Embers Turnt To Ash Blown Away

The blue glow of the terminal screen flickered, casting long, shifting shadows across the control panel. Emeric let out a deep, shuddering sigh, the weight of his decision pressing down on him like a physical burden. This was it. The final, crushing truth:

'I have to leave Serenera.' 

He tore his gaze from the data, the grim facts etched into his mind. "Varian," he rasped, his voice raw, "I've finished. The cameras are dead, but... it's bad. Worse than I could have ever imagined."

"Times are dire. I cannot remain on Serenera"

Though no response came, Prince Emeric trailed on. 

"I-I…. I will say goodbye to my family, then… then we shall head out." Emeric continued, barely able to stop himself from choking up as he briskly walked towards the cryogenic chamber without waiting for a response from Varian.

Not that he would hear a response anyway.

Prince Emeric stood in silence at the threshold of the cryogenic chambers. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried to gather the strength to face his family one last time. The memories, once warm and bright, now felt distant—like the embers of a fire long extinguished.

One by one, he approached the pods, their frosted surfaces reflecting his grief-stricken face.

He started with Helga's chamber, resting his hand on the cold glass. "Remember when you used to lecture me about mixing potions too carelessly?" A weak, bitter smile touched his lips. "Ha, I always thought you were overreacting, but I set the palace gardens on fire once... You scolded me for hours. I hated you for it then, but I see now…..you…you were just looking out for me, weren't you ?" His voice wavered, a weak smile donning his features, the words choking him as he remembered the warmth in Helga's scornful yet protective eyes.

He laughed a hollow laugh, as if he was forcing a sense of normalcy into a moment that would never be the same. "You saved my life once… remember that? And now—" His voice cracked. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "—now, I can't even save you."

His fingers trembled as they slid away from the chamber, and he moved to the next, his father, King Lunfen Ashford. As he approached, the weight of his steps felt heavier.

"Dad..." Emeric's voice was no longer steady, the words coming out in broken fragments. He lowered himself down before the King's chamber, his face buried in his knees, his back against his dad's final resting place. "I-I don't know what to do…. I'm nothing like you…. You always knew, didn't you? You always had the answers, the strength to lead… but me? I'm just a boy who couldn't even save his own family."

The silence of the room gnawed at him, the weight of unspoken words pressing in from all directions. His breath hitched in his throat, and suddenly, it all came crashing down. "I'm not like you… I'm not a king. I'm not a leader. I don't—" He collapsed fully, resting his forehead against the glass, hot tears spilling down his cheeks. "—I don't even know how to go on."

For a long time, Emeric knelt there, his grief swallowing him whole, his sobs muffled against the cold surface of his father's resting place. His entire body trembled, the broken rhythm of his breaths becoming the only sound that echoed through the chamber.

Slowly, the sobs quieted down as Emeric looked up for the first time since he walked into the cryogenic chamber, taking a deep breath and trying to keep the tears out of eyes.

Just as despair threatened to consume him entirely, a faint, almost imperceptible hum reached his ears—a sound that shouldn't be there, a whisper of anomaly in the profound silence. His head snapped up, hope, fragile as spun glass, flickering to life.

Then something caught his eye.

A flicker of movement.

Helga's pod.

It was slightly open.

His breath stilled.

'No.'

He staggered to his feet, heart hammering.

"Helga?" Emeric's voice was barely a whisper as he stumbled toward her chamber, his fingers gripping the edge of the lid, slowly pulling it open.

And there she was. Helga Emberstrike, but not as he had left her.

The fragile hope that had dared to bloom within him shattered into a thousand jagged shards, each one twisting in his chest, a pain far sharper than any physical blow.

Helga, who once radiated warmth, had always carried an infectious energy. Her smile, bright and wide, was the kind that could light up an entire room, drawing people in effortlessly. She was known for her lively laughter, a sound that echoed with joy and vibrancy. Her eyes, always sharp and alert, held the glint of someone ready to offer comfort or a quick joke, no matter the weight of the situation. The atmosphere around her had been one of life—full of purpose, warmth, and a sense of belonging that even those in her presence felt wrapped in. Her mere presence turned cold metal labs into spaces of comfort, and it had always seemed impossible for darkness to settle in wherever she stood.

"Hel-Helga…" Emeric managed to squeeze out, choking at every letter. 

But now, as Emeric stared at her lifeless form, the contrast hit him like a physical blow. Her once glowing face was now a hollow mask, the light in her eyes snuffed out, leaving behind empty, glassy orbs that no longer sparkled with curiosity or kindness. The delicate smile she so often wore was gone, replaced by the slackness of death. Her skin, once flushed with the warm hues of life, had turned pale, almost ashen, and her body lay still, unnaturally contorted.

She was dead. Murdered.

A jagged wound lay over her heart, blood still faintly staining her chest. Emeric's mouth opened, but no sound came out. He stumbled back, bile rising in his throat, his mind unable to process what he was seeing.

"No... no, no, no, no!" He was shaking, hands gripping his head. "She's… she's dead? No…. killed. But—how? Who would…"

Then it hit him.

The blood had not yet faded.

Panic surged through him like wildfire.

Someone had killed Helga. 

Someone was here.

"Someone's here!"

"SOMEONE'S HERE!"

Emeric turned and ran, sprinting toward the treasury, every instinct in him screaming to find Varian. "Varian!" His voice broke as he ran, fear and desperation mixing in his cry. "Someone's here! Helga's dead!"

His feet barely touched the ground as he bolted through the halls, his heart racing faster than his thoughts. He screamed again, "Varian! Where are you?!"

But silence greeted him.

He burst into the treasury, his breath ragged, his pulse thundering in his ears. "Varian?" His voice cracked as he called out into the stillness.

No answer.

Emeric's eyes darted around the room, every shadow suddenly a threat. His hands shook as he fumbled through the scattered items, his panic growing with each passing second.

"Please..." His voice was barely a whisper now, hoarse from shouting. "Varian… answer me."

But there was nothing.

In the eerie silence, the weight of it all came crashing down on him. He was alone. Everyone was gone. His father, his family, his people… and now, the only person who had offered him hope, Varian—gone, too, or was he even ever there in the first place? Emeric fell to his knees, gasping for breath, his entire world crumbling around him.

"Why… why is this happening?" His voice was hollow, echoing off the cold stone walls of the treasury.

For a moment, the only sound in the room was his own ragged breathing.

His heart pounded in his ears as he muttered assurances to himself. He took a deep breath, trying to steel his nerves, but something stopped him dead in his tracks. A sharp, chilling sensation crawled up his spine.

"Varian…?" he called again, his voice weak, almost pleading now.

Dread coiled in his stomach like a viper. Slowly, almost involuntarily, his eyes lowered.

And what he saw made his blood turn to ice.

Two crystalline daggers jutted from his chest, their quartz-like blades stained with his blood, which now seeped in slow, warm rivulets onto the cold floor below. Emeric breath caught, the world around him spinning as his mind tried to grasp what had happened.

His vision blurred, and the last thing Emeric saw was the blood pooling around his feet, dark and thick, before his legs buckled, sending him crashing into the encroaching darkness.