All Chapters of The Hidden Legacy; I Will Rise Through Every Pain : Chapter 221
- Chapter 230
234 chapters
We Have Been Fooled Twice
************ Giant displays lined the curved wall, each screen reflecting the final moments of Andrew Everest’s broadcast—his voice crackling through a hundred data streams. Muerte leaned forward from the high-back command seat, fingers interlaced in front of his steel-plated jaw. On the screen, Andrew’s final words repeated one last time: “They built walls around the sky. We just remembered how to fly.” . Miriam turned first, “That’s not possible,” she muttered. “That face. That voice—he wasn’t supposed to survive.” Vincent’s voice was level but laced with edge. “Start the trace.” A swarm of servitor drones hissed as they came alive, tapping into residual satellite packets, pulse echo trails, and low-frequency Ashcore feedback. In less than twenty seconds, a match pinged—red, bold, and undeniable. Miriam’s visor read aloud: “Echo signature confirmed. Asset designation: ‘Desmond' Similar match with operative classed as rogue." Vincent stared. Muerte leaned back slo
Another Volcanic Ridge
Just before the Eden breach…Zahara barely had a second to react before the conduit above her snapped loose. Without thinking, she dove over the exposed relay Taylor had been patching earlier.Metal slammed down across her back. The shock stole her breath. Sparks flew. Smoke poured from the ruptured panel.Her arm burned. The left side of her ribs screamed.But the relay—the thing keeping the ship’s med systems alive—was still intact.She gasped into the comm. “Still here… relay’s fine…”And then everything went black.**********Taylor was hunched over the console, sweat running down his neck.“Zahara’s not answering,” he said, eyes locked on the power grid readout. “She was working under the conduit near the stabilizer. If that went—”A weak groan crackled through comms.“…engine… ng…”Elsa looked up, tense. “She’s still alive. Barely.”Andrew didn’t wait. “Let’s go.”Moments later, they found her pinned under half a panel, her arm scorched, breathing shallow. Her shirt was torn from
Futuristic City Of Ashbloods
Fires glowed softly around the perimeter, casting shadows across the tents. Children slept beneath emergency thermal blankets. Some still trembled in their sleep, haunted by Eden’s attack. The jungle was quiet—almost too quiet.Andrew stood near the shore, arms folded, his eyes on the stars. The sea wind carried the scent of moss and ash. Behind him, Taylor was overseeing the last of the portable comms being hooked into the Eden cells.“We’re good to lock down for the night,” Taylor said, stretching. “I’ll set up the triangulation alarm perimeter.”Andrew nodded. “We rest here. No shifting. No upgrades. Just… rest.”Taylor tilted his head. “Didn’t think you believed in that anymore.”Andrew gave a tired smile. “I’m starting to.”Then came the movement. From the village path, slow and steady, an old man stepped out of the darkness.The same one who had offered them shelter. The villagers had said nothing all day—but this man had not even uttered a word.Until now. He lifted a hand and
Chamber Of Trials
The City of Ashbloods was vastly built to the extent that the Order of councils building was constructed from solid black stone, illuminated by soft pulses of energy from the glowing root veins crawling across the walls and ceiling.The circular floor space was surrounded by a half-ring of elevated platforms, where the Ashblood council sat—seven members, old, severe, watching.Andrew stood in the center with Hannah, Taylor, Frederick, Leon, and the other Twelve behind him. The silver-bearded elder who had brought them here and he man who had opened the hidden gate in the jungle stood beside him, hands folded calmly.The council had been quiet until now.But then one of them stood. He was tall, bald, and had a jagged scar across one side of his face. His robes were dark brown, patterned with old tribal lines. “I knew it the moment he stepped into this city,” the man growled. “I can smell it on him.”The room fell quiet again. Eyes turned toward Andrew.“Smell what?” Andrew asked, conf
The Breach
Andrew walked at the center of the group, flanked by two silent soldier s in stone-colored armor etched with living glyphs. He wore no armor—just a dark tunic, ash-marked from the last skirmish, his sleeves rolled up, hands clenched.The air grew hotter as they neared the trial ground. Beneath the floor, magma rivers pulsed in ancient circuits of glowing orange. Gusts of volcanic wind rolled in from the cliffs.“This where it happens?” Andrew asked without turning.The soldier on his right nodded. “This is the Cradle of Verdicts. The Trial begins here.”Behind them, high in the observation alcove, Hannah and the others watched through a transparent barrier. Hannah stood with her arms folded tightly over her stomach. Hundreds watched silently, some stood, some sat on carved benches.Then a small child, tugging on his grandmother’s sleeve said,“Why’s he down there alone?” the boy whispered.The woman leaned in, “Because that’s the test, child. He has to stand in the flame by himself.
He Is Gone!
The flames around Andrew shifted from orange to violet-black, sucking inward before exploding outward in a shockwave. The glyphs shattered.From the stone circle where Andrew fell, a column of spiraling ashlight surged up through the ceiling, fracturing the volcanic bedrock above.A few lights flickered in the central tower. Then more. Screens died across communication panels. Shields glitched. The artificial auroras over the capital sky blinked once—then faded completely.By the time the engineers at the central Ashcore station realized what was happening, it was too late.“Something’s pulling energy from the second Ashcute!” one of them shouted.“That's not possible—it's underground and sealed!”But the readings didn’t lie. The city’s second Ashcore—its primary power source and one of only two remaining Ashblood core nodes in existence—was being siphoned at an exponential rate.There she was Ayra, Now glowing with runic channels along her skin, she floated above the mass of drained
Battle Of Gods
Various Bodies lay scattered on the floor as people screamed as they ran and drones buzzed overhead, crashing into ruins exploding mid-air. Taylor’s body hit the ground hard, curled protectively around a young Ashblood child he'd shielded from Ayra’s descending beam. Smoke rose from his chest.Hannah’s scream tore through the noise.“TAAYYLOR!!”She ran to him, dodging fire. Dirt, blood, and tears smeared her face.She dropped to her knees. “No—no—Taylor, no—stay with me—please—TAYLOR!”She gripped his shirt, her hands shaking as she leaned in.“Open your eyes... just—just blink if you can hear me... come on...”She pressed her forehead to his, sobbing.“Why now? Why him? We were almost out... you stupid, brave idiot, why didn’t you just run?”The Ashblood child beside her was crying, holding Taylor’s jacket.Hannah reached over, pulling the child close, even as her world shattered.Then she looked up—toward the trial ring. “Andrew…” Her voice cracked.“Andrew, she killed Taylor. She
Execution!
The crater was smoking, with its edge covered in broken rocks and hot melted debris.Andrew hovered above it, chest rising and falling. White fire clung to his skin like second breath. Ayra rose as her body lifted through the smoke and her arms were outstretched. Half of her face was had glowing fractures where skin hadn’t healed yet—but she was smiling. “I burned in silence for centuries,” she said as her voice echoed in all directions, as she was heard by everyone. “Locked in a vault beneath your ancestors’ feet. And now…”She turned toward the Ashcore tower in the distance. “Now I’ll rewrite the world with the very heart they tried to hide.”Below, the streets began to quake. The second Ashcore, buried beneath the city, pulsed violently—shooting pillars of radiant energy into the sky as buildings shook. The roads split into two as people screamed and ran.Ayra lifted one hand. From beneath her, molten energy surged up and laced through her fingers.“Your ancestors buried it li
My Baby! My Child! They Can't Be Dead!
Ayra's body was gone—vaporized. The people of the Ashblood city lay broken, bleeding, exhausted.Andrew stood with cracked skin and barely a breath left in him. His feet trembled as he leaned against a half-shattered pillar. Hannah stood only a few feet away, supporting herself with one hand on her lower belly, the other reaching for him.Then— they could hear footsteps boots crunching across blackened stone.Andrew blinked through the haze as Reign stepped through the smoke.At first, Andrew felt only relief. “Reign… Ayra’s gone. We did it.”But Reign didn’t smile. His eyes didn’t soften. He kept walking—until he stood in front of Andrew.And then he said quietly, almost gently:“You always were so easy to manipulate.”Andrew’s heart dropped. “What…?”The sky turned dark again as Sentinex drop-pods pierced the clouds, followed by the dark glint of Eden armorsuits marching behind them.Andrew turned—too slowly.“This… isn’t happening... again”Hannah’s eyes widened. “Andrew?”Before
The Birth Of A Child
Andrew knelt in the rubble, shoulders hunched, head bowed, silent.Around him, molten ash and crumbling stone lifted into the air, swirling in a slow orbit. His tears hissed as they struck the heat-warped ground.Hannah’s body lay limp a few feet away. Blood seeped into the soil. The life was gone from her eyes.A breath escaped his throat—ragged, primal.Then the scream tore free.“ARRRRGHHHHH!” The ashstorm exploded outward.Reign took a step back, raising a shield instinctively. “Restrain him!”But the Sentinex soldiers were already screaming. Their weapons melted in their hands. The Eden operatives tried to retreat, but the ash caught them mid-motion—wrapping their limbs, invading their mouths and throats.Miriam was the first to die. She aimed a sonic pulse cannon at Andrew—only for the ash to surge through the barrel and reverse it.The weapon exploded in her hands, incinerating her torso.“NO—” Vincent tried to run.Andrew turned toward him—slow, deliberate.White flame seared