Chapter Fifteen: Ash Crown Rising
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The world had changed.
Where once Kael's resurrection had been the axis upon which fate spun, now something deeper, older, and far more dangerous stirred. The gods of the old age had trembled at Kael. But they hid in silence now.
Because the Ash Crown had awakened.
---
Lyra walked the palace halls like a ghost.
She no longer needed guards. The throne's light surrounded her, protective and divine. But it offered little comfort. The dreams had begun—visions of cities burning, of thrones melting into ash, of gods weeping blood.
She entered the war chamber.
Silas was already there, sitting on the edge of the floating table like a lazy king who ruled nothing and liked it that way. But his smile was gone.
"You're not sleeping," he said.
"Neither are you."
"I'm divine. I don't need sleep. I just enjoy it."
Lyra gave him a tired look.
He nodded. "Bad dreams?"
"Worse," she said. "Prophecies."
She waved her hand, and the table pulsed to life. Magical projections formed above it: continents shifting, rivers blackening, massive rifts opening like wounds across the land.
Silas whistled. "That's not good."
"It's growing. Whatever it is. I think it's feeding on the remains of Kael's Hollow Realm."
He frowned, standing up. "You think this is connected to the Deep Crown?"
Lyra shook her head. "This is older. This is… hunger. Ancient hunger."
---
In a prison buried beneath the palace, Kael lay shackled in chains laced with divine sigils. The Deep Crown had been destroyed, but remnants of its power still clung to him like smoke.
He spoke softly to the darkness.
"You feel it too, don't you?"
A shape formed in the shadows beside him.
Nihrex.
Kael smirked. "I knew you'd come."
Nihrex didn't respond. His eyes were fixed upward, as if listening to something only he could hear.
"You should release me," Kael whispered. "You think Silas can stop what's coming? He couldn't stop me. He definitely can't stop this."
Nihrex turned away.
"No. Not yet."
"Coward," Kael spat.
Nihrex paused. Then said quietly, "When the Ash Crown speaks to you... you don't defy it. You wait. And obey."
---
In the eastern wastes, a storm rolled across black sand. At its heart stood a mountain split in two.
A gate opened.
The sky turned red.
And from the chasm, a single figure stepped out. Cloaked in living ash, eyes burning blue through the smoke. Its feet scorched the ground. Its presence erased time.
It said no words.
But every sentient being in the world felt it.
The true heir of endings had returned.
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Silas stood on the tower, wind tearing through his cloak.
He clenched his jaw.
"He's here. The Ash Crown... he just stepped into this world."
Lyra joined him. "Where?"
"Everywhere," he whispered.
They both turned as the palace shook. Earthquakes. Thunder. Screams below.
In the throne room, light dimmed.
Kael raised his head in his cell. A single tear trailed down his cheek.
"He's here."
The Ash Crown didn't knock.
He simply was.
And all light fled before him.
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To be continued...