Ada and The Ember Spear
533 Words
Before Ada could journey to Ashspire, she had to find the Ember Spear—hidden deep in the Valley of Bones, where fire first met death.
Legends said only someone who had once betrayed the flame could hold it.
Together with Danjuma, Salma, Ngozi, and a newly-found bearer named Taye—a quiet monk who could whisper fire into metal—Ada made the perilous climb. The wind screamed. The bones of old warriors whispered regret.
At the valley’s center, Ada saw the spear—floating above a stone altar, glowing faint red. She stepped forward…
And Ngozi stepped in front of her.
Ada froze.
“Ngozi… move.”
But Ngozi’s eyes had changed—colder now, a flicker of black flame in her pupils.
“I’m sorry, Ada,” she said softly. “I followed you into the forest. I fought beside you. But this war… it isn’t ours anymore.”
Then, to Ada’s horror, Ngozi raised her hand—and summoned Ezoh’s dark flame.
Salma gasped. Danjuma drew his sword.
Ada didn’t move.
“You joined him?”
“I didn’t mean to,” Ngozi said. “But he offered a world where flame doesn’t choose kings. A world where we’re free from ancient burdens. A world where you don’t have to burn alone.”
Ada’s voice trembled. “You could have told me.”
“I did,” Ngozi whispered. “You just didn’t hear me.”
Then she grabbed the Ember Spear.
And it did not reject her.
Ngozi vanished with the spear in a spiral of ash and smoke.
Ada fell to her knees, the betrayal sharp enough to kill. Salma knelt beside her, whispering healing songs—but it wasn’t her body that was wounded.
“She was my sister in everything but blood,” Ada said. “She knew my dreams. My fears. I trusted her with my whole fire.”
Danjuma didn’t speak. He simply put a hand on her shoulder.
Later that night, as Ada sat alone near the dying fire, Kojo returned.
His face was gaunt. His eyes dull.
“I saw him,” he whispered. “Ezoh. He’s not what we think. He was the first… Flameborn. And now he wants to unmake it all. Light, dark, everything.”
Ada looked at the boy, then at the horizon.
“Ngozi holds the Ember Spear. Ezoh has Ashspire. We’re running out of time.”
Kojo nodded.
“Then let’s burn back.”
---
They found Ngozi two days later—standing beside Ezoh atop the cliffs of Ashspire.
She wore black and gold. The Ember Spear shimmered at her side.
Ezoh stood tall, made of smoke and ruin, his eyes like molten coals. But he didn’t speak.
Ada stepped forward. Wind whipped around her, fire rising in her palms.
“You still have a choice,” she said. “Don’t let him take what’s left of you.”
Ngozi smiled faintly. “It’s not about him anymore. It’s about me.”
Then she threw the spear.
And Ada caught it.
The fire in the world held its breath.
Because now, two sisters stood on opposite sides of the end.
---
To Be Continued…
- Writer
