Chapter 18 – Shadows in the Academy
Ashen Aras awoke before dawn.
The dream still clung to the edges of his mind—fractured wings, blood-soaked stars, and the dying roar of a dragon that shook the very fabric of reality. It hadn't felt like a memory, not quite. But it wasn't imagination either.
He sat up slowly, sweat dampening his clothes.
The egg inside him pulsed with quiet rhythm, more stable now. Like it, too, had survived a nightmare.
A knock broke the silence.
Not loud. Three quick raps.
He opened the door cautiously, his hand already behind his back, ready to draw a blade of condensed spirit energy if needed.
Vale stood there.
Expression calm. Too calm.
"Ashen," he said. "The instructors are asking for you."
Ashen's brow furrowed. "Now?"
Vale nodded. "Apparently the Emperor's decree arrived. Your training group leaves today."
Something about his tone was off—too rehearsed. But Ashen nodded anyway.
"I'll be there."
As Vale turned, Ashen's eyes caught a faint shimmer of spiritual residue on the boy's sleeve. A rune.
He's being watched too. Or worse—he's part of it.
Ashen shut the door and packed swiftly, taking only what he needed: a few spiritual talismans, a jade bottle of recovery pills, and a thin metal bracelet that masked soul fluctuations—something he'd secretly taken from the ruin long ago.
He paused before leaving, casting one final glance toward the floorboards beneath his bed. Hidden there was the partial map he'd drawn of the ruin beneath the Starpath.
And something told him he'd need it soon.
---
Later, at the Outer Assembly Grounds
The other selected students had already gathered.
There were nine in total—five boys, four girls—each of them handpicked from different regions of the empire. Some looked proud. Others nervous. One, a girl with violet eyes and crimson robes, seemed completely indifferent.
Ashen joined them quietly. No one paid him much attention. That was good.
An instructor appeared atop the steps leading into the pavilion. His robes were of deep emerald, lined with silver runes that shimmered as he moved. He held a sealed scroll, wrapped in obsidian thread.
"From this moment forward," he said, voice amplified by spiritual resonance, "you are no longer academy students. You are members of the Imperial Embers."
Murmurs erupted around Ashen.
The Imperial Embers.
A name known only in rumor. Said to be a secret force developed centuries ago, operating beneath the empire's golden image. Not soldiers. Not assassins. Something else.
The instructor continued, "You will be tested in ways you cannot imagine. Only those who endure will gain access to the inner knowledge of the empire's past—and its future."
Ashen didn't miss the double meaning.
This wasn't just about training. This was about loyalty.
The instructor waved a hand, and a platform of engraved stone rose from the earth. Runes flickered along its sides—transport glyphs, ancient and unstable.
"We depart now."
The students hesitated, then stepped on one by one. Ashen followed, keeping to the edge.
As the glyphs activated, his skin tingled—like thousands of threads tugging at his essence.
Where are they taking us?
A final shimmer.
And the academy vanished.
---
Elsewhere – Imperial Ember Facility, Deep Mountains
They arrived in a cavern shrouded in perpetual twilight.
Massive pillars supported the ceiling, etched with dragon-scale patterns. Faint glowing moss illuminated training fields, obstacle rings, and underground dorms carved directly into the stone.
It was beautiful.
And entirely unnatural.
Ashen scanned the walls. No exits. Only inward paths.
A prison disguised as a palace.
The instructor led them into a central chamber, where a circular table awaited. Seated there were three masked figures—robes of gold, masks of ivory, and pressure so dense it made Ashen's knees buckle for half a second.
One of them spoke.
"You are the chosen ten. Each of you will awaken potential beyond mortal grasp. But only one may become the Empire's Voice."
Gasps. Confusion.
Ashen frowned.
The Voice? Of what?
The masked figure continued, "You carry fragments of the old blood. You have been marked by destiny. But destiny alone is not enough."
A flick of the hand.
Ten orbs floated to each student.
Ashen's orb hovered before him—filled with liquid starlight. Inside it, faint ripples of chaos shimmered.
No one else's orb looked the same.
His breath caught. They know.
Before he could react, the orb surged forward and struck his chest, merging instantly.
The others watched in silence.
Then—Vale stepped forward. "Permission to speak."
The masked figures nodded.
Vale turned and looked directly at Ashen. "I request a duel. Trial format."
Ashen blinked.
"Here and now," Vale said. "Before the program begins."
The silence that followed was more than tension.
It was a trap.
If he refused—weakness. If he accepted—exposure.
Ashen stepped forward anyway.
"I accept."
---
As they stepped into the stone circle, runes activated beneath their feet, creating a duel zone. But as Ashen readied himself, the chaos energy within him surged—wild and unstable.
And for the first time… the egg spoke clearly:
"Don't hold back."
---