Between Ash and Ice

The Road of Ash

The path ahead was steep, winding between jagged rock formations and cliffs that jutted toward the storm-dark sky. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and something else—the lingering hum of old magic.

Ravena walked beside me, silent but wary, her movements cautious, as if expecting an attack at any moment. The bruises on her wrists had begun to fade, but the exhaustion in her steps told me she was still feeling the aftershocks of whatever had been done to her.

I wasn’t much better. Every muscle in my body ached, my mind a mess of fractured memories and questions with no answers. Why had I survived the Rift? Why had my fire awakened only now?

But for now, none of that mattered. Survival came first.

“We need to find shelter,” I said, breaking the silence. “We’re too exposed out here.”

Ravena glanced up at the towering cliffs. “Higher ground isn’t always safer. It just means you fall harder.”

I smirked. “Good thing I don’t plan on falling.”

She scoffed but didn’t argue. Instead, she pointed toward a narrow pass between the rocks. “There. That should lead somewhere less open.”

I followed her lead, stepping over crumbling stones as we squeezed through the passage. The walls pressed close, forcing us to move single file, the darkness thickening as the light of the dying sun struggled to reach us.

“This place feels…wrong,” I muttered.

Ravena nodded. “It should. The ruins weren’t just left behind. They were abandoned.”

Something about the way she said it sent a chill through me. “You’ve been here before.”

She hesitated. “Not here, exactly. But places like this. Places that should have been wiped off the map.”

I stopped walking. “What happened here?”

She didn’t answer right away. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet. “It’s what happens when power becomes unchecked. When people forget the cost of playing with magic beyond their control.”

I exhaled sharply. “Sounds familiar.”

Ravena met my gaze, her expression unreadable. “Then maybe you understand why they’ll come for you.”

I clenched my fists. “Let them try.”

For a moment, she studied me, as if measuring the truth of my words. Then she turned and kept moving. I followed, my mind still turning over her warning.

Ahead, the passage opened into a wide plateau. At its center stood the ruins of what had once been a fortress, its stone walls broken, overtaken by nature and time. Vines crawled over fallen towers, shattered archways stood like broken ribs against the sky.

“Looks abandoned,” I said, stepping forward.

Ravena grabbed my arm. “Wait.”

I froze. She was staring at something near the entrance—a body, slumped against the wall, unmoving.

We approached slowly. The figure was clad in dark armor, the insignia on their chest faded but still visible. Not just any soldier. A hunter.

A sudden gust of wind lifted the tattered cloak around their shoulders, revealing something worse—deep claw marks gouged through the stone behind them, like something had dragged them here.

“This wasn’t an ambush,” Ravena murmured. “It was a warning.”

The air around us thickened, the weight of unseen eyes pressing down. We were not alone.

A low growl echoed from within the ruins.

I summoned fire to my hands. “We need to move. Now.”

But before we could take a step, the shadows shifted.

And then they attacked.