Battle of Heart of Ashes

Deep in the Black Mountain, the smoke was so thick it nearly choked Eren and Leylin's breath as they slowly advanced into the rock tunnel. A faint echo, like a heartbeat, vibrated in the rock beneath their feet, and as they drew closer, a strange warmth—neither the warmth of a fire nor the chill of a wind—filled the space.

Eren paused and closed his eyes. The wind felt heavy here, as if it were screaming, as if it were begging for help. Leylin placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "We have reached... the Greater Heart of the Ashes."

Eren opened his eyes and said firmly, "We will free it... even if it means our lives."

The two entered the vast hall within the mountain, where the Greater Heart of the Ashes hung in the air, a gigantic black mass pulsing with red light, surrounded by swirling black smoke and shadows swirling around it in endless circles.

A deep voice, unlike any they had heard before, shook the air and the rocks:

"At last... you have come... to witness the end of the light."

Out of the smoke, a massive, humanoid figure emerged from the shadows, its eyes like two embers, its body dripping with black ash that burned the ground as it fell. The Great Ash Lord had awakened.

He pointed at Eren and said, "You have pursued my shadows... you have torn my troops apart... but here... in the heart of the Ashes... you are nothing."

Eren took Leylin's hand and said, his voice calm despite the terrifying echo:

We are the wind... we are the fire... we fear no shadow.

The Ash Lord let out a terrifying scream, the ground shook, and waves of black shadows rushed toward them, like a black sea trying to swallow them. Leylin raised her hands, white fire sprouting from them like a shield around them, while Eren opened his arms, summoning the winds, which surged like a storm, battering the shadows and protecting their path.

The black sea collided with the white fire and the storm. Smoke screamed, the wind howled, and the fire roared. With every second, the darkness crept closer, enveloping them, trying to crush them.

Leylin cried out, "He's too strong... He's draining our energy!"

Eren said with determination, his eyes blazing. "I won't let him!"

Eren unleashed the winds in a hurricane that pierced the shadows, while Leylin unleashed fire in the form of a white flamebird that struck the Ash Lord's chest directly, causing him to scream so loud that the rocks shook. But he didn't fall; instead, he grew larger, and his hands reached out to crush them.

Eren leaped forward, his winds spurting him forward, and struck the Ash Lord's chest with his fist, but his body was like thick smoke, swallowing the blow. The Ash Lord grabbed Eren with a huge hand of smoke and lifted him into the air, saying in a voice that filled the air:

"This land... is mine."

Leylin screamed at the top of her lungs, tears of fire in her eyes:

Eren!!

Leylin gathered all her fire into one hand, until it was as white as a star, then shot it like an arrow through the air, striking the Ash Lord's hand holding Eren. The smoke broke and crumbled, and Eren fell to the ground.

Eren turned to Leylin and said in a trembling voice:

Together... only together can we.

Leylin nodded, approached him, and took his hand, fire and wind intertwining between their fingers. They closed their eyes, allowing their powers to combine, forming a circle of wind and fire around their bodies, growing wider amidst the cries of the Ash Lord, who sensed danger.

Eren opened his eyes and said, "It's time to end."

The two of them charged toward the Greater Ash Heart, the wind carrying the fire like a raging tornado, tearing through the shadows and smoke. The Ash Lord tried to stop them, but his hands faded amidst the firestorm, their every step scorching the shadows and dispelling the smoke.

Eren and Leylin reached the Greater Ash Heart and placed their hands on it. A bright white light illuminated the entire space, banishing all shadows from the room. The Ash Lord let out a final scream before he was reduced to ash, flying into the air.

The Greater Ash Heart crumbled into black shards that turned to ash and fell to the ground like a light rain. Silence fell, leaving only the sunlight that filtered through the cracks in the mountain, illuminating the room, which was no longer dark.

Lylin sat on the ground, catching her breath, while Eren sat beside her, raising his head to the sky as he said,

It's over... the shadows are gone... and the land is free of the ashes.

Lylin smiled with tears in her eyes and said,

We did it... together.

At that moment, gentle winds blew within the mountain, and the fire flickered in a quiet flicker, as if the entire land was thanking them for what they had done, ushering in the dawn of a new world beyond the ashes.