayed markets, found himself humbled by the profound grief etched on Ava's face. He recognized the hollowness in her eyes, a mirror of the despair he had once known. He gently lifted her into his arms. Her small body trembling against his.

THE SHADOW BRIDEThe next few days slip into each other, a blur of routine and unsettling moments. I should have known this marriage wouldn’t be normal. It’s never been normal, not since the moment I stepped into Camille’s shoes. But it’s not just the family or the house that feels wrong—it’s Elias. Every time he’s near me, it’s like a storm brewing in the distance. He doesn’t speak much, but when he does, his words are clipped, laced with something I can’t place. Guilt? Anger? Maybe both.

he called at Emily. “Are you crazy man what if it kills her” Kiran called. “I remember I read something about it so trust me I know what am doing,” he said and I watched as Emily walked toward the shadow. I could hear her heart beating fast. She was scared, she walked slowly and the rustling of the dead leaves as she moved closer made me anxious about what would happen. She moved towards it and touched the shadow and immediately white light came from within her and the shadow turned from deep black to grey and it bowed down to her.

She moved nearer to the orb. The creatures froze. The ground trembled. Tall columns of light pierced upward from the floor, encapsulating each shadow. The masks cracked, and the shapes under them writhed — not into monsters but into people. The men and women with dark eyes and burnt naked skin. One knelt. “You are her,” he said. “You carry the Ember.” “I have the memory with me,” Serena said. “And I will bring to life what w was lost.”

Memories of her childhood flashed through Ember’s mind as she navigated through the route leading to the secluded mansion. It had always been her sanctuary, a place where she had felt safe and loved. Now, it was nothing more than a desolate reminder of what she had lost. When Ember finally arrived, she hurriedly parked her car in-between some trees, to keep it away from sight, looking around to make sure, no one was secretly watching, she ran towards the direction of the mansion

She had been playing mind games since the moment we met. “I have mastered control. Ember has not. If she does not learn to control it, it will control her in the darkest of ways.” Queen Willow’s explanation left much to be wondered, but my mind was focused on Ember as she drifted back to the center of the lagoon and out of my reach. Terror filled me as I waited for her to be sucked under the surface again, but she didn’t move. “How does one master control of the shadows?” I asked quietly, knowing I wouldn’t like the answer and hoping Ember couldn’t hear our conversation.

“It doesn't look like you're fine, and honestly if I were to say something, I'd say you're a better character than I am, I don't know about your current situation, or status or anything, and even if I knew, I'm not sure I know how to solve them, I mean the experience is like a celebrity trying to wash dishes, so whatever it is that you're hesitant to share, i just feel letting it out sometimes will makes you feel light of the burdens.” A better character? I bet she wouldn't say that, if she met Maverick Nightshade, would she still say that when she knew my intentions? When she knew everything Maverick Nightshade touched gets burned to dust? “Yeah, everything is fine when you're so perfect.”

In the blink of an eye, a dense black cloud of shadow erupted from her, engulfing her and Bryan. Both Sawyer and I were stunned. The scent of ozone was overpowering, and the darkness of the shadows was impenetrable. I couldn’t see what was happening inside of them, but I could hear Bryan’s screams rending the air. And then all at once, the shadows snapped back into Ember, and she fell to the ground, unconscious. It was as if a spell over us had been broken. I sped out of the room, moving as fast I could without shifting. Sawyer was slower, but I could hear him following behind me.

The shadow let out an unearthly shriek and dissipated into the air. Breathing hard, drenched in rain and sweat, Emma approached the node. It was a small, cylindrical device, glowing faintly, humming in sync with the shadows outside. She knew what to do. She connected her signal device, forcing its pulse into the node. The hum intensified, reverberating through her bones. The shadows outside twisted and shrieked, retreating into corners as the node’s connection faltered. Emma’s fingers ached, sweat and rain dripping down her arms, but she held firm. Finally, the hum steadied, the shadows froze, and the node went dark.

And the shadow knew it too. “Rowan,” Ember’s voice whispered from the edge of the porch, startling me. She knelt by the frost-covered ground, inspecting marks that hadn’t been there before small scratches on the snow, shallow, deliberate, unnatural. “It’s closer.” I exhaled slowly. “I know.”