Ashborn's Pawn

The camp was still, but not quiet—it was the sort that followed a storm. Trees had been burned to blackened stumps, and smoke still lingered in the air with the sharp scent of fire and terror. Ren sat huddled on a rock beside the smoldering remains of their campfire, his breathing shallow, hunched over.

The blue flame was finally calm—no longer screaming through his veins—but it left behind a dull ache, like a burn just beneath the skin.

Sera approached, handing him a waterskin. "You okay?"

Ren gave a humorless chuckle. "I just fought off a god trying to rip my soul apart from the inside… so, yeah. I'm peachy."

She knelt beside him, her tone softer. "You scared me back there."

"You and me both."

Throughout the camp, Kairo, Kaela, and bruised but upright Veyron labored to rebuild their guard wards. Kairo's face was grim, his fingers tracing glowing sigils on the earth as if he attempted to hide his concern under the runes.

"Think you that agent will return?" Kaela cracked her knuckles.

"He won't have to," Kairo said. "Ashborn sent him as a warning. The actual attack will come.".

Ren gazed up. "He was powerful… but not unbeatable. I saw something—when we were fighting, momentarily. Pain. He was concealing something."

Sera scrunched up her face. "You're saying he wasn't fighting at maximum ability?"

"No," Ren replied. "I'm saying he didn't want to fight."

Kairo faced him. "Fascinating. Hesitation like that isn't typical for Ashborn."

"True. It was as if… he was holding back. As if he was being compelled to do it.".

Kaela narrowed her eyes. "You don't believe he's loyal?"

Ren gazed into the fire. "I think he could be like me."

The camp was quiet.

Then Veyron finally had something to say after the battle. "If there is another like you—an other vessel—then he is the one who can tell us about Ashborn's plan."

Kaela raised an eyebrow. "And what would you know of it, Veyron?"

He didn't answer immediately. When he finally did, his voice was low. "Because I've seen what happens to vessels who lose themselves. And I've watched what Ashborn does to the ones who try to resist."

Everyone turned toward him, curiosity sharpening like knives.

"You've met him?" Ren asked.

Veyron nodded. "Not in person. But… once, I came close. Too close. I saw what he was constructing. A conclave of souls. Broken fires. Shattered minds."

Sera leaned forward. "You think that masked dude… was one of them?"

"I'd wager my life on it," Veyron said. "He didn't battle like a free man. He battled like a slave."

Ren rose slowly, fires still smoldering weakly from his fingers. "Then we set him free."

Kairo snorted. "You're assuming he wants to be released. For all we know, his mind is destroyed."

"Even if it is, I have to act," Ren said. "If Ashborn's working through other hosts—then this isn't about me anymore."

Kaela slithered her neck free. "Superb. Another cursed soul to deal with. Can't wait.".

But Sera went with Ren. "If there's any possibility he's like you, we have to go find him. Learn about who he is. Why he was keeping himself back."

Veyron's gaze snapped into place. "Then you'll have to chase the flame."

Ren stared at him. "What are you saying?"

I sensed it in the battle," Veyron said. "A cord. Thin, but there. A ghost of a bond. It pulled west—toward the Ashfall Mountains. If that agent is hiding, that's where he'd hide."

Kairo folded his arms. "That mountain range is accursed. Ashborn's power is more potent there than anywhere else outside the capital. It's not safe."

Sera sent him a sharp glance. "So is sitting around waiting to get attacked again.".

Kairo sighed, muttering under his breath. "You're all insane."

"Maybe," Ren said, finally cracking a grin. "But it's working for us so far."

---

Three days later, the group stood at the edge of a gray wasteland—jagged rocks and ash-covered ground stretching endlessly toward the shadowy peaks in the distance.

The Ashfall Mountains towered like the skeletal body of some ancient dead horror, dark and ominous. Lightning flashed along their ridges in silence, and the breeze bore distant murmurs no one wished to hear.

Kaela wrapped her scarf tighter around her face. "Smells like death."

"Because it is," Kairo growled. "The whole area was ground zero for the Flame War. Ashborn laid waste half the continent using his magic here.".

Sera's eyes grew narrow as she gazed in the direction of the closest ridge. "Then it would be logical his agent would be heading back to where it started."

Ren's head struck the ground the instant they stepped onto the ash. The blue fire within him flared with anger—like it sensed here. Like it despised it.

"Do you sense it?" he stated, his eyes far away.

Kaela nodded seriously. "Something is watching us.".

Kairo summoned a tracking glyph. It glowed faintly, then flickered and died. "Even my magic's being distorted. We're getting close."

They advanced in silence, weapons drawn, nerves taut. The deeper they went, the stronger the pull in Ren's chest became. The bond was real. He could feel it now—like a thread of fire connecting him to something broken, something buried in shadow.

Hours passed. Then, finally, they found it.

At the temple entrance that had crumpled into the face of a mountain, a crater existed where blue-black fire had engulfed the earth days ago.

Ren knelt next to it, stroking the charred stone.

"He was here."

Kaela glanced around. "And now he's gone where?"

A voice boomed from the darkness behind them.

"Why are you following me?"

They spun in haste, but the figure was already shoving out from the rocks above.

The masked agent.

No weapon in hand. No fire. Just observing.

Ren took a step forward, blue flames dancing in his eyes. "You hesitated in battle."

Silence.

"You could have killed me. You didn't."

Still nothing.

Ren took another step forward. "Who are you?"

The figure moved to the side. Then, slowly, removed the mask.

Behind it was a young man. White face. Blank eyes. A jagged scar down the left side of his face. He looked. familiar.

Ren froze.

"You…" he whispered.

The man's lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Took you long enough."

Sera stepped forward. "Who is he?"

Ren's voice broke as he spoke. "My brother."