Tarnished Embers Novels & Stories

The circle flared black and violet, twisting, alive. From the darkness, a whisper rose: Nex umbraa, kai vel’thra… ix shael. Kai’thai kharuun… kai’thra kai’thai. From shadow, I awaken… I am hers. I am warrior… I am and I become. Then it appeared. Not a simple crow, but something older, warped. Its wings were tattered starlight. Its eyes burned like molten amethyst. It landed on her shoulder. Claiming her. Marking her.

“I thought I’d lost you again.” “You didn’t,” she replied gently. “I just… I needed time to gather myself. I’m still waking up. But I’m here now.” I chuckled softly. “what’s your name?” “Ember. I wanted you to know it when the time was right.” “It suits you,” I murmured, thinking of how she had been nothing but a faint presence all my life—hidden beneath layers of suppression and silence. “Like a tiny ember left after everything burned. Quiet but still alive… and now, slowly flaring to life.”

I ran towards it and stared as it glow like an ember. "This must be the ember of love!" I exclaimed. "You're right Princess," an unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke. "Who are you?" "I am the ember of love waiting to be flourished by you. When you learn how to turn that ember into a blazing flame of affection then you could easily defeat Velion," she told me. "But how?" I really have no idea on how to use that ember of love. "It's all up to you. Remember to listen to your heart and everything will go according to how destiny planned it to be." Those were the last words I heard from her before I opened my eyes to see the worried faces of my friends and aunt Athena.

The lesson of today's barbarism was clear in the air. No one touches his girl and gets away with that. ***

He absent mindedly ran his thumb over the spot as he looked down at the workers busy downstairs. From his position one storey up, he could see the courtyard down below, the canopy which had been placed over it as a decoration for the wedding that did not happen last night had long been removed and the bodies cleared away, all that was left in the courtyard was just the bloody mess which was being cleaned up by servants. Omar tried to imagine it not being so much different from washing off the blood in an abattoir but he knew it had been human beings that were killed last night and not animals, assassins or not, they were still humans. The place would stink for days amd he knew this was one e

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – “The Kiss That Burns” The Emberfall garden lay hushed in the night, its roses glowing faintly with emberlight. Moonlight spilled in fractured streams across the stone paths, but even the pale glow of the sky seemed dull compared to the restless shimmer of the fire-roses. Their petals pulsed faintly, ember veins flickering as if they, too, were listening for something.

“I’ve already been broken. What’s left now is the part that learned how to survive the fire.” Vera said nothing at first. She only watched Emereah’s fingers as the ember flickered and pulsed, alive with something ancient. The fire didn’t consume her. It clung to her like breath. “You speak like the flame is your ally,” Vera said softly, stepping forward. “But even fire leaves scars.” Emereah’s eyes didn’t move from the horizon. “I’ve bled for every scar. And I’ve named them.” “Named them?” Emereah nodded once. “My father. My mother. The warriors of Crescent Silver Moon Fang. The girls they slaughtered. The mates they silenced. I carry them all.”

"Gina told me. She's told me of most of the mercenary groups. Of Greenbush, and Hedgeshadow. Of Pondgrass, and Merriway. All powerful, deceptive, and fierce in battle. Yet, none as powerful as the Night Witch." Talks like this made Karl hard, but thanks to the heat of Lexi's cherry, it provided just enough heat to keep him from aching out in pain, and thanks to her tender ministration, and the rhythmic movement of her body against him. Slow and steady. "I like this beautiful feel of you," Karl said. "I am holding back my pleasure." "And you are driving me mad." ***