#The Empress Of Ashes

[ystrike1]

The Empress Of Ashes - By 별보라 (8.5/10)

The tragedy doubles, and then it triples. Trauma, fractured memories and cruelty are the norm in this one. It's about a husband that gets a second chance to protect his wife, but he's too obsessed to see that she no longer wants him. He'll force his happy ending through, not matter what. Even if that means going against everyone, including his wife.

Aprosa is a former child slave. It's implied that she was adopted by a priest, who became her father. Her husband is a handsome man named Ailec. He's too good to be true. He's loyal and smart and sauve and obsessed with her.

He'll never let her go. She saved him when he had nothing. Ailec is a prince, but he was originally unwanted as a child. Even the servants ignored him. He had to forage for food like a homeless boy, despite his status. Aprosa, his rose, was and is his beloved guiding light. Ailec's brother took the throne, and to make a long story short he sucks. The country is in chaos. They need a good Emperor, and Ailec the unwanted is a genius. He married a commoner for love. He never thought he'd have to take the throne, but his country needs him.

(Being above the nobles who used to bully him feels great too.)

Ailec makes too many mistakes. He doesn't give Aprosa any power. He marries other women. He even has children with them. The presence of the other wives makes power and respect impossible goals for Aprosa. The nobles just ignore her. Why curry favor with the commoner wife when there are other noble wives to suck up to? Ailec does love Aprosa. He only married to ensure his position and her protection, but she is a normal commoner woman. It's very hard for her to watch his children, from other women, walk around her.

Aprosa naturally becomes depressed. The Emperors love is not enough. She begs for permission to leave the palace. If she's not allowed to divorce...she at least wants to live far away from him. She is disgusted with him. Her love is gone. Their first child died young. Their second is the Crown Prince.

The other wives know Aprosa is weak, with no allies but the Emperor. One of the wives traps Aprosa's only living son in a burning garden greenhouse. She rushes in to save him. The glass garden burns down with both of them inside.

The Emperor calls a meeting. A ballroom of nobles gathers. The Emperor hires mercenaries to kill them all. You see, Ailec was blinded by his vision of his perfect future. He thought Aprosa would always love him, because he will always love her. He just doesn't understand that her love was a normal love. She never wanted to be Empress. Ailec stops acting like a reasonable man, because his family is dead.

His other wives, and other children, were never family to him. He feels nothing for any of them. Aprosa couldn't believe that. His other wives also assumed the Emperor would forget about his foolish commoner wife. The fire was set around the Crown Prince on purpose. So Ailec makes the culprit watch her son die. Then the mercenaries he hired slaughter everyone else. Then, he walks into the resulting flames on his own free will. He wants to die the same way his wife did, so he can be with her.

Then he wakes up with his wife. He's younger. He has time. He hasn't gone back to the palace yet. Aprosa still loves him. He is overjoyed and he has a new perfect plan. The best one. He's not going to marry another woman. In fact, he doesn't need to. He has a huge advantage. He already knows the secrets and plots that will happen in the future. He even knows when assassins will come, and he knows the names of all the fools who wanted his wife dead.

Ailec is selfish. He doesn't understand WHY his wife is miserable. It's easy to blame the nobles and wives who were jealous of her. She was an Empress who did no work. She was only loved by Ailec...so naturally she hated herself. Aprosa was a slave. She doesn't like being owned and controlled. When she became Empress she felt like a slave. She had no one but the Emperor. No friends. She couldn’t see her family. Her only purpose was romance. Of course she felt like a slave! That's very realistic.

Aprosa has some fuzzy memories of her other life too, but she's extremely traumatized. She can't remember everything in detail, because horrible shit happened to her when Ailec wasn't watching.

In her new life she's better off. She's more cautious. Ailec is more protective. She gets a tutor right away, but how can she win? She can't. She can't become perfect enough to escape her past as a commoner. Ailec isn't a field lord. He is the Emperor. Aprosa can protect herself and learn how to throw a grand party, but she will never be loved.

In this life she wants to leave Ailec too!!! She wants to raise their child alone, away from the horrors high society holds. She hesitates though. She says she will try. She loves Ailec. The horrible memories in her head have to be a bad dream.

The two main contenders for Ailec's hand in marriage are both formidable. Buxom, blond Gladys is from a rich family and she's highly confident. Cool, polite little Valerie is the daughter of Ailec's best potential political ally. They try to tear Aprosa apart...quietly. The word slave is enough. A whisper is enough. Aprose just doesn't belong. Ailec is trying to force her into a seat that she doesn't fit in. He's erratic. His displays of affection and loyalty start to get more cruel. Soon, Aprosa cannot recognize him. Soon, nobody can understand why the Emperor is so obsessed with a woman who fears him.

#yandere #male yandere #yandere male #yandere boy #recommendations #recs #rec #recommended #webtoon #otome isekai #isekai #The Empress Of Ashes

[webtoon-brackets]

#webtoon #webtoons #polls #manhwa #Marionetta #the empress of ashes

[webtoonscreenshots]

The Empress of Ashes, by StudioBCW and star purple

#the empress of ashes #webtoon #webtoons #manhwa

[aurelion-solar]

Battle of the Golden Spatula - Inkborn Fables Promo Art

Porcelain Lux & Lissandra

Hwei

Firecracker Teemo

Immortal Journey Soraka

Snow Moon Morgana & Kayn

Lunar Empress Ashe

Mythmaker Zyra, Garen & Irelia

#lux #lissandra #hwei #teemo #soraka #morgana #kayn #ashe #zyra #garen #irelia #porcelain lux #porcelain lissandra #firecracker teemo #immortal journey soraka #snow moon morgana #snow moon kayn #lunar empress ashe #mythmaker zyra #mythmaker garen #mythmaker irelia #league of legends #battle of the golden spatula #inkborn fables #promo art

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

HELLO?? WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS?!!

#idk what it is but when I tell you I RAN #also if there isn’t a chapter where we can romance Gaius I’m gonna riot #Lewyn and Olivia I’m coming for you #playchoices #mir's musings 💬 #olivia nevrakis #lewyn junius #radiance choices #ash empress #the royal romance #blades of light and shadow II #the cursed heart #immortal desires #lewyn x mc #villainous valentine #radiance x mc

[lostxinfinity]

MC (probably):

#the art team keeps on giving #first valax now the empress...that family is FINE af #do you think she has a brother too #blades of light and shadow 2 #blades of light and shadow #bolas #bolas 2 #ash empress #playchoices #choices stories you play

[masked-alien-lesbian]

Jesus...did anyone bang all of them?? Your jaw and privates gotta be sore, and I salute your thottiness!

#The “Lover of Morella” #Be limping to the Ash Empress #The next day #Even just banging half of them #Gotta leave a mark #My diamonds and pocketbook #Is grateful I'm not attracted to all genders #But i can recognize the epic ness of it all #choices #pixelberry #playchoices #blades of light and shadow #blades of light and shadow 2 #bolas 2 #princess valax #valax #nia #nia ellarious #imtura tal kaelen #bolas imtura #choices imtura #tyril starfury #bolas tyril #mal #mal volari

[danwhobrowses]

Taliesin for the sake of sanity I'm gonna have to ask you to NEVER LET ASHTON DO THAT AGAIN

Except the kissing Fearne part, more of that!

#critical role #bells hells #ashton greymoore #fearne calloway #taliesin jaffe #ashley johnson #sometimes warnings are there for a reason! #visibly shaking #frothing panicking unable to think #but yay Callowmoore #callowmoore #y'know after Fearne forgives him for almost dying #you regret what you don't take remember Ashley? #but now Ash is both Emperor and Empress so I need some magmatic power buffs going now since the gambit (somehow) paid off #rockwild #Taliesin you LITERAL PUNK #seeing discourse in the tag though I don't get; Fearne didn't want it so Ash took it that's all there is #the Hells are gonna be so mad but Ashton was not gonna let anyone die for them because they are what they're fighting for #hoof in the face is deserved though 'I love you so much but I hate you right now' style #3 weeks and several mental scenarios did not prepare me for that #ashton x fearne #fearne x ashton #cr spoilers #now commence a full week of more mental scenarios that won't prepare me but will at least keep me somewhat composed

[gaiuskamilah]

my hot take is that imtura's mom dying actually does make sense and that it wasn't out of nowhere. book 2 criticized fundamental systems in society and one of them was intersection of motherhood, women, and the status quo. this is most obvious with valax, nia, and the ash empress (literally called the mother of grey) but it's present with imtura's arc as well. ventra was a symbol of an oppressive status quo not only to the orcs but to imtura herself - a parallel on how the ash empress treated valax. imtura's tense relationship with ventra was also talked about in the chapters in zaradun. ventra never treated imtura as her own person, only as an extension of herself and of the status quo she intended to keep. and with her death imtura was able to help create a better life for orcs, which also foreshadows valax's own arc with the ash empress.

the constrictions of motherhood and the roles expected of women were even talked about with tyril's kilma. contrary to elven customs, she never took a dinvalir, and this left tyril thinking about how she must have suffered for it, again because she did not conform to the status quo on relationships. and of course how fitting is it that we learn this while tyril is teaching MC a magic skill literally called bind. and bind is also utilized using light magic - a type of magic proliferated by nifara, who is presented in book 1 chapter 2 as the ideal mother-goddess. the same mother-goddess who demanded that the ash empress return to her and the other old gods to take care and guide their children, to serve in a status quo which really only benefited her and the other gods.

#playchoices #blades of light and shadow #imtura tal kaelen #tyril starfury #the ash empress #valax #nia ellarious #i will be blades 2 defender u will never get me to fully hate something which has Themes and Motifs(tm) #my post

[lover-also-fighter-also]

MC just roasting Ashy at every opportunity Im choking 🤣🤣🤣🤣

#playchoices #choices #pixelberry #choices stories we play #choices stories you play #blades of light and shadow #blades of light and shadow 2 #bolas 2 #choices book club blades 2 #ash empress #blades mc is a badass

[coeluvr]

Hey, I really love the update! I also love making my mc absolutely drown in his obsession with revenge! Like, at a part of it, I listened to Hell to your Doorstep from the Monte Cristo musical cuz I think that's what my mc is feeling. c:

Making my mc hate everyone and is only soft for Fadiya is really fun as well!

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind words. 💗

MC and Fadiya's relationship is really sweet no matter if it's romantic or platonic, I love my little babies 🥺 my sweetest writing always comes out during her scenes, I understand why your MC would only be soft for her! 🥰

#coe answers #coaaf if: fadiya #coaaf if: mc #isekai empress #crown of ashes and flames

[dangermousie]

Oh, brother...aka keeping it in the (royal) family

I recently realized that for some reason “multiple brothers one girl” seems to be a popular category in costume dramas. I am not sure why such sharing is necessary in a polygamous society for fancy royals each of whom can get himself a whole harem, but I am not complaining that it appears any remake of the Hollywood classic “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” would clearly be changed into “One Bride for Seven Brothers, and Some of the Brothers Spit Blood and Die” if it were a cdrama. Here are some of the dramas at issue. 

Liu Shi Shi appears to be the queen of this subgenre to such an extent that I am vaguely wondering if it’s in her contract. We are gonna start with THREE of her dramas:

Bu Bu Jing Xin - Liu Shi Shi has not one, not two, but THREE hot royal brothers, played by Nicky Wu, Kevin Cheng and Lin Gengxin, pine for her time-traveling self. Since this is an exquisite (no, seriously, it’s amazing) period piece about loss and longing, she ends up with none of them, instead of a hot vagely-’cesty gangbang as one might expect from that set-up.

Lost Love in Times - poor Liu Shi Shi, she’s a sexy witch having to pick between William Chan and his shady brother Joe Xu. To make it even trippier, the two actors look like each other, to really hammer the whole “siblings want her” theme.

The Imperial Doctress - why bust what’s not broken? It’s the true and tried Liu Shi Shi and hot royal brothers formula. She’s a doctor who spends most of her time practicing medicine, escaping barbarians and creating feminism, not noticing that as she pines for one royal brother played by Huang Xuan, another royal brother, played by infinitely hotter Wallace Huo, is pining for her.

Gong/Jade Palace Lock Heart - if Liu Shi Shi is the queen of that set up, Feng Shao Feng is the king, what with this and Military Seal, both of which star Yang Mi. Clearly, there are worse ways to make a career than stealing Yang Mi from a royal brother. Here, Yang Mi is a spunky time traveler in the middle of Kang Xi’s sons’ fight for the throne. She first falls for Four but ends up with Eight. In between, she offers to bang Four to save Eight as one does. Gives a whole new meaning to sharing is caring and “have you brought enough for the entire class?”

Legend of the Military Seal - Yang Mi and FSF strike again. FSF is madly in love with his brother’s wife, and since she’s not afflicted by blindness, she shares his feelings. Surprisingly, but delightfully, happy ending ensues. 

Who Rules the World - more like which brother rules awesome Zhao Lusi’s heart. Going by the rule of “hottest brother wins,” Yang Yang gets the girl in a drama that is pretty yum yum.

Colourful Bone - one hot seriously whumped out royal brother and one whiny immature one, oh who should the heroine pick? This drama stands for the proposition that you should protect and save abused people, especially if they are hot men, since they will always turn out to be an emperor in disguise. This drama btw is one giant kinkfest for yours truly.

The Eternal Love - you could make THREE whole seasons out of timetravel and brothers into the same girl, who knew.

Dreaming Back to the Qing Dynasty - if you’ve seen Gong or BBJX, you know the drill. Horde of queued brothers queueing for the heroine.

(Mine and all my brothers’, that is -Ed.)

Princess Jieyou - Yuan Hong narrowly escaped the curse of fancying his brother’s woman in BBJX, being about the only sibling not in love with LSS in that one. But clearly, you can’t fight fate and shortly thereafter he’s got to be a sister-in-law luster in a drama of his very own. He is a barbarian general who falls in love with a woman only to discover she’s to marry his brother. Angst and deliciousness and eventual happy ending (the husband fulfilled the uglier brother’s duty by eventually kicking the bucket.)

The Promise of Chang’an - if you want to watch brothers with the same woman but no happy ending, and have already watched BBJX, I present this recent drama where Cheng Yi gets to, as always, suffer beautifully watching the woman he loves marry his annoying brother. Pretty much everyone dies at the end of this one, going off to a great big threesome in the sky.

Twisted Fate of Love - will Sun Yi pick the delicate Tan Jianci or the sexy as fuck bastard that is Jin Han? Being a smart woman, she picks the latter and my hormones rejoice.

Go Princess Go - this is a drama that parodied every cliche there is, so why not brothers into one woman? Who is actually a man in a woman’s body making it even more delightful!

Ashes of Love - even being divine, with women from three separate realms available will seemingly not prevent love interests being a scarce resource leading to sibling love rivalry. Deng Lun and Luo Yunxi duke it out ostensibly for Yang Zi but in reality for who can suffer more prettily. Deng Lun might get the girl, but LYX wins the suffering crown, so it all more or less evens out.

Princess Silver - are siblings in love with the same woman not spicy enough for you? How about TWINS in love with the same woman? One awesome (Aarif Rahman) and one psychotic (Jing Chao) want our heroine and both marry her at one point. Only the awesome one gets to bang her though. (But the psychotic one gets to stick meathooks through his brother in compensation for not being able to stick...ummm...meathook through the heroine, so it’s all OK.)

Secret of the Three Kingdoms - and now we are gonna go REAL PERV! If twins are not enough for you, seekers of strong sensations, how about IDENTICAL twins? Ma Tianyu replaces his dead identical twin brother as the last Han emperor and gets to woo Wan Qian (whose plan it was in the first place.) At least she doesn’t need to get used to a new face?

We are gonna end here and not get into father and son sharing the same woman a la Empress of China.

(Congrats to Aarif Rahman for getting to bang both his brother’s and his father’s wives on screen. That is an interesting niche.)

#cdrama #secret of the three kingdoms #princess silver #empress of china #twisted fate of love #jade palace lock heart #lost love in times #the imperial doctress #bu bu jing xin #ashes of love #princess jieyou #the promise of chang'an #legend of the military seal #colourful bone #dreaming back to the qing dynasty #go princess go #who rules the world #the eternal love

[webtoonscreenshots]

The Empress of Ashes, by StudioBCW and star purple

#the empress of ashes #webtoon #webtoons #manhwa

[aurelion-solar]

Inkborn Fables Unit Art - Battle of the Golden Spatula

#lissandra #ashe #syndra #irelia #wukong #sett #udyr #azir #hwei #league of legends #porcelain lissandra #lunar empress ashe #spirit blossom syndra #mythmaker irelia #radiant wukong #spirit blossom sett #inkshadow udyr #elderwood azir #league of legends skins #league of legends champion #battle of the golden spatula #unit art #official

[itlovesinthewoods]

Playing Blades after the VV chapter is so wild. Like no Ashy!! it’s me Insect 🥺🥺🥺

#ash empress #playchoices #pixelberry #choices #blades of light and shadow #bolas

[petalouda85]

Battle

Fandom: Blades of Light and Shadow

Pairing: Tyril Starfury x f!human!MC (Kassandra)

Word count: 3.3k

Concept: A rewrite of the final battle of Blades 2

Tags: @liviusofpella, @megas-choices, @starlight-starfury, @dutifullynuttywitch, @thosehallowedhalls, @choicesficwriterscreations

AO3 link: x

A/N: Honestly, the only reason I didn’t post this one sooner is because I couldn’t think of a title, which I still think is a bit meh. Meh might actually be my general attitude towards this fic. Not bad but still a bit meh. Regardless, enjoy some good angst again.

When Kassandra awoke, all she felt was pain, the slightest twist of her body shooting fire through every nerve and every muscle. The high-pitched ringing in her ears gradually lessened, allowing her to hear the noises of the ongoing battle around her, determination reinvigorating in her. A groan escaped her as she tried to sit up, catching only a glimpse of the source of her pain before it forced her to lie down again.

A massive wound covered her stomach, the blood dripping easily from it. Gritting her teeth, she pressed her hand down on the wound and in a swift movement, rolled onto her stomach. She breathed heavily to quell the pain, but it was quickly replaced by a gasp as she finally saw the carnage around her.

Her friends were strewn around her, bleeding, all still and unmoving, the victims of the Empress’ wrath. With Valax on their side, they had landed blow after blow, making the Empress bleed and her skin crack. When they hit one strike too many, the Empress had burst out her powers in a rage, sending Kassandra and the others flying, the magic shredding at their skin.

Kassandra looked at all the bodies. Everyone was present, Tyril nearest to her.

“Tyril?” She called out to him, her voice barely audible over the wind. The elf didn’t move and worry bit at her heart. “Tyril?” She cried, her worry morphing into fear when he still didn’t move. She reached for him but all she grabbed was dirt and grass. “Tyril!” Tears rolled out of her eyes.

With a pained shout, she forced herself to crawl, finally close enough to grab onto his hand, relief washing over her when she heard him groan in response and ever so slightly tighten his grip on her hand. She wanted to weep loudly when he opened his eyes a crack, blue meeting brown; how she wished she could bask in that moment for an eternity, but she was running out of time. She looked over her shoulder at the Empress, hurling her magic and slaughtering those that dared get too close. Kassandra squeezed her eyes shut, tears escaping despite her best efforts.

She knew what she had to do.

“Kassandra?” He whispered as she pressed a long, hard kiss on his knuckles.

“I love you. So much.” Reluctantly, she pulled away and used all her strength to stand, gritting her teeth as her wound seared with pain. Every step she took, a new stab of agony rushed through her, but she pressed on, eyes trained on her target with fiery determination.

“Hey! Ashy!” Kassandra shouted. The Empress turned around and smirked cockily at the approaching human.

“Ah, the great hero rises.” She mocked. Kassandra took another step and stumbled to the ground, the Empress’ laughter carried by the wind. With a growl, she forced herself to her feet, the blood dripping over her hand.

“You will never conquer the Light Realm. I will protect it with my life.” Kassandra said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, I’m sure you will.” The Empress laughed. She conjured up a ball of Shadow and threw it towards Kassandra. She dodged at the last moment, feeling the tendrils of Shadow brush across her cheek before she fell to the ground once more, letting out a cry of pain.

“Damn it.” She muttered under her breath as she sat up on her hands and knees, looking at her hand, it now entirely red, the Empress’ mocking laughter ringing in her ears. “Damn it.” She gritted her teeth as she continued to stare at her wound.

She could never face the Empress in this state. She could try the healing spell Nia taught her, but she realized quickly that that likely wouldn’t work; she barely had the strength to stand, and Nia had told her the difficulties of using such a spell on oneself. Another idea struck her. With a deep breath, she called on the Light and produced a flame in her hand. Not giving herself the opportunity to talk herself out of it, she pressed the flame to her injury. It took all her willpower to not scream, the pain worse than the injury had been but when she pulled her hand back, she smiled.

It had worked. She wasn’t bleeding anymore.

She rose to her feet, her stomach sore and throbbing, and faced down the Empress, who, for the briefest of moments, seemed impressed before her face twisted back into that familiar cruel and cocky smile.

“Your determination is amusing.” She quipped. Kassandra stopped some distance from the Empress, meeting her gaze.

“It’s time for you to go, your Highness. You don’t belong here. You never have. All you bring to this world is death and destruction. It’s time to give it back to people who actually make something of it.” Kassandra unhooked her whip from her belt, the end falling unceremoniously to the ground. The Empress looked at the weapon and laughed heartily.

“And who’s going to make me go? You? With your bit of string in your hand?” Kassandra’s stomach sank for a moment before she steeled herself.

“Probably not. But let’s just give this one last go.” With a flick of her wrist, the whip burst into flame. “Shall we?”

Kassandra threw the whip, angry when the Empress managed to dodge the hit. Determined, she aimed and threw again, sending the Shadow creature in the other direction. She dodged another Shadow Orb that was thrown her way, after which she lashed the whip a third time, causing the Empress to stumble to avoid the hit. As she regained her footing, Kassandra threw the whip once more, the flaming end slashing the Empress on her cheek, a black crack forming. The Empress hollered and grasped at her cheek, flaming hateful eyes trained on the human that caused it.

“You little weed!” She seethed. Kassandra stared back with equal fire, hand ready to cut again. The metallic taste of blood flooded her tongue and she spat it out, her gaze never leaving her opponent.

“Yes, I am just a little dandelion. No matter how many times you pull at my roots, no matter how many times you try to destroy me, I will always find a crack in your foundation and grow!” Shouting the last word, she threw her weapon, hurling the whip as hard as she could. The end missed but as it snapped, the flames burst out in an explosion, the shockwave causing the Empress to stumble. Kassandra screamed and aimed again, the whip exploding once more. She threw it over and over, the flames growing more ferocious with each crack, a trail of fire left behind with every movement until she was surrounded by rings of the orange light, her movement elegant and graceful despite the exhaustion and the heat and the ever-present pain. A twirling dance of metal and fire.

“ENOUGH!” The Empress hollered and a shockwave of Shadow pushed out of her, too fast to dodge. Kassandra went flying, skidding, and tumbling across the ground, groaning when her head contacted something hard. Her head churned and twisted, her vision blurred and distorted. She blinked rapidly, seeing a dark figure coming to stand over her, a Shadow scythe in her hand. The Empress lifted the weapon with a gleeful smile.

“I’m going to kill you, Realm-Walker. I’m going to gut you and use your guts to strangle your little elf. I am the Ash Empress, the Mother of Grey. I am Death. You’re just a human being.”

The scythe swung down, a killing blow to her chest. Kassandra rolled out of the way, feeling the rush of air as the weapon plunged into the earth next to her. The Empress yanked the weapon out as Kassandra jumped to her feet, grabbing onto the Empress’ wrists. The Empress pushed back but Kassandra refused to budge, her arms trembling under the sheer strength of her opponent. With a shout, she pushed back, jumping out of the way to dodge another swing of the scythe.

An Orb of Light appeared in her hand, and she threw it at her adversary, it exploding in a ferocious blinding light. As the Empress howled in pain, Kassandra abandoned the whip and pulled forth a dagger, concentrating on the blade, it beginning to glow with potent Light. As the light from the orb faded, the Empress turned to face her, but it was too late as Kassandra plunged the Light-infused weapon into the center of her chest. The Empress looked down at the weapon in shock before turning her hateful gaze back to the human in front of her.

“This is for my family.” Kassandra twisted the knife, the Empress grunting as cracks of Light began to form on her skin. “This is for me.” Another twist. “And this is for Tyril. You will never touch him again!” And she plunged the knife deeper, more cracks of Light forming on the gray skin, permeating all through her body and turning the skin hard and brittle, little chunks of ash blowing away with the wind until there was nothing left of the Empress, the knife falling to the grass as Kassandra fell to her knees, exhausted and dizzy, her head pounding. Moments later, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Valax, heavily injured but alive. She looked sadly at the small remaining pile of ash before them.

“My mother…”

“She’s gone.” Kassandra answered as she rose to her feet, stumbling as she did. Valax’s sad expression continued for a moment longer before her face became serious once more.

“We still have a problem on our hands.” She said sternly, looking out towards the portal. Kassandra nodded and straightened herself, gritting her teeth to lessen the pain.

“Let’s do this.” And the two ran in the direction of the portal, dodging Ashen soldiers and monsters along the way. Soon, they were at the portal, the buzzing causing the pain in her head to increase. She ignored it as best she could as she raised her hand, ready to shut the portal when her hand faltered.

“If we seal it, it’ll be the death of magic. The elves, the goblins, they’ll die.” Lowering her hand, Kassandra looked out over the field once more, watching the elves fight against the invaders, throwing Orbs of Light and magical flames. She glanced over in the direction of the final resting place of the Empress, thinking of Nia and Tyril, how their lives were intertwined with magic.

“And if we keep it open, Shadow will corrupt, and Light will drain people’s life force.” Valax responded. “The world would stay as it is. Unbalanced and unfair.”

Neither option was appealing. Kassandra pondered and pondered when a thought struck her.

“What if we broke the barrier?”

“What?”

“The Realms were one once. Maybe they should be one once more. Bring it all back the way it was.” Valax looked hesitant.

“Worlds would collide if we broke the barrier. Buildings, trees, rivers, it’ll all collide, and we don’t where anything will land. People will die.” Valax reasoned. Kassandra looked over the battlefield, black spots clouding her eyes.

“More than they are now?” Valax followed her gaze and fell silent.

“I trust you, Kassandra. And I trust you to make the right choice.” Kassandra looked to the portal and then back to the open field, watching the bloodshed unfold further. Light against Shadow, a division started many millennia ago. How many had suffered and died due to the greed of a handful of people?

A choice was made.

“The Ascendants split the world to keep their power and they died anyway. So many suffered for it. It’s time to bring it back to the way it was.” Kassandra lifted her hand to the portal, channeling her realm-walker abilities and willing the portal to grow larger, sensing the cracks in the barrier growing every second. She sensed a surge of magic as Valax joined her, tearing more and more at the barrier.

Kassandra’s hand began to falter as she pushed her powers further than she ever had before. Her head spun, her insides felt as though they were being torn apart. But she pushed more and more, screaming as she pressed on, feeling the barrier break more by the second, the pressure building.

Suddenly, the pressure snapped, and the barrier collapsed in a blinding light. The ground shook but somehow, she remained standing until the earth stopped moving.

Her arms fell and she collapsed onto her knees, breathing heavily as she looked around her, seeing a new, chaotic, and strange world. Shadow trees twisted and rooted in the once open fields, Imtura’s ships now on land due to changed shorelines and the mountains placed differently. She felt a surge of magic in her and she quickly recognized it as being true magic. She smiled weakly, but quickly succumbed to a coughing fit, blood pooling out of her mouth. Her coughing soon stopped but the blood continued to drip out of her mouth. She felt dizzier than before, it worsening by the second, her vision fading, her insides numb.

“Kassandra!” Someone screamed as the world faded to black.

---

It was warm.

Kassandra tried to move but her arms and hands were too heavy, something heavy lying on top of her making it difficult to move anything else. She managed to shuffle ever so slightly to make herself more comfortable on the surprisingly soft surface she was lying on.

“If this is death, it’s not too bad.” She thought, as she slowly opened her heavy lids. Her vision was blurry and unfocused, dizziness immediately swimming in her head. She closed her eyes for a moment before trying again. This time it was easier to bear though her vision was still fuzzy. She could make out colors: soft cream and bronze. She blinked a few times, her vision getting clearer every time, and she frowned when she recognized the ceiling. It was the ceiling of the room she’d had in Whitetower.

She turned her head and let out a light gasp when she spotted Nia in a chair next to her bed, head slumped down in rest.

She was not dead.

“Nia?” Kassandra said, her voice weak and cracked. Nia didn’t move. “Nia?” She tried louder. The priestess shook out of her sleep and lifted her head, her eyes widening immediately.

“Kassandra!” Nia whispered, jumping out of the chair, and coming to sit on the edge of the bed. “Thank the Gods, you’re finally awake!”

She couldn’t help but smile and tried to sit up, only for her stomach to blaze with pain. Kassandra hissed as she lay back down. There was a hum of magic and the pain immediately lessened.

“Don’t push yourself.” Nia said, moving her hand over Kassandra’ abdomen. “You still aren’t fully healed, and your stomach will no doubt be tender for some time, even with magic.” Nia frowned, a motherly expression of disappointment and concern on her face. “That was quite reckless, burning your stomach like that; yes, it stopped the bleeding externally but internally... “ The priestess trailed off for a moment. “I understand why you did it but…” The priestess trailed off again and Kassandra felt a pit of regret in her stomach.

“How long was I asleep?” Kassandra asked after a time, her voice coming out scratchy and hoarse.

“You were unconscious for about two weeks. We were scared you weren’t going to make it. How do you feel?” Kassandra moved her head and pain immediately shot through her skull, more aches passing through her body just as fast.

“Like I’ve been hit by a thousand bricks and my limbs are lead.” Nia let out a light chuckle.

“You did push yourself a lot at the end. Do you need anything?”

“Some water would be nice.” Nia nodded and grabbed the pitcher that stood on the side table and filled a glass. She gently placed her hand under Kassandra’s head and lifted her up, helping her slowly drink from the cup. Once it was empty, she helped her lay down again.

“Better?”

“Much. Thank you. Are the others here?” Nia nodded and looked over her shoulder. Kassandra tried to follow her gaze but was unable to lift her head much.

“They’re here. They’re asleep. I’ll wake them; they’ll be so relieved to see you awake.” Before Kassandra could protest, Nia stood from the bed and moved out of sight. “Imtura! Wake up!” She heard her whisper loudly. She heard movement behind the foot of the bed, a thud and then, a man groaning.

“No, she’s my pillow!” Mal whined.

“Kassandra’s awake.” She heard shuffling and the orc and scoundrel appeared in her sight, both looking disheveled, while Nia moved into another corner of the room, Kade soon appearing in her vision as well. As Nia disappeared from sight and the door opened and closed, her brother leapt for the bed, gathering her in an embrace as Mal and Imtura approached. The embrace shot pain up her whole body.

“Kade, you’re hurting me.” Kassandra said and immediately, Kade let go and helped her down onto the bed.

“Sorry. I’m just so happy to see you awake.” He said, tears of joy in his eyes. Kassandra smirked.

“Can’t get rid of me that easy.” She looked at the other two figures standing by her bed. “Hi guys.” Mal moved closer and sat down on the bed. He was silent for a time, seemingly trying to find the right words amid a whirlwind of emotion.

“Good to have you back, kit.” He said, struggling to keep his tone even. Slowly and with effort, Kassandra reached out and took his hand, trying to exude as much comfort into her touch as she could. Mal finally looked at her and she offered him a gentle smile.

“It’s good to be back.” The door slammed open, causing all heads to turn. Panting in the door stood Tyril, Nia appearing only moments later. The elf immediately looked to the bed and Kassandra heard his breath catch when their eyes met. Silence permeated the space.

“Let’s… give them some privacy.” Kade said gently. Surprisingly, the others offered little protest. They shuffled out of her sight and soon, the door clicked shut, leaving the room in silence again. For a time, neither of them moved, Tyril now not looking at her. Slowly, he moved closer and sat down on the bed, taking hold of her hand, and bringing it up to place a few gentle kisses on the knuckles. He took in a shaking breath and Kassandra noticed a red, wet tinge to his eyes.

“Tyril, please don’t cry.” She said softly. He let out a wet chuckle, shaking his head slightly as a tear ran down his cheek.

“I’m not crying.” He finally looked at her, his expression walking a line between worry and relief as another tear rolled out of his eye. With what little strength she had, she moved her hand out of his grasp and cupped his cheek. Quickly, her hand faltered but the elf reached up and kept it in place.

“I’m going to be okay.” Tyril nodded, more tears rolling from his eyes. He took her hand from his cheek and held on to it before he leaned down and placed a tender kiss on her lips. She returned the gesture as best she could, a tear rolling out of her eye now too. When he pulled away, he remained close, resting his forehead against hers, the grip on her hand tightening.

“Please don’t ever scare me like that again.” He whispered. In a burst of strength, she embraced the elf, ignoring the lingering aches in her body. He quickly embraced her back.

“Considering we have a tendency to end up in dangerous situations, I don’t think that that’s something I can promise.” She felt and heard him chuckle a little. “But I’ll try my best.”

#tyril starfury #tyril x mc #Tyril x Kassandra #ash empress #Valax #blades of light and shadow #bolas 2 #my writing #playchoices