Turned To Ashes Novels & Stories

"Please, Ryan, don't do this. He's your son! Please, don't take this from me!" But Ryan's mind was filled with anger and betrayal. He opened the urn and began to pour the ashes onto the ground. "No!" Sophia wailed, her cries echoing through the cemetery. She lunged forward, her hands clawing at the ashes as they scattered. The gray powder clung to her hair and skin, mixing with her tears as she wept uncontrollably. She pressed her head to the ground, her body trembling with sorrow. "My baby," she sobbed, her voice barely audible. "I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry…"

They were unnecessary. Before they’d even begun to turn his clothing to ash, Kera dissolved. A sagging bit of flesh and brittle bones. He burned him anyway. They watched in silence as the Demon king turned to ashes. As a winter wind swept over the tower balcony, and carried them far, far away.

Her eyes flashed with a grief I didn’t understand. “It’s time,” she said softly, “you learned the truth about our family… and about Him.” The voices outside grew louder. A chorus of whispers. Merry Christmas.Merry Christmas. Merry Christmaaaaas… My skin crawled. Ruby lifted the lantern. And the flames inside turned black.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe properly. Couldn’t even scream. Cassian stepped closer slowly while his body continued dissolving into ash around him. Then he whispered softly into my ear, “We both know happy endings don’t exist.”

“I see, so you knew about that as well. What a shame! I thought I could be useful even for a little bit. What a shame!” Her voice echoed and her body turned all black, turning to ash. There was nothing I could do more. What the hell just happened?

“I never believed I would finally see you again after all this time. My—” Her body suddenly flickered. My eyes widened immediately. Then right in front of me, her entire figure began crumbling apart like fragile ash caught in the wind. “Find me.” It was the last I heard of her. “No!” I rushed forward instinctively. But before I could reach her, she completely turned into dust. The dust scattered across the field before disappearing into the air entirely. I stumbled backward in horror, my breathing becoming rough again. Never in my entire existence had I witnessed something so unnatural.

I should have joined, should have burned the bastard to nothing, but all I could hear were his words, rot that sank deeper than steel ever could. By the time the commander’s corpse hit the dirt, the arena was nothing but smoke and ruin. The remaining mercenaries fled into the cracks of the Gauntlet, slipping away into the labyrinth like shadows returning to their home. The crowd above was a cacophony, faculty yelling, students screaming, Houses shouting politics into the open air. But down here, it was only us, standing in blood and ash. My knees shook. Fire licked at my ribs, fading slowly. I clutched at myself, trying to hold it in, trying not to let the fear shred me.

I spoke words my grandmother had taught Elena, that Elena had taught Rowan, that Rowan had adapted for my use: not appeasement words. Banishing ones. “Your time is over,” I said quietly. “Your name is ash. Your story is cut. We close this door. We salt this ground. We choose our own lives.” Light flared over the bowl. Not violent. Steady. The objects inside caught. They didn’t burn with black, oily smoke. They burned like old paper—curling in on themselves, blackening, then flaking to ash. A faint hiss rose from the bowl.

Desperately, he shoved fistfuls of detox pills into his mouth, choking on them as they dissolved into foam. Yet, it was useless. The toxin coursing through his veins was far beyond any remedy. His eyes rolled back as he convulsed violently. Within five agonizing minutes, his body collapsed, lifeless. Even then, the poison did not stop. The skin melted away, followed by muscle, tendons, and finally, bone. Half an hour later, the only thing left of Gordon was a bubbling pool of black, rancid sludge. … Back at the Stevens mansion, Aspen glanced at the darkening sky. By now, she figured Gordon had already taken care of Andrew.