Ashes Of The First Tyrant
Chapter 54: the heir’s wake

Chapter 54: the heir’s wake

The halls of the Citadel echoed with hushed urgency. Word had spread: the scribe of the Writ had responded if faintly to the glyph’s final words. "She remembers still." They were the first clue in months that the Flame’s true heir might still exist. The question now was where and whether she remembered who she was.

Thalen stood before the gathering in the council hall. He wore his Ascendant mantle over armor scuffed by clouded aura. Around him were Renal, Varos, Ilara, Generals Simeon and Terres, and the remaining four of the Nine aligned with Reuven and the Crown. Their faces were lit not by lamplight, but by the promise and peril of the coming mission.

He cleared his throat. "The glyph’s message was clear. We have a living heir. Someone tied to the original Flame that became the Tyrant Spirit. We must locate her before our enemies do."

A murmur passed through the room. Varos stepped forward. "We’d been considering a launch to the northern breaches. But this changes everything. We cannot waste time chasing relics when the root is alive."

Thalen nodded. "Agreed. But we’re searching for an individual lost to history. We need scouts, but also scholars capable of reading secrets in abandoned places."

Renal said, "One possibility: the ruins of Elysyr, east of here but still inside Crown territory. It was once a vessel of Flame scholars now deserted, but rumored to house sealed archives. We could request access under Crown agreement."

Thalen met Renal’s gaze. "We act under Ascendant banner joint banner. Scouts, scholars, small force. A diplomatic rather than military entrance."

Lady Miraline added softly, "We should also warn nearby alliances. If the heir is discovered first by warlords or Shadehand, the consequences could be catastrophic."

General Simeon nodded. "I’ll prepare envoys to neighboring lords under Crown escort."

Ilara spoke next. "The heir may not remember her past. But aura-synchronization could help trace resonance lines between relics and places. I can lead the aura trail."

Thalen tapped his dagger on the table. "Then it’s settled. We depart at first light. Thalen, Ilara, and a combined team of scholars and trackers to Elysyr. Varos and Renal will hold the line here and stand ready."

A murmur of assent followed.

That night, Thalen packed lightly: the Blade That Breaks, the circlet, orb, scroll in aura bonds. Ilara reviewed newly crafted glyph maps in the library, while scouts cut through robes to cloak weapons. He moved through the Citadel corridors, passing under tapestries woven with Ascendant relief his face in stone, youthful but burdened.

He paused at the archway.

Varos awaited him.

Behind him, the northern walls gleamed in torchlight; ahead, the world waited.

"You sure about this?" Varos asked.

Thalen exhaled. "We’re chasing a memory. Everyone else searches for power."

Varos smiled darkly. "Let’s hope memory is enough."

They clasped arms a nod of brotherhood aged by trials.

First light revealed their departure. A dozen riders three Crown advisors, three Reuven scouts, two mages, two scholars, and Thalen and Ilara in the lead.

Mountains rose in pale gold behind them as they traced the path toward Elysyr. The land shifted from forested foothills to rocky pastures. The air smelled of pine and tincture. Every so often, Ilara would halt, kneel, and place a hand upon the earth, eyes closed to aura threads.

The scroll or orb would pulse gently in her cloak as she whispered, "There."

Only occasional overlaps small aura ripples not enough to guide. But progress, nonetheless.

They reached Elysyr’s outskirts by dusk: broken walls veined with violet ore, and columns carved with the flame-and-memory glyph sections identical to those on their relics. The ruins pulsed faintly, ready to share long-buried secrets.

They camped within a shattered courtyard, fire small and controlled. Scouts stood patrol, eyes on soft hills. Rain-backed clouds dripped in the distance.

Thalen slept only fitfully. His dreams were of veiled eyes and fractured mirrors.

He woke to Ilara whispering outside his tent.

"She’s here," Ilara said, porcelain voice low. "I felt a strong aura... inside the archive towers."

He rose, dressed quickly, stepped outside to rain-wet cobbles. She handed him the orb and a lantern.

"It trembled when we passed the eastern tower."

Thalen nodded. Together they moved toward the archive silent columns rising like shattered ribs of a sunken ship. The air hummed with age.

They approached the broken doorway and paused.

"Ready?" Ilara asked.

"Let’s find her."

They entered.

The archive interior was dim and tall. Bookshelves, stone desks, and cracked manuscripts littered the floor. Candlelight flickered across vaulted ceilings. And in the center aisle, a figure sat hunched at a desk.

She wore a scholar’s robe, hood drawn low. Her hands trembled over a battered journal. Aura-bands wrapped her forearms, glowing pale violet.

Thalen stepped forward. "May I speak?"

She looked up slowly. Eyes pale grey, almost translucent. Her voice was soft. "I thought I was alone."

Ilara closed the door behind them.

The women’s gaze flicked to the relics hanging at Thalen’s side.

Thalen approached. "My name is Thalen of Reuven. This," he tapped the circlet, "and this" the orb "are from your ancestors. We believe you are tied to them."

The scholar blinked. "I... remember fragments." She swallowed. "Reading here... I felt the aura guiding me. Sent me... memories. Eyes voices maps."

She looked at Thalen. "I know why I am here."

Thalen knelt. "Will you trust me with your past?"

Her tears glistened. "I don’t know how. But... I do feel something... awakening."

Her gaze drifted upward toward broken glyphs on the walls.

Thalen asked gently, "Would you wear this?" He offered the circlet.

The scholar paused, trembling. Then lifted it to her head. The circlet adjusted, tightening itself. She gasped.

Memories flooded.

Visions overtook her: a grand hall lined with scrolls, voices chanting, laughter, then betrayal arcane limbs erupting into flame, statues consumed, the figure herself trapped behind glowing glyph strands. She saw a man tall, iron-veiled touching her arm.

She fell to her knees, trembling. "He... he sealed me."

Thalen steadied her. "Who sealed you?"

She pressed her hands to her temples, breathing in pain and revelation. "I... was the Heir of the Memory Flame. Not bearer of war but of remembrance. They bound me, sealed me when the Flame was corrupted."

She looked up. Tears fell. "They cast me out... but my memory lived. I found the orb. I tried to rebuild... but then I felt shards of Shadehand and their chaos..."

She stood, voice steadier. "They will break the world if I cannot heal the root."

Thalen nodded. "Then we heal it together."

They emerged from the archive at dawn. She walked beside them, circlet in place, aura soft but sure.

The choir of runners lifted as they passed scouts.

Renal met them at their gate, sword drawn but eyes gentle.

"You found her," he said.

Thalen nodded. "She remembers."

Varos emerged as well. "How much?"

She met Thalen’s gaze. "More every breath." Then looked to Varos. "I will restore what was taken."

Renal bowed. "Ascendant’s choice."

The council reconvened that day. Thalen introduced her: "This is Emberane of the Iron Root the living heir of the Memory Flame."

Silence swallowed them.

She bowed, voice steady. "I return, not to conquer, but to remember."

Her eyes met Thalen’s. "To restore."

The Ember of the original Flame and now, a new hope for memory, not tyranny.

Cheers rose.

Thalen nodded.

Varos stepped forward. "Then we begin the Writ of Restoration."

And the Citadel exhaled hope reborn at the root, not the summit.