Ada and The Ash Gods
571 Words
The seven sparks of the Source Flame scattered like falling stars across the world. Ada, now Flamebringer and part-guardian, could feel them—like pulses in her bones. Most pulsed with light.
But one pulsed with hunger.
Far to the East, in the ruins of an empire long thought buried, something woke. A whisper formed from soot and grief. Its name was once lost, but the wind carried a new one: Ezoh, the Ash God.
Ezoh had been one of the Kin of Flame—banished for trying to trap the Source Flame for himself in the beginning. Now, he had returned, reborn in the spark of a corrupted bearer. He fed on broken promises and scorched hope.
And he wanted Ada’s fire.
Ada gathered her allies: Danjuma, Ngozi, and the three guardians who had followed her since Book Two. She also called out across the flame-thread for the other new bearers—but only two answered:
Salma, a desert-born healer who used her flame to grow food in the sand.
Kojo, a boy no older than thirteen who had accidentally burned down his entire village and now lived in silence, guilt stitched into his soul.
They met at the central shrine of Nwagu.
But the third bearer came as an enemy—Duma, a warlord from the East who now served Ezoh, his heart turned to ash, his flame tainted black.
He brought a message:
> “Ezoh offers mercy. Bow, and he will spare the South. Resist, and your fire will serve him in death.”
Ada stood, silent. Then she said:
> “Tell Ezoh: We do not kneel to shadows. We burn them.”
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Days later, Ezoh struck.
The shrine Ada rebuilt—the one where her journey had begun—was attacked by a storm of black flame. Ghosts of fire walked through Nwagu, burning trees and turning rivers into smoke.
Ada fought like never before.
Danjuma led warriors with shields blessed in sacred ash. Ngozi summoned wind spirits to push the fire back. Salma healed the wounded even as the ground split beneath her.
But Kojo—scared, shaken—vanished during the battle.
By dawn, the shrine had fallen. The village was broken. But Ezoh did not take Ada’s flame.
He left something worse:
> A single scorched handprint on the altar, still warm.
And words carved into stone:
“Your fire started this. Your fire will end it.”
Ada wept not from defeat—but from the realization: Ezoh used to be a guardian like her.
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Chapter 30: The Road to Ashspire
Ezoh had retreated to the Ashspire, a volcano once sealed by the first Flamekeepers. Now, it burned black, spewing smoke that turned birds to stone and clouds to ember.
Ada knew what she had to do: go there. End it. Even if it meant ending herself.
But this time, she would not go alone.
She would need:
The other bearers, even the ones who feared their power.
The Kin of Flame, who had once exiled Ezoh.
A weapon—one last artifact buried in legend: The Ember Spear, forged by the first humans from starlight and bone.
She whispered to the flame in her palm, a quiet prayer:
> “Let me burn,
not to destroy—
but to protect the light.”
Then she turned to her friends.
> “We end this… at dawn.”
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- Writer
