Ashes Of Betrayal

The air was heavy with the smell of roses and wine in the grand hall, but all Evelyn Ashford could do was choke. The chandeliers overhead shone like stars, bathing the crowd of nobles who had come to celebrate her engagement in a warming light. At the middle of it, in her ivory gown that sparkled under the lights, she was at the center of it all; but her grin felt like a mask she'd grown out of, couldn't bare to put on anymore.

Beside her stood her betrothed, Kael Ardent, his hand lingering lightly at the small of her back. He was everything the bards sang of heroes - tall and broad-shouldered with storm-cloud-colored eyes and a smile that could melt the frost off a mountain. But tonight, his touch felt far away, his laughter empty. Evie told herself it was only her nerves, that she was imagining the way his gaze flickered toward the shadows, where her stepmother, Lady Seraphine, was watching them like a hawk.

"You're quiet tonight," Kael said, his voice low and warm, but there was an edge in it that made her shiver.

"Just overwhelmed," Evie said, mustering another grin. "It's not every day that a girl has to become the future queen."

Kael's lips curled, though he didn't look at her. "You'll be a lovely queen," he said, though it sounded practiced, as if he'd said it a hundred times before.

Evie's chest tightened. She wanted to believe him, to believe in the future they had dreamed of together; but something was wrong. The whispers in the court, the way her stepmother's lips would curl wryly at the corners whenever she thought no one was paying attention - it all penetrated her like a splinter she couldn't dig out.

"Evie," Kael said, suddenly breaking into her thoughts. "I have something I need to tell you."

Her heart skipped a beat. "What is it?"

Before he could respond, the great doors of the hall flew open, and a dozen guards strode in, shining like a dozen stars in the light. The music stopped and silence reigned as the captain of the guard stepped up, his face somber.

"Evelyn Ashford," he called, his voice ringing in the hall, "you are under arrest for treason against the crown."

The words struck her like a blow and for a second she thought she had misheard. But then the guards were closing around her, hands calloused as they snatched her arms. The nobles gasped and began whispering amongst themselves as the room erupted into chaos, but Evie just barely noticed, instead struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

"Kael!" she wept, looking at him, but he didn't shift. His skeletal face was a mask of ice, and his stormy gaze was cold without a hint of the warmth that she had grown accustomed to. "Kael, what is this? Tell them they're mistaken!"

"I'm sorry, Evie," he said, toneless. "But the evidence is inescapable."

"Evidence?" she said again, her voice shaking. "What evidence?"

Lady Seraphine moved forward then, her red gown flowing behind her like blood on the ground. She carried a sealed letter, stamped with the crest of the kingdom. "This," she said, her tone thick with feigned sympathy. "A letter describing your plan to depose the king and put your lover on the throne."

Evie's blood ran cold. "That's a lie! I would never"

"Enough," Kael said, cutting him off, his tone curt. "You've done this to yourself, Evie."

The guards pulled her away, her pleas for mercy ignoring. She caught sight of her step siblings in the crowd, Cassian smirking, Isolde refusing to look at Feb, and Lucien staring at her with wide, terrified eyes. But no one spoke up for her. No one came to her defense.

As they dragged her through the palace hallways, her treachery weighed down on her like a cloak. Kael's cold eyes, Seraphine's triumphant smile, the silence of the court all replayed in her mind, a nightmare from which she couldn't wake.

They dumped her into a dark, damp cell, the iron door clang shut behind her with a finality that brought her knees to the floor. Her dress was rent and marred and her heart was breaking into a thousand pieces. As the darkness closed in around her, the last thing she saw was the moon glimmering faintly through the empty window grating, a cruel reminder of the life she had lost.

And then, as the cold chilled her bones and the tears dried on her cheeks, one thought planted itself in her fertile mind, growing stronger with every passing minute:

When I get out of here, I will make them pay.

The cell was a tomb, its walls slick with moisture as its air festered with the scent of decay. Evie huddled in the corner, her gown of fine silk now a tattered shroud. The chill made its way down to her bones, but it was no match for the frigid emptiness of steel that had taken residence in her chest. Days had gone by or maybe weeks; time had lost all meaning in the dark. The only sounds she could hear were drops of water dripping down, and the sound of feet that echoed never came for her.

She had stopped crying. The tears had settled, leaving in them a rapture that was worse than pain. Her brain was replaying the betrayal on loop, like a scratched record she couldn't switch off. The coolness in kael's eyes, the triumphant grin on Seraphine's lips, the quiet of the court: All of it had haunted her, unrelenting in its torment, refusing to let her find peace.

"Why?" she said into the darkness, her voice rough from lack of use. "Why did you do this to me?"

Of course, there was no answer. The cell was devoid of all else but the shadows that pressed ever closer with each hour. But at that moment, just when she was going to succumb to the hopelessness, a voice shattered the stillness.

"Because they fear you."

Evie's heart raced as her head whipped up. The voice was low and melodic, and had an otherworldly quality that made her spine tingle. She looked around the cell, but it was empty.

"Who's there?" She insisted, shakily.

She stepped from the shadows, encased in darkness, power radiating from her. It was a woman, her features sharp and elegant, her eyes glowing like embers in the night. She was almost too graceful in her movements, and the cell hummed with her energy.

"I'm called Liora," the woman said, with a calmness in her voice. "And I'm here to give you a choice."

Evie gazed at her, too shocked to speak. Liora was terrifying, but also mesmerizing, like looking into the eye of a hurricane. "A choice?" she finally managed to say.

Liora nodded. "You can be in this cell, and let them take everything from you. "Or you can rise from the ashes and take the power that is yours."

Evie's breath caught. "What power?"

Liora's mouth tightened into a faint smile. "The power of vengeance. The ability to make them wish they never met you."

Evie hesitated for a moment. The idea of extorting Kael and Seraphine for their sins was intoxicating. But then she thought of the cold, calculating look on Kael's face when he looked at her, how easily he'd turned his back on her. "Why should I trust you?" she asked in a voice scarcely over a whisper.

"You shouldn't," said Liora affectionately. "But what other option do you have? You are not in training as of October 2023. The world has abandoned you. But I can give you the tools to fight back."

Evie's hands balled into fists, her nails embedding in her palms. She wanted to deny it, to hold on to her humanity by the last threads. But the memory of Kael's betrayal churned like a blister in her mind, and the need for revenge was a flame she couldn't douse.

"What do I have to do?" so she said, trying to keep her voice steady even though there was fear coiling in her chest.

Liora's smile spread, and Evie saw something dangerous gleam in her eyes for the first time. "You must die."

The words fell like lead, heavy, final. Evie's heart pounded, but she didn't turn her gaze. "Die?" she repeated, like a voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes," Liora said. "But not truly. There is an ancient forbidden ritual that could give you a second chance. The opportunity to come back stronger, more powerful than they could ever dream of. But it will cost you. The ritual will transform you, and there's no turning back."

Evie's mind raced. To die, however briefly, horrified her. But the idea of spending the rest of her life in this cell, alone and broken, was worse. She thought of Kael, of Seraphine, of all those who had wronged her. They had robbed her of everything her family, her future, her love. What did she have to lose, she said?

"Just do it," she said, her voice steady notwithstanding the fear that crawled up her throat.

Liora's eyes sparkled with approval. "Very well. But wait, Evelyn Ashford, this is not a gift. It is a pact. And there will be a price."

Before Evie could inquire what she meant, Liora raised her hand, and the world shattered into blackness.

Evie's body stiffened as Liora began the ritual. The space surrounding them hummed with electricity, and the shadows appeared to spring to life, sinuous and pulsing like some kind of sentient being. Liora's voice rose into a chant, the words strange and potent. Evie's heart broke into a million pieces, splintering in her chest like glass. She tried to scream, but nothing came out.

The agony worsened, coursing through her blood like flame. She felt her flesh being torn, her being disassembled. And then, right when she figured she couldn't take it for another minute, there was a flash of light, and then everything went still.

When Evie opened her eyes, she was not in the cell. Even better, stand somewhere else exiled, in fact and squeeze your eyes shut to hear the winds of eternity roaring, the earth echoing underfoot, remember the only home you had in your stomach, and know that what you need is telling you only what you want. Beneath her soles, the cracked earth was dry as a bone; above her, the air was heavy with the reek of ash and rot.

"Welcome," Liora said, materializing next to her. "This is the land of the lost, where the spirits of the brokenhearted reside. "Kneel and the power you seek shall be given.

Evie stared down at her own hands, which glimmered distinctly with a dark, supernatural light. She felt changed stronger, crisper, as if the ritual had sheared away her weakness and revealed something one. Something dangerous.

"What now?" she asked, her voice steady, her insides churning.

Liora had a sharp, knowing smile. "Now, you rise."

A dark place for a dark heart to make a home, the realm of the forgotten was filled with shadows and whispers, where air churned with malice. At its heart stood Evie, her body thrumming with a power she could barely understand. The ritual had transformed her she could feel it in every atom of her body. Her senses more acute her thoughts more lucid, her emotions... cooler.

Liora eyed her with an appraisal, her ember-like eyes shining in the low light. "How do you feel?" she asked, her voice reverberating in the sprawling void.

"Different," Evie said, flexing her fingers. Energy, dark and twisted as if sprouted from Lactris herself, coiled around her staff as if it were merely an extension of her own body. "Stronger. But... emptier."

"That's the price," Liora said flatly. "The ritual has summoned the darkness in you. It will empower you, but at the same time it will drain you out, piece by piece. The challenge is, how much of yourself are you willing to give up?"

Evie didn't answer. She did not know if she wanted to find out. Instead, she focused on the landscape around her. The dry ground cracked in all directions, marred by sharp black columns of rock that stabbed into the sky like the ribs of long-dead creature. She made out dim figures going by in the distance, vague shapes that flittered and spun, foreign masses of a clearly present reality.

"What are they?" she asked just above a whisper.

"The forgotten," Liora said. "Souls who had been betrayed, abandoned or destroyed. They hang out here, in limbo between life and death. Some of them might attempt to entrap you, to use your body as a conduit to the land of the living. You must be strong, Evelyn. Stronger than them."

Evie's jaw tightened. She was not going to let anything or anyone control her again. "How do I leave this place?"

Liora pointed toward the horizon, where a dim red light burned like a dying ember. "There's a gate there, a way back to your world. But it is guarded by the first flame, a reflection of the dark you now hold. To get in, you must show that you are worthy."

"And if I fail?" Evie asked, already knowing the answer.

"Then you'll become one of the forgotten," Liora said, her voice flat. "Forever."

Evie nodded, feeling her resolve crystallize. She had come too far to fail now. She took no more time to speak and simply began walking towards the distant light, the sound of her footsteps carrying in the stillness. Liora trailed behind, an ever-present reminder of the deal they had struck.

The air around Evie as she approached the doorway grew hotter, the ground giving beneath her feet, cracking and splintering from the heat. The red light became blinding, flaring to a blazing pillar of flame that shot up into the sky. At its base had stood a figure, shrouded in darkness and crowned in flames.

"Who dares approach the first torch?" the figure barked, voice low and growling like a wind that rolled through the air.

"I am Evelyn Ashford," Evie said, her voice steady even as the fear coiled in her chest. "And I have come to claim passage."

The figure stepped closer, its features coming into focus. It was a man or something that had once been a man. His skin was crisped and fissured, and his eyes shimmered with the same red light as the fire. He held in his hand a sword of flame, and its blade burned and sparkled as if it were alive.

"You must prove your strength to pass through the gateway," the figure said, lifting the sword. "Defeat me, and the flame shall grant you passage. Fail, and you will burn."

Evie's heart raced, but she didn't back down. She had withstood betrayal, imprisonment and death. A creature made of flame and shadow would not halt her. Calling forth the dark power inside her, she reached out with her hands as tendrils of darkness shot out from her, lashing out at the form.

It was a tough, gruesome battle. It took on hyena the form of a moving show for, an unnatural Superheroes sword of fire streamed blood through the air. Evie ducked and parried, adrenaline pumping through her body. Her will danced with the darkness buried inside her; shields and weapons materialized, bashing against the figure's flames.

But the figure would not relent; its assaults became more savage with each passing moment. Evie started to grow weak, her body shaking with the effort. Just when she believed she couldn't continue, she heard Liora's voice in her head.

"The flame is a part of you. It is not to be defeated by being fought against. You must embrace it."

Evie wavered, but she knew she had no other option. When the figure lunged at her, she fell slack and allowed her flesh to burn. It was excruciating pain, but she didn't push back. Instead she concentrated on herself, allowing the flame to mix with her own power.

Then, it was something extraordinary. The flames did not destroy her they made her. Her body filled with dark, blazing light, and the figure facing her staggered, and its sword turned to ash.

"You... have proven yourself," the figure said before its voice was stifled and it fell into the ground. The first spark sputtered out and left a swirling maw of darkness.

Evie stepped over, her body still alight with the heat of the flame. When she came through the other side she was standing in a thick wood with cool crisp air against her skin. She was back among the living but she wasn't the same.

Evie inhaled, the fragrance of pine and earth entering her lungs. She was free, but her journey had just begun. Kael and Seraphine out there living their lives, blissfully unaware of the storm that hunted them.

One fist drew in the dark energy within her, tightening to answer her anger. They had stolen from her everything her family, her future, her love. But here she could have all that and then some.

And she would.