Chapter 61- Ash Born Hope

POV Commander Arlyn Vale – Outreach Group Two

The Firelands Rift Border didn't forgive.

It cracked. It bled heat. It whispered in voices only the dead should hear.

Commander Arlyn Vale led Outreach Group Two through scorched ruins where flames had once sung with power. Now, only smoke danced in the silence. Her leather boots sank slightly into scorched dust. Every step kicked up memories of what this place had been before the Entity tore it apart.

Her team moved with practiced silence.

Five scouts. Two medics. One barrier witch. And her.

She scanned the ruins with a twitch of her wrist crystal. Nothing, until Scout Dren froze beside her.

"Commander," he said hoarsely. "There's someone watching us."

They turned the next corner, and stopped dead.

They weren't just being watched. They were being hunted by hope.

In the shadow of a collapsed obsidian wall stood a boy no older than seven. Hair singed, cheeks sunken, and a crude dagger gripped so tightly in his hand that his knuckles bled.

Behind him… hundreds.

Tucked within a half buried temple hollow, survivors emerged slowly. Men, women, children, elders. Nearly three hundred of them, shielded by failing wards, ash cloaked illusions, and sheer will. The smell of cooked roots and desperation lingered in the air.

A teenage girl stepped forward next. Burned sleeves. Raw hands. She stood between the scouts and the boy, head held high.

"If you've come to take us," she said, "you'll have to kill me first."

Arlyn dropped her weapons and held up both hands. "Gods, no. We're not here to hurt you. We're from Aurealis. Sent by The Goddess Rhiannan herself."

The girl blinked. The boy's dagger lowered a hair.

One of the elders leaned heavily on a broken staff, coughing. "We weren't sure you all were real, weren't sure if we should hope."

Another voice cracked through the crowd. "Is she real, then? The moonblood queen?"

"She is," Arlyn said softly. "And she's alive. She sent us to bring you home."

The boy began crying. A silent, shaking kind of grief.

The kind that meant they'd waited too long to believe in miracles.

Arlyn stepped forward and dropped to her knees in front of him. "You don't have to fight anymore, little warrior. We're here."

Behind her, the medics rushed in. Canteens passed. Salves uncorked. One of the scouts dropped his pack and pulled out a whole loaf of honeyroot bread. It vanished into small, shaking hands within seconds.

The girl collapsed to her knees beside her brother. "We held the wards," she whispered. "We held them as long as we could."

"You did better than anyone could've asked," Arlyn said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Now let us hold you."

POV Sasha – AI Comm Link

Incoming transmission: Outreach Two has located a surviving mage clan in the Firelands Rift. Headcount: ~300. Condition: critical. Emotional state: unstable. Initiating Rescue Portal Protocol Korr-7. Standby for portal activation in Courtyard Sector.

The air shimmered with golden threaded magic as the portal opened wide.

Rhiannan stood tall beside her six mates, a sleeping infant strapped to her chest while Kaleb held one twin and Sable swayed the other on his hip like he'd been born for it.

Healers lined the pathway. Blankets, food, and potions stacked at the ready. Faenet buzzed with quiet reverence.

Arwen stepped forward first, twin daggers still strapped but lowered in peace.

Liam stood beside him, flashing a grin so warm it could melt steel.

Then the mages arrived.

The first through the portal were the children, dazed, soot smeared, clutching each other like shadows. Behind them, teens carrying babies. Elders dragging their feet, wide eyed, waiting to be told it wasn't real.

It was real.

"Welcome to Aurealis," Rhiannan said, her voice clear and soft, but full of steel. "You're not just safe. You're home."

One of the elders collapsed to his knees and wept.

The little boy who had threatened Arlyn earlier walked right up to Rhiannan and stared at the baby strapped to her chest.

"She's like me," he whispered.

"She is," Rhiannan said, crouching slowly. "And now? You're safe, and wanted..little moon." She ruffled his hair gently as he grinned up at her.

POV Tavira Emberlain- Mage Survivor

The sun over Aurealis was soft.

Not like Firelands sun, which clawed at skin and bleached bones. This light didn't burn. It wrapped. Warm and slow. Like lullabies they hadn't heard in years.

Tavira didn't trust it. Not yet.

She stood near the courtyard archway with Kainen pressed against her hip, his fingers tangled in the hem of her tunic like he thought someone might still take her away.

He wasn't wrong. That fear lived in her marrow.

"Emberlain," called a voice from the left. A fae woman with vine touched skin held a scroll in her hand and a soft smile on her lips. "Tavira and Kainen Emberlain. Assigned to MoonHollow. Third cottage. North quadrant. Neighbors will be Barrik Stonevein's kin."

Tavira blinked. "We get a cottage?"

The woman laughed gently. "You get a home."

She didn't know how to respond to that.

The road into MoonHollow smelled like green magic and warm bread.

The village was hidden under towering trees with sun filtered light making everything look gold edged. Moss hung from the rooftops, and flowers she didn't recognize bloomed along every stone path.

Children played in the grass.

Kainen's eyes went wide. "Tavi… they're laughing."

They reached the third cottage. A curved stone walkway. Ivy covered walls. A wooden door painted deep forest green with a brass crescent moon on it.

Tavira stopped.

Her hands were shaking.

The last time she'd opened a door, she'd been pulling her brother into a collapsing ward shelter while mages screamed outside. She'd been 14. He'd been 5. She hadn't opened a home since then. Just hiding places.

"I can't," she whispered.

Kainen looked up at her, eyes too old for seven. "You don't have to protect me anymore."

She sank to her knees and sobbed.

Kainen opened the door for them.

Inside was warmth. Real warmth. A hearth already lit. Shelves full of soft towels and folded tunics. A carved table with two steaming bowls of stew, as if someone knew they were coming. Soft beds with feathered quilts. A tea kettle whistling.

She didn't know how to move.

Kainen ran straight to the smaller bed and threw himself onto the mattress with a squeal. "It's soft! Tavi, it's soft like clouds!"

She pressed her forehead to the doorframe. Her warding hand twitched, magic flickering at her fingertips. For a second she thought about casting a protection shield.

But she didn't.

She let the door stay open.

POV: Courtyard Overlook – Rhiannan

From the overlook, Rhiannan watched the village assignments unfold with her six mates at her back and her babies safe in their nursery.

"MoonHollow's filling fast," Kaleb murmured, scanning the reports.

"That girl," Rhiannan said, eyes still fixed on the crystal feed showing Tavira kneeling at her cottage door. "What's her name?"

"Tavira Emberlain," Sasha answered through the bracer comms. "Warded her clan's last standing shelter for 712 days straight. Carried by fireblood magic. Bloodline nearly gone."

"She's not just powerful," Arwen said. "She's a survivor."

"She's more than that," Rhiannan whispered. "She's going to be one of us."