CHAPTER 10: THE FINAL EMBERS
Scene 1: The Approach
The Ember fortress loomed ahead, a monolithic structure of steel and concrete set deep within the mountains. Red warning lights blinked along its perimeter, illuminating the rows of automated turrets and security drones patrolling the area.
Maya crouched behind a rock outcropping, her team gathered around her. The cold mountain air did little to temper the heat radiating from her fingertips.
“This is it,” she said, her voice steady. “We take this place down, and Ember is finished.”
Hawthorne nodded. “We only get one shot. Wallace won’t let us walk away this time.”
Nadia checked her stolen Ember rifle. “Then we make sure we don’t have to.”
Maya exhaled. “Move out.”
The revolution had come to Ember’s doorstep.
Scene 2: Infiltration well
The plan was simple: split into teams, disable the external defenses, and storm the main facility before Wallace could activate the Phoenix Protocol’s final phase.
Maya and Nadia slipped through the shadows, avoiding security patrols. As they reached the base of a communications tower, Maya ignited a precise line of heat, melting the lock on the control panel.
Nadia tapped into the system, overriding the base’s security grid. “Turrets offline. We’re in.”
A distant explosion signaled Hawthorne’s team breaching the eastern wall. The battle had begun.
Maya turned toward the main entrance. Wallace was waiting inside.
It was time to end this.
Scene 3: Fire and Steel
Alarms blared as Ember forces swarmed the corridors. The air was filled with gunfire, but Maya and her team fought back with raw power.
Eva conjured a burning shield, deflecting bullets as Lucas launched firebolts down the hallway. Hawthorne took down soldiers with precisive shots, covering their advance.
Maya surged forward, her flames carving a path through the chaos. Every step brought her closer to Wallace.
Then, a massive steel door sealed off the central chamber.
Maya placed her hands against the cold metal. Heat built, turning red-hot, then white. The door melted away.
She stepped through the flames.
And there he was.
Scene 4: Wallace’s Gambit
Wallace stood at the center of a control room, calm despite the destruction unfolding around him. Behind him, a massive containment pod pulsed with molten energy.
“Impressive,” he said. “But predictable.”
Maya clenched her fists. “This ends now.”
Wallace smirked. “No, Maya. This begins now.”
He pressed a button on his wrist device.
The containment pod shattered.
And something else came out.
Scene 5: The Phoenix Protocol
A figure emerged from the broken pod—human in shape, but wreathed in pure fire. Its body pulsed with energy, unstable yet overwhelming.
Wallace spread his arms. “The perfected pyrokinetic. No limits, no control, pure evolution.”
The creature turned its blazing eyes towards Maya. Then it attacked.
A blast of searing energy knocked her back, sending her crashing into a console.
Wallace watched, smiling. “You were the prototype, Maya. But this? This is the future.”
Maya gritted her teeth, forcing herself up. “Then I guess the future burns.”
She charged.
Scene 6: Battle of Flames
The chamber became an inferno as Maya and the Phoenix Prototype clashed. Fire met fire, explosions shaking the walls.
Maya dodged a blast, countering with a focused jet of heat. The creature barely flinched.
It was faster, even stronger. And it wasn’t human anymore.
Maya gasped for breath. The battle was turning against her.
Then—she felt them.
The others. The freed pyrokinetics.
They weren’t just watching.
They were with her.
Scene 7: The Power of Many
Eva and Nadia rushed in, with fire erupting from their hands. Lucas followed, channeling raw energy.
One by one, they joined the fight, their flames intertwining with Maya’s.
The Phoenix Prototype staggered, being overwhelmed.
Maya reached out, tapping into the power around her—not just her own, but everyone’s.
Flames surged, not as for destruction, but as in agreement.
And in that moment, she became fire itself.
She struck.
The Prototype let out a final, inhuman scream—before it collapsed into embers.
The battle was over.
Scene 8: Wallace’s Last Stand
Wallace stared, disbelief in his eyes. “No. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end.”
Maya moved forward, flames still burning in her hands. “It’s over.”
He reached for a weapon—Hawthorne shot it from his grasp.
Wallace fell to his knees.
Maya loomed over him. “No more experiments. No more control. Ember dies with you.”
Wallace smirked weakly. “Then do it.”
Maya raised her hand—then hesitated.
Killing him would be easy.
But she was done letting Ember define her.
Instead, she turned. “You’ll face justice.”
Hawthorne cuffed Wallace. “For the first time in your life.
Scene 9: The Fall of Ember
They set the facility’s core to overload. Sparks rained from shattered consoles.
As they fled, the mountain trembled.
They reached the surface just as fire erupted behind them, the fortress collapsing in a wave of heat and destruction.
Maya turned one last time, watching Ember’s empire crumble to ash.
She exhaled.
It was finally over.
Scene 10: A New Dawn
The survivors gathered on a hilltop, the rising sun painting the sky in gold and red.
Hawthorne crossed his arms. “So, what now?”
Maya looked at the people around her—the revolution she had led, the lives she had saved.
She smiled.
“Now? We rebuild.”
The flames of war had ended.
And from the ashes, something new would rise.