Fractured Realms

The Realm of Ash and Silence

The ground beneath us collapsed. Light twisted around my body as the city above dissolved into smoke. For a moment, I felt weightless again, suspended between falling and breaking. Then the light vanished, and I struck hard stone.

When I opened my eyes, the world was gray.

Ash drifted from a sky that had no sun. The air shimmered with heat, yet the wind was cold enough to sting. Mountains of blackened rock stretched in every direction, their shapes jagged and unnatural. Rivers of silver light crawled across the ground like veins through a corpse.

I stood slowly, my body heavy from exhaustion. The pulse of my light had dimmed, but I could still feel it inside me, waiting. The silence here was different from the city’s. It was thicker, heavier, like the world had forgotten how to breathe.

Seryn landed beside me, her armor streaked with soot. She looked around with wary eyes. “This is not the city’s doing. The portal threw us into another realm.”

“What realm?” I asked.

She crouched, brushing her hand through the ash. It clung to her fingers like dust from burnt paper. “A dead one. A place consumed by its own memories.”

The ground trembled beneath our feet. In the distance, shapes moved through the haze — slow, shuffling silhouettes that left trails of fire in the air. The ash curled around them, almost alive.

Seryn’s voice lowered. “We are not alone.”

The first figure emerged from the haze. It had once been human. Its form was melted into itself, body fused with glass and stone, light leaking through cracks in its skin. The sound it made was not a voice but a groan, stretched and hollow.

Behind it came more. Dozens.

I took a step back. “What are they?”

“Echoes,” Seryn said. “Souls that could not let go. The ash feeds on them until they become something else.”

They began to move faster, drawn toward the faint glow beneath my skin.

Seryn raised her staff, but I stopped her. “Let me try.”

She gave me a sharp look but nodded once.

I focused on the light in my chest, willing it outward. The air responded. Blue sparks danced across my hands. The first creature reached me and swung its arm, a slow, clumsy strike that carried impossible weight. I caught it with my forearm. The impact shook me to my bones.

I pushed the light forward. It exploded outward, not as a blast but as a ripple that passed through the creature like wind through water. Its body cracked, the light inside it flaring brighter. Then it collapsed into ash.

The others hesitated. For a brief moment, there was quiet. Then they screamed.

The sound ripped through the air, raw and endless. They charged.

I fought without thinking. The light responded to every motion, forming arcs and bursts that cut through the ash. Each strike left trails of blue fire. Each contact burned, not just the creatures but my own skin. The pain came with every pulse. The power was not gentle. It demanded memory, feeding on my guilt.

Elara’s face flashed through my mind with every surge. Her voice, her final breath, the way her fingers slipped from mine. The light grew stronger each time I remembered her.

The battle became a rhythm. Step, strike, burn, breathe.

But there were too many. For every one that fell, another crawled out of the ground. Their numbers were endless.

Seryn fought beside me, her staff glowing with white arcs of energy. Her movements were precise, efficient, and practiced. She shouted something, but the roar of the ash drowned her voice.

A creature lunged from behind. I turned too late. Its claws struck my shoulder, sending me sprawling. The world tilted. I landed hard, the ash searing my hands. My vision blurred.

The creature loomed above me, its face a mask of molten stone. I reached for my light, but nothing came. The energy flickered weakly, like a dying ember.

The creature raised its arm for the final strike.

That was when I saw it.

Half-buried in the ground beside me was a blade. Its hilt was scorched black, its surface cracked, but a faint glow pulsed within it. The light was the same shade as my own.

I grabbed it without thinking. The moment my hand closed around the grip, the light inside me rushed toward it. The blade came alive, flaring with blue fire that cut through the ash.

The creature struck. I swung.

The blade met its arm with a flash that filled the air. The sound was sharp and final. The creature’s body disintegrated in a burst of light, scattering into glowing dust.

The weapon hummed in my hand. It was heavy, but it moved as if it knew me. The glow spread up my arm, linking my heartbeat to its rhythm. I could feel its awareness, faint but present. It was not just a weapon. It was something older, something alive.

Seryn appeared beside me, eyes wide. “That sword should not exist.”

“It does now.”

She looked at the weapon, then at me. “Be careful. Things that answer light can also betray it.”

The ground shook again. More creatures emerged from the haze, drawn by the light of the blade. Their shapes were larger now, their eyes brighter. The ash twisted around them like smoke caught in the wind.

I raised the sword. Its glow reflected off the creatures’ faces.

The first one charged. I met it halfway. The blade cut through its chest, releasing a burst of light that burned the air. The recoil sent pain through my arm, but the creature fell apart before it could strike again.

Another came from the side. I turned and swung, faster than before. The blade followed my thought, cutting clean through the ash.

Each movement became easier. Each impact made the weapon brighter. The creatures began to hesitate.

But the realm itself reacted. The ash around us started to rise, swirling into spirals that reached toward the sky. The silence broke into a low hum that grew louder with every heartbeat.

Seryn shouted something, pointing toward a ridge ahead. “We need to move!”

I nodded. Together we ran through the storm of ash, the ground cracking beneath our feet. The wind carried whispers now, voices I could almost understand. Some called my name. Others cried for help.

The ridge rose like a black wave ahead. I climbed, the blade lighting the way. Every surface burned to the touch. My lungs filled with smoke.

When we reached the top, I stopped. Below us stretched an ocean of ash. At its center stood a single spire of black stone, its peak glowing faintly red. Around it circled thousands of shapes, moving like a single organism.

Seryn’s voice was tight. “The heart of this realm.”

The ground beneath the spire cracked open, and something vast began to rise. Its body was made of the same ash and light as the others, but on a scale that dwarfed the mountains. Eyes opened along its form, each one burning with cold fire.

The roar that followed tore the silence apart.

The smaller creatures scattered. The spire shattered.

The giant turned its gaze toward us.

I felt the pull of its power immediately. The light in my chest responded, burning hotter. The blade vibrated in my hand as if alive with warning.

Seryn stepped back. “You cannot fight that.”

“I have to.”

“Then it will kill you.”

“Maybe. But if I run, it will follow.”

The giant moved. Every step crushed the ground into dust. I ran down the slope to meet it, the blade glowing brighter with each stride. The air burned, the heat unbearable.

When the creature struck, the world exploded. The impact threw me off my feet. I rolled, came up swinging, and struck its arm. The blade cut deep, releasing a burst of blue light. The creature screamed, a sound that made the air vibrate.

I swung again and again. Each hit drained me, but the light grew stronger. I could feel it feeding on something inside me, memory, emotion, guilt. Every image of Elara’s face burned behind my eyes.

The creature’s body began to dissolve, but its hand struck me in return. Pain shot through my ribs. I hit the ground hard, breath gone. The sword landed beside me, still glowing.

I crawled toward it, each movement slower than the last. The creature loomed above, ready to end me.

I grabbed the blade with both hands and drove it into the ground. The light within me erupted outward, spreading through the soil, through the ash, through the air. The world turned white.

When the glow faded, the creature was gone. The ash settled slowly, falling like snow.

I lay still, every muscle trembling. My vision blurred. The blade pulsed once, then dimmed. Its light remained warm against my skin, steady and alive.

Seryn appeared at my side, kneeling beside me. “You should not have survived that.”

“Maybe I didn’t.”

She touched the sword. “It has accepted you. That means the realm has changed.”

The silence deepened. The air cooled. The ash stopped falling.

I sat up slowly. Across the plain, the black spire was gone. In its place stood a faint figure walking through the haze.

It was her.

Elara.

The outline was faint, barely there, but unmistakable. She turned once, as though sensing me, and the air shimmered around her. Then she vanished into the distance.

I stood, weak but determined. The ground where she had stood glowed softly with blue fire, forming a symbol that pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat.

Seryn watched it too. “A message,” she said quietly. “Or a path.”

The silence returned, heavy and complete. The ash lay still at last.

I looked at the mark, then at the sword in my hand. Its faint light answered the pulse beneath my skin.

“The Realm of Ash and Silence,” I whispered. “Even here, she leaves a trace.”

Seryn nodded once. “Then we follow.”

The light from the mark spread outward, forming a narrow path through the dark. I took one step forward, the blade steady in my hand.

The ash shifted beneath my feet, and the silence followed us.

The next realm was waiting.