All Chapters of Beneath the Ashes, He Rose: Chapter 111
- Chapter 120
190 chapters
Chapter 111: Rooted Reign
The roots were never at rest.They grew in the hour following the tower's self-righting. Not with nature's plodding patience, but with the supernatural's ravenous, infectious speed. Thick vines sprang from the base of Harrington Tower, which was now a hideous combination of damp, throbbing rhizome and black steel. Instead of being the green of life, they were the blood-red and black of the rose that gave birth to them, adorned with railroad-spike-sized thorns.They swept across the National Mall, splintering the tarmac and encircling the branches of cherry trees that broke and perished when touched. The Washington Monument, a black lattice set against white marble, was climbed. Thorns scraped against stone faces as they twisted around the columns of the Lincoln Memorial. The center of Washington, D.C., was surrounded by a cage of living briar by daylight, with millions of tightly closed black rosebuds scattered throughout. The perfume of Benjamin's endless garden, which was both overp
Chapter 112: Lawn Message
The rosebud that was plucked did not wither. It was a dark, living heart that pumped in Mira's hand."Drop it, Mira!" It was too late when Tatiana lunged.The bud opened as soon as Mira's flesh touched the obsidian petals completely. It wasn't a soft unfolding. She felt a burst of velvet darkness in her palm cup. For Mira, time became a river in flood after that bloom.Tatiana watched her daughter grow with paralyzing terror.The transition was not seamless. The expansions were violent and jerky. As Mira's body stretched, her limbs lengthened and her curves carved themselves out of childish softness, her plain cotton garment tore at the seams. There were loud snaps as the bones broke and knitted again. With every second that went by, her disheveled bob of hair became longer and more glossy as it fell down her back in a wave of chestnut silk. Her face, the round-cheeked face of a seven-year-old, had thinned out, her jawline hardening, her cheekbones rising elegantly and sharply. Her gr
Chapter 113: Wife-Child
The thorn-cage was a living thing. The sharp spikes gleamed in the odd, vinestrained light as it breathed, a gradual, repetitive contraction and expansion. Not only had it imprisoned Alexander, but it had also offered him a prize in a macabre fantasy diorama. And inside was Mira-17, who was both his jailer and his declared bride.Alexander pushed himself as far away from the chaise as the tiny cage would allow. Using his sleeve to wipe his mouth, he tried to get rid of the sensation of her lips as well as the taste of decay and roses. The small child who depicted him as a ghost daddy and this seductive, dangerous woman who claimed to be his destiny were two contradictory realities that his mind struggled to maintain.He spoke out, "You are sick," his voice shaking with a fury he was unable to physically express due to the radiation weakness. "Your mind has been poisoned by the garden."Pacing the cramped space like a panther, Mira-17 clarified, "It cleared the poison." A clear channel
Chapter 114: Pruning Queen
The pruning saw was chilly. The teeth of the ancient, vicious creature were discolored by the dark sap of the last item it had sliced. In Tatiana's hands, it felt more like a verdict than a tool. In its tumultuous bloom, the garden had given rise to its own demise. Or maybe this was just another test to see if she could really hurt the creature that was now a part of her kids.Philosophy was out of the question. The cage's explosion was a brief oversight. New thorns were hardening like black metal, and the vines on the walls were already wriggling and re-knitting. The dominant black was being nourished by the crimson petals that were scattered on the floor. Benjamin's will was making a comeback.Mira-17, no, just Mira now, was on her knees, gripping her head as her form wavered between that of a woman and a kid. She sobbed, her voice a discordant mix of both registers, "It's so loud." "The roses are screaming."Alexander moved over to her and put an arm around her trembling shoulders.
Chapter 115: Dust Crown
It was no easy rest for the Crowns of Dust. The teens' brows appeared to be burdened by them, a physical reminder of the somber heritage they now professed. The crowns brought about a noticeable change. Mira's bewilderment turned into a chilly determination. The rage in Phoenix's eyes became calculated. The emptiness in Ash's gaze grew more profound and absolute.They were no longer bewildered kids in grown-up bodies. They were a council. A trio that rules the Thorn Garden.Together, they focused on Alexander, the "obsolete" monarch. His demeanor was steely, but he had forced himself to stand, wobbling. No matter what poison ran in their veins, his own boys would not cast him aside.With a deep rasp that overpowered the vine hum, he asked, "You think crowns make you kings?" "A monarch defends his subjects. They are not fed to the earth by him.Phoenix snarled, the thorn-crown glinting, "Sentiment." "The people are the soil. Everything about them, their suffering, their love, even thei
Chapter 116: Steam Bridge
For precisely thirty-seven minutes, the steam bridge remained in place, giving the seemingly impossible a chance to come true.Alexander's lifeless body was carried by Tatiana onto the new island's hot, wet beach. They were left stranded on a stretch of fused silt, broken concrete, and odd, glassy minerals that shone in the moonlight as the bridge of vapor dissipated behind them with a last, moaning hiss. The fragrance of river mud and lightning-stricken dirt filled the air. It faced the hideous silhouette of the thorn-cocooned capital and was maybe two hundred yards across, a jagged teardrop in the dark flow of the Potomac.Now, Harrington Tower was a network of vines with a black, throbbing heart. The roses bloomed and died in waves across its surface, a slow, breathing glow of evil, as they could see from this distance. The military perimeter's searchlights were ineffective as they played across the surrounding vines. A botanical siege, a distinct form of martial rule, was now in e
Chapter 117: Infant Return
The island turned into a survival-themed nursery.The babies were real. They slept in fits and turns, soiled their improvised linen swaddle, and were hungry. Tatiana and Alexander were pulled away from the precipice of despair by their unrelenting demands, which were cruelly, gloriously, ordinary. No energy to plan a counterattack, no time to lament the teenage tyrants in the tower. All they could find was milk, a place to hide, and small bodies to stay warm.Despite being worn out and disfigured, Tatiana's body managed to produce milk. It seemed to be her last magical act, a physical uprising against the sterile degeneration of the garden. In the lee of the rudimentary lean-to, she nursed the twins one after the other, her phoenix scar acting as a quiet sentinel. With a whirlwind of emotions in his eyes, including amazement, guilt, and a furious, reignited protectiveness, Alexander gazed.He shifted his attention to the outside world, directing all of his strategic brilliance and dor
Chapter 118: Cabin Inferno
The hatch was an anachronism, a remnant of a past that had no place on this young island. The smell of ozone and the faint, sickly-sweet aftertaste of the thorn-blood ink were all that remained of the frigid green flames. The babies stared with wide eyes, stunned into stillness.Alexander moved toward the hatch as though it were a living snake. Kneeling, he brushed the black powder away. It was impossible to miss the Harrington "H" logo. This occurred before Whitaker and before stealing. from before it was turned into a weapon, during the height of his brilliance.He traced the corroded seams with his fingers and mumbled, "It can't be here." "There was no such island. This comes from the riverbed. from the former city.With a hollow voice, Tatiana murmured, "He buried things." A now-fretting Mira was rocked by her. Benjamin. He concealed secrets, bodies, and evidence. This, whatever it is, must have been buried down beneath the Potomac's edge in a subbasement. This was brought up when
Chapter 119: Rift Kiss
There was no sense of love in the kiss. Biting into a live wire composed of memories was the sensation.Tatiana felt a violent, multicolored burst of raw temporal energy. It wasn't a single vision, but rather a simultaneous explosion of all the times her lips had ever touched Alexander's, including the frigid crypt reunion, the poisoned gala farewell, the frantic collision in the warehouse, and the tender, mortal kiss in the cabin before it burnt. It was as though her soul was being photocopied at the speed of light as they played out in a shrieking second, a crescendo of intimacy.The device remained operational.It burst forth.There was a cry of tortured physics as the concentric silver rings spun. A hole in reality that drained the color from the bunker, leaving everything in shades of bleeding gray, the pearlescent core blazed, not with light, but with a terrible, negative brilliance. The sound of the air cracking was like a continent being ripped apart by a glacier. Between the
Chapter 120: Dust Husband
Alexander Harrington's dust remained heated.With Benjamin's extended hand dangling in midair between them, Tatiana stepped above it. The rift glistened, providing access to a world of uninterrupted luxury, boardrooms, gallery openings, and a Mira who would never experience terror or hunger. A world devoid of ghosts.The babies pressing up against her chest were a living, hefty burden. She held the key to their future. It was obvious that the mother made the right decision. Accept the offer. Ensure their protection. Give them a father who is pure, strong, and unaffected by the impending conflict. For the sake of the living, sacrifice the ghost.Her gaze shifted to Benjamin's hand. At his eager, self-assured expression. He was marketing a utopia based on a single, straightforward betrayal. A kiss to make an epic disappear.Her eyes returned to the dust.She perceived a culmination rather than an end. She watched the dad who made the decision to go to prison in order to defend a daughte