All Chapters of Born From Ruin (Rebirth): Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
84 chapters
Chapter 11: Whisper of Betrayal
Night fell like ink spilled over stone.The cellar beneath Ashvale’s old mill glowed dimly, one lantern flickering against cold walls. Maps lay scattered across the table, lines drawn, names circled — pieces of a puzzle only Kael could see clearly.Daren sat on a crate nearby, tossing a coin up and down.“Can I say something?”Kael didn’t look up. “You usually do.”Daren caught the coin, leaned forward. “You’re working too quiet. Too clean. Feels like you’re holding your breath before something explodes.”Kael finally lifted his eyes. “It already exploded once. I’m just sweeping the ashes this time.”That made Daren frown. “You talk like a ghost.”Kael almost smiled. “Maybe I am.”The lamp sputtered.Kael leaned over the table, eyes scanning a column of symbols drawn beside each noble’s name. He had written C next to some — for “corrupt.” Others, D — for “dead.” But one name stood out.Lady Seris Valen.Beside it, no mark. Only a small question mark drawn in black ink.“Her again?” Da
Chapter 12 : Ash and Memory
The night smelled of iron and ash.Ashvale slept, but Kael couldn’t.He sat alone outside the cottage, staring at the dying embers of the hearth. The fire’s glow flickered against his young face — seventeen again, but his eyes too old for that skin. His hands wouldn’t stop trembling.He’d spent the day walking through the woods, trying to remember what this place used to be. In his past life, Ashvale was gone — burned in the second year of the war. And now, seeing it alive, hearing children’s laughter, the smell of bread baking... it felt like standing inside a ghost.He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “Why here?” he whispered. “Why bring me back here?”The Echo Stone in his pocket pulsed softly — a faint heartbeat of light. It hummed when he touched it, warm like something alive. It was the same stone that had flared when he first woke, the one that whispered rise, Kael Ardent.Now it whispered again.> “The fire remembers you.”He froze. The voice was neither male nor femal
Chapter 13: The Watchful Eyes
The morning came soft, like it didn’t want to wake the world. Mist hung over Ashvale, the kind that made the air smell clean and heavy at the same time. The sun was a pale blur behind the clouds.Kael stood by the window, arms crossed, watching the village come alive. A woman swept her steps. A boy ran past with a basket of apples. Men shouted near the well, arguing about taxes. All so ordinary. All so fragile.He wasn’t part of it — not really. He was the stranger who knew too much.Behind him, Daren groaned awake on the floor. “You’re up early again,” he muttered, rubbing his eyes.“Couldn’t sleep,” Kael said. His voice sounded calm, but his mind hadn’t stopped racing all night. He’d felt something watching him — not just the usual fear of being found, but something else. Something old.Daren sat up, pulling his boots on. “You’ve been staring out that window for an hour. You see ghosts or something?”Kael didn’t answer. He just nodded toward the tree line beyond the fields. “There. N
Chapter 14: Sparks of Rage
The black coin still burned in Kael’s palm long after he left the forest. Every step he took back toward the village felt heavier, like the weight of his past was pressing down again.By the time he reached the small inn, his jaw was tight, his chest full of something he didn’t want to name. Daren trailed behind him, quiet for once. The man knew better than to poke when Kael’s eyes had that storm in them.Inside, the smell of stew and wood smoke filled the air. Villagers sat at rough tables, talking in low voices. Kael’s boots echoed on the floorboards as he walked to his corner.The innkeeper, Mira, gave him a look. “You alright, traveler?”Kael nodded once. “Fine.”He wasn’t.He sat, unwrapping the coin again under the table. The carved eye glinted faintly in the firelight. He could almost feel it staring back at him, mocking him.They knew. The Empire knew.It meant the fire he’d left behind wasn’t done with him. It meant the blood he’d spilled hadn’t washed away.Daren sat opposit
Chapter 15: The Stone’s Call
The wind carried dust across the broken road as Kael and Daren made their way east. The world felt quieter here — too quiet. No birds, no laughter, not even the hum of insects. Just the steady crunch of boots on cracked earth and the soft rasp of Daren’s breath behind him.The ruins appeared out of the haze like ghosts, their jagged walls rising from the ground like bones of something long dead. The air was heavy, thick with the scent of old ash and forgotten fire.Kael stopped at the ridge, staring down at the valley. The sight hit him like a punch — it hadn’t changed. Even after two lifetimes, the Echo Vault looked the same: broken towers, sunken stones, and silence that pressed against his chest.“Looks dead,” Daren muttered, pulling his cloak tighter.Kael crouched and ran his fingers through the dust. “Nothing here ever really dies,” he murmured. Beneath his palm, the ground trembled faintly, like a weak heartbeat.They entered the ruins without another word. The wind followed th
Chapter 16: Blood on the Snow
Snow fell slow that morning — soft, quiet, like the sky was trying to hide something.Kael stood on the ridge above Ashvale’s northern pass. The world below was white and still. But not peaceful. He knew that kind of silence too well. It was the kind that comes before blood hits the ground.Daren was beside him, rubbing his arms. “Feels wrong,” he muttered. “No birds. No tracks. Even the wind’s holding its breath.”Kael’s eyes stayed on the trail ahead. “Because something’s here,” he said. “Something waiting.”They walked down the slope, boots crunching through the snow. The path wound between frozen trees, their branches heavy with ice. Kael’s hand never left the hilt of his sword. His mind ran through maps and patterns — ambush points, line of sight, cover. The old habits never died, even if he had once.Halfway down the trail, Daren stopped. “Kael… look.”Kael followed his gaze. Ahead, the snow wasn’t white anymore. It was red.Bodies. Six of them. Soldiers, by their armor — Imperi
Chapter 17: Stranger in the Alley
The rain came down hard that night. Not the soft kind that cooled the streets this one bit like teeth, soaking through cloaks and bones.Kael moved through the back alleys of Vhalric’s lower quarter, hood pulled low. The city had changed in seventeen years, but the smell hadn’t smoke, ale, and old blood hiding under wet stone. The kind of place where secrets were born and buried in the same breath.Daren followed close behind, muttering under his breath. “We fought a ghost in the snow, and now we’re sneaking through rat tunnels. You sure this is better?”Kael didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on the end of the narrow lane a crooked sign swinging in the wind. The Blind Mare Inn. A place that didn’t ask names, only coins.He pushed the door open. Warm air and noise spilled out laughter, dice hitting tables, the sharp smell of stew. For a moment, he looked like just another tired traveler.But Kael saw everything the exits, the hidden blade at the barkeep’s side, the man by the fir
Chapter 18: The Thief and the Strategist
Morning came pale and gray over Vhalric. The storm had already passed, but the city was still heavy with its breath puddles thick with ash,the alleys slick with mud.Kael walked very fast, boots splashing quietly. Daren followed half a step behind, yawning, his hands in his pockets.“Still can’t believe we’re chasing your ghost,” Daren muttered. “You die once, come back, and now there’s two of you? I swear, even the gods are bored.”Kael didn’t look back. “He’s not me,” he said. “He’s what’s left of me. The part that refused to die.”“Yeah, that sounds much less creepy.”Kael stopped at a crossroad, watching the crowd. Traders shouting, carts rattling, children chasing chickens. Normal life, pretending not to see the shadows in the corners. He studied faces — not because he expected to find the boy here, but because every stranger might be the next threat.Daren noticed his silence. “You’ve been wound tight since the snow. You ever sleep?”“Sleep wastes time.”“So does dying, but you
Chapter 19: A Deal in Shadows
The tavern was quiet enough to hear coins drop. Smoke hung low, curling around the single candle between Kael and the man across from him — the Broker. No one knew his real name, only that he traded in things people swore didn’t exist.Kael leaned back, arms crossed. “You have what I asked for?”The Broker’s grin was thin, all teeth and no warmth. “Information like that doesn’t come cheap.”“I didn’t ask for cheap,” Kael said. His tone was calm, but his eyes never left the man’s hands. Every movement counted.The Broker reached into his coat, sliding a folded paper across the table. “This is from the Imperial vaults. Names, routes, orders — the ones you said were hidden after the Northern Campaign. You’ll find proof that your commander, Lord Varic, sold you out.”Kael’s fingers brushed the edge of the paper. His chest tightened. That name again. The man who ended his life once. The ghost that refused to stay dead.He opened the paper. The seal was real. The handwriting was Varic’s.“W
Chapter 20: Bread and Trust
The smell of baked bread filled the alley before Kael even saw the stall.Morning markets were loud — voices calling prices, wheels grinding, vendors arguing. But inside that noise, he moved like a shadow, unnoticed.Daren walked beside him, a loaf tucked under his arm. “You ever think about normal things?” he asked, chewing a piece. “You know — food that’s not stolen, beds that don’t smell like mold.”Kael gave him a look. “You talk too much when you eat.”“Yeah, but you don’t talk enough,” Daren said, grinning. “You ever relax?”Kael stopped by the stall and handed the vendor a coin. “Bread,” he said simply.The woman blinked, surprised someone so quiet would even pay. She passed him a loaf, still warm. Kael broke it in half and gave a piece to Daren.“For once,” Daren said, “you bought something instead of stealing it.”Kael took a bite. “Consider it strategy.”Daren raised a brow. “Buying bread is a strategy?”Kael nodded slightly. “People remember kindness. Sometimes it opens mor