Chapter 37 Shadows in the Walls
The council chamber was unusually quiet that morning. Ember stood before the semicircle of gilded seats, her ember pulsing low under her skin, a steady warmth she used to control the frustration simmering inside her.
Torin’s betrayal had struck at the heart of what she was building. The Emberwing Guard had barely found its rhythm, and already cracks were forming cracks that the Wraith loyalists were eager to exploit. Ember knew she had to address it quickly, firmly, strategically.
High Chancellor Virel sat at the center seat, his silver robes gathering the soft glow of the lanterns. Beside him, Councilor Rhaen tapped a finger on the table, eyes hard and calculating. “A betrayal inside your Guard? This early?” he asked, voice laced with accusation.
Ember held his gaze. “Torin was working independently. He sought Wraith influence for power. He is contained, and the loyalists with him are imprisoned. There’s no further threat.”
Rhaen scoffed. “No further threat? The Emberwing Guard is supposed to be our strongest line of defense. If a recruit can slip information to the enemy, then your force is unstable, untested, and unreliable.”
Kael stepped forward, his presence a shield at Ember’s side. “With respect, Councilor, Torin acted alone. No system is perfect. But the Emberwing Guard identified the danger, neutralized it, and prevented an attack.”
“An attack that should never have been possible,” Rhaen shot back.
“Enough.” Chancellor Virel’s voice cut through the tension like a blade. He turned to Ember, expression heavy but not unkind. “We need assurance, Ember. The city cannot afford more instability. The Wraith remnants grow bold. We need to know your Guard is fully committed to protecting us.”
Ember straightened. “Then let me prove it. Give us the authority to patrol outside the Emberwing district. Allow us jurisdiction in the Old Quarter, the tunnels, the abandoned zones. If the Wraith loyalists are hiding anywhere, it’s in the places the council abandoned long ago.”
Whispers rippled through the chamber. Rhaen’s eyes narrowed. “You want to expand territory? That’s dangerous. Reckless.”
“It’s necessary,” Ember said firmly. “We cannot fight shadows if we never step into the dark.”
Chancellor Virel studied her for a long moment before nodding slowly. “Permission granted. You may extend your patrols. But be warned, Ember… this is a test. Should anything go awry, the council will reconsider its support.”
Ember bowed. “Understood.”
Back at the Emberwing barracks, Ember gathered the senior members of her Guard Kael, Riven, Lyessa, and Amara around the briefing table. A map of the city lay before them, marked with the new districts they were now allowed to enter.
Kael folded his arms. “The Old Quarter is a maze. Half the buildings are abandoned, the other half are occupied by people who won’t trust us.”
Riven leaned over the map. “And the tunnels under the district? Some of them haven’t been mapped in years.”
Lyessa frowned thoughtfully. “Which means there’s a high chance the Wraith remnants are hiding in them. They thrive in forgotten places.”
Ember nodded. “Exactly. Torin’s group wasn’t working alone. There are more loyalists out there. And now we have the authority to find them.”
Amara, seated quietly beside Lyessa, looked up. “What if we’re walking into a trap?”
“We prepare,” Ember said. “And we move as one. No one goes anywhere alone.”
The patrol began at dusk, when the sun dipped low and shadows stretched long over the cobbled streets of the Old Quarter. Ember led the group, her ember glowing faintly as she scanned the surroundings. Kael walked at her right, Riven at her left, Lyessa and Amara behind them.
The Old Quarter was a skeleton of its former glory. Buildings with shattered windows leaned crookedly, their walls marked with graffiti, their doors hanging from rusted hinges. The air smelled of damp stone and faint ember residue evidence of past battles fought in desperation.
As they moved deeper into the district, Ember felt the atmosphere shift. The air grew heavier, colder… tainted. Her ember pulsed uneasily.
Lyessa paused, eyes narrowing. “Do you feel that?”
“Yes,” Ember whispered. “A presence. Familiar, but… wrong.”
Kael’s hand drifted to his sword. “Wraith?”
“Not exactly,” Ember murmured.
They followed the sensation toward a large, crumbling structure a former marketplace that had collapsed years ago. The roof had caved in, leaving a jagged opening that cast eerie shadows across the ground. Ember motioned for silence as she stepped inside.
The moment her foot crossed the threshold, the air crackled. A whisper echoed through the hollow chamber faint, layered with a distortion that made Ember’s skin prickle.
“Ember…” The voice slithered across the walls, soft yet unmistakable.
Ember froze. She knew that voice.
Drake.
But he was gone. Dead. She had watched him fall, watched the Wraith energy evaporate from his body.
Kael caught her expression. “What is it?”
“It’s him,” Ember whispered. “Or something trying to sound like him.”
The whisper grew louder, weaving through the shadows. “You think you’ve won… but the embers you protect will burn you from within.”
Riven unsheathed his dagger. “That’s not a loyalist trick. That’s something else.”
The shadows began to shift. At first Ember thought it was a trick of the light, but then the darkness coalesced into a shape rough, flickering, unstable. A silhouette with ember-like cracks running across its torso, glowing faintly in the dimness.
Amara gasped. “What is that?”
“A Wraith echo,” Lyessa said, voice tight. “A remnant of Drake’s corrupted energy. A fragment of his will.”
The creature lunged.
Ember reacted instantly, her flames bursting from her hands in twin streams. Kael moved beside her, sword cutting through the darkness, while Riven darted to the left, striking with blinding speed. The echo shrieked, its body rippling like smoke as it dodged and twisted, its movements unpredictable.
Amara stumbled back, flames flickering in her palms, but Lyessa caught her. “Focus,” she urged. “Echoes feed on fear.”
Ember pushed forward, her ember blazing brighter. “You’re nothing,” she spat. “Just a shadow pretending to be him.”
The echo hissed, its voice shifting into something monstrous. “You cannot outrun what you carry… Ember of ruins…”
It lunged again and this time, Ember met it head-on. She thrust both hands forward, unleashing a controlled explosion of ember energy that lit the entire chamber like a miniature sun. The echo screamed as its form dissolved, its shadow spilling across the ground before evaporating into the air.
Silence fell.
Riven exhaled, wiping sweat from his brow. “That thing was stronger than any echo we’ve fought before.”
Kael sheathed his sword. “It’s getting worse. The remnants are evolving.”
Amara approached Ember, eyes wide. “What did it mean? ‘What you carry’?”
Ember hesitated. She had been asking herself the same question. Ever since the final battle with Drake, her ember had changed grown stronger, yes, but also unpredictable. Visions, whispers, a growing heat that sometimes felt like a second heartbeat.
Lyessa spoke carefully. “Echoes mimic the memories they come from. If that one sounded like Drake, it might have been mimicking something he sensed in you.”
“But he’s dead,” Riven said.
“Yes,” Ember agreed softly. “But his corruption isn’t. The Wraith energy he carried spread across the city. Some of it may have… lingered.”
Kael stepped closer, expression darkening. “If the echoes are getting stronger, they’re preparing for something. Something big.”
Ember nodded. “And we need to be ready. The council wanted proof that we can protect the city? Fine. We’ll give them proof.”
She turned back toward the entrance of the marketplace, ember glowing fiercely.
“Tonight was the beginning,” she said. “The
shadows have grown bold. The Wraith remnants are no longer hiding…”
She paused, ember pulsing.
“…they’re gathering.”