Ashes of Yesterday
Episode -----25
Grey light broke through the shattered windows, spilling across blood‑stained marble. The storm had weakened, but the rain still fell in weary sheets, dripping from broken beams and fractured statues.
Ayan leaned against a fallen pillar, breath ragged, sweat and rain slicking dark hair to his forehead. His sword, nicked and blood‑stained, lay across his lap. Every movement brought a stab of pain so sharp it blurred his sight.
Lina crouched before him, bandaging the deep gash across his ribs. Her hands shook — not from fear now, but from exhaustion and the weight of what lay behind them.
"You need stitches," she whispered, voice hoarse. "Proper ones."
"And a surgeon," he rasped, lips twitching faintly. "Know any?"
She managed the faintest laugh, though tears still threatened. "One or two."
---
For a breath, silence settled between them — not the crushing silence of fear, but something gentler.
Then, from deeper in the ruins, a voice called out — harsh, male, tinged with fury: "They're here!"
Ayan stiffened, muscles coiling despite pain. "More of them," he growled, pushing himself upright.
Lina caught his arm. "You can't keep fighting like this," she pleaded, voice cracking.
He turned, storm‑grey eyes softening. "And what would you have me do?"
"Tell me the truth," she whispered. "Why do they keep coming? Who are you really running from?"
---
For a heartbeat, the ruined hall seemed to hold its breath.
Rain dripped in steady rhythm. Ayan's jaw tightened, shadows crossing his gaze.
"They're not after you," Lina pressed, voice shaking. "They're after you."
His silence answered more than words.
---
Finally, he spoke — voice low, rough as gravel. "Years ago, I belonged to something… darker than you can imagine."
"A syndicate?" she breathed.
A flicker of guilt. "Worse."
Lina swallowed, the cold sinking into her bones. "And now they want you dead?"
"No," he rasped. "They want me back."
---
Thunder rolled far away, like the world itself protesting his words.
"I left," Ayan continued, gaze locked on some distant memory. "I saw what we did to families… to children. And I couldn't keep my hands bloody."
His voice cracked, raw and honest in a way Lina had never heard before.
"They don't forgive betrayal," he murmured. "They hunt traitors until nothing remains."
"And now I'm caught in it," she whispered, the realization sinking cold into her chest.
His gaze lifted, pain etched into every line of his face. "That's why I wanted you gone, Lina. Because loving me isn't safe."
---
A breath. Rain dripped between them, cold and constant.
"I know," she said softly. "And I stayed anyway."
His mask slipped — iron walls breaking. "Why?" he rasped, voice barely holding.
"Because behind the blood and scars, you're still human," Lina whispered. "And because you're worth saving — even if you can't see it yet."
---
Footsteps echoed closer. Shadows flickered beyond broken archways.
Ayan forced himself upright, sword in hand, every breath a fight. Lina rose beside him, hand tight around the iron rod.
"You should run," he rasped, eyes haunted.
"And leave you alone?" she shot back. "Not happening."
Lightning flashed, briefly catching the faintest smile at the corner of his lips.
---
A figure stepped into the ruin — a man in a black coat, older, face sharp as a knife's edge, gaze cold and measured.
"Ayan," the man drawled, voice chillingly calm. "Still breathing, I see."
Ayan stiffened, jaw locked. "Revan," he spat.
The name tasted of old blood and betrayal.
---
Revan's gaze drifted lazily to Lina. "And this is the girl? Brave. Foolish. Doesn't matter."
"You're not touching her," Ayan snarled, sword lifting despite the tremor in his arm.
Revan arched a brow, smile thin. "You're bleeding out, boy. Lay down your sword — or she dies first."
---
Lina's pulse thundered so loud she could barely hear the rain. Yet she stepped closer to Ayan, chin raised.
"I won't let you take him," she said, voice shaking but clear.
Revan's amusement faded. "Look at that, Ayan. She thinks love is stronger than fear."
Ayan spoke, voice low as thunder: "It is."
---
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then Revan's hand flicked — and two men stepped from the shadows, blades gleaming wetly.
The ruined hall seemed smaller suddenly, walls pressing in with blood‑scented promise.
"Stay behind me," Ayan whispered.
"No," Lina breathed. "Together."
Their eyes met — a silent oath in the heart of ruin.
---
Steel rasped free. Rain fell harder, drumming on marble and broken glass.
And with breath drawn sharp and hearts hammering, they stepped forward into the dark — not as prey, but as something fiercer.
Bound by fear. By defiance. By love that refused to die.
Teaser for Episode 26:
The battle turns bloodier when Revan's men close in — and Lina discovers a hidden side of Ayan that blurs the line between protector… and something darker.