Ash and Discipline

Training Grounds – Vale of Banners

Before vengeance could be served, Ashren knew it had to be forged.

Not just in his fire.

But in the bones and will of those who followed him.

And so, as dawn broke like a bleeding sun over the cliffs, Ashren stood at the center of the training fields—where blades clashed, arrows flew, and the desperate learned how to become deadly.

He was no general. But pain had taught him discipline, and death had made him efficient.

That was what he gave them.

---

The Fire Drills

He taught them not how to fight with honor—but how to survive.

"Your enemy does not care if you bleed nobly," Ashren barked, stepping between two sparring rebels. "The Hollowborn will unmake you—body, soul, memory. You do not get to die a hero. You get to live… or lose everything you ever were."

He swept Seris's blade from her hand in a blur and turned it on a recruit, pressing the edge against the man's neck.

"Kill without hesitation. Protect without mercy. Feel nothing until the war is over."

The recruit nodded, breath shaking.

Seris watched him—concern growing in her chest like a thorn.

---

The General's Warning

Later, General Caelis approached him by the flame pits where broken blades were reforged.

"You're turning them into shadows of you."

Ashren didn't look up. "Good. I've survived what's coming."

Caelis crossed his arms. "We need hope, not just weapons."

Ashren finally met his eyes. "Hope didn't save my city. Fire did."

They stared at each other across the heat until Caelis grunted and walked away.

But the words lingered.

Even in Ashren.

---

The Dream That Returned

That night, Ashren dreamed again.

Of Duskvale.

Of his sister's voice calling out to him from the smoke.

Of standing in his old bedroom as it burned—and seeing his younger self curled in the corner, eyes wide with fear.

Then the Hollow Queen stepped from the flames.

Not monstrous.

Not screaming.

Just smiling.

"You are one of us, child of vengeance," she whispered. "You always were."

He woke with frost on his fingertips and fire in his chest.

And for the first time in weeks—he doubted.

---

The Choice to Come

Seris found him at the cliffs before dawn, watching the sea of torches below as the rebels trained through the night.

"They believe in you," she said softly.

He didn't turn. "They believe in the idea of me."

"They don't need a perfect man," she said. "They need someone who's willing."

He finally looked at her.

And nodded.

"Then I'll give them everything."

---

Below the Earth

Far beneath the Iron Hills, the Hollowborn had already reached the final tunnel.

The first scout emerged into the roots of the Vale.

And smiled with a mouth that wasn't his.