Ashes Unwritten: Oblivion's Heir [Volume 1 Complete!]

Kess crouched on one of the palace walls, watching the Ashfall approach, an inky black wall of death. It seemed strange that there were really two storms, but that was the nature of her luck lately. In the time it had taken for Kess to relay the information to everyone else, the Ashfall had become visible on the horizon, and the city was in chaos. They no longer needed to worry about a distraction, for the storm itself was the distraction as everyone in Hillcrest fled for the palace.

The palace, of course, wouldn't hold anything like that off, but such a large building gave people some hope, at least. The dungeons were deep, but the storm took out chunks of the mountain as it blasted through, and Kess had little hope that anything might survive the destruction. Still, it was worth a shot.

She flexed her arm, shaking out some of the stiffness. It still hurt, though it was good enough to fight with, at least. The air was almost too still, as if some forced pulled it backwards and out of the city to merge with the impending storm. It smelled stale and acrid, and the screams of people fighting their way towards the palace were deadened in an unnatural way.

Rowan appeared over the stairs to her left, looking exhausted. They hadn't had to fight the swathes of enemies that now surrounded Arlette and Rae, but they'd had to do a lot of running already to reach this side entrance, and neither Kess nor Rowan had gotten much sleep in the last few days. Rowan still sported bandages over his wounds from the manor.

Rowan paused at the top of the stairs, staring at the storm as it uprooted a tree so far away it might as well have been a stick from where they stood. An orange tendril of lightning flashed across the sky unnaturally, its full branches on display before it snapped back in on itself like a regular bolt of lightning in reverse. "I'm not sure this is what I had in mind when I said I wanted to change the city," he said.

Kess thought over her conversation with Mariel, watching that damning lightning. The woman seemed to have some sort of odd faith that Kess could do something about all of this, but doubt twisted at her insides. She was just one woman.

Even her powers paled in comparison to something like that, and while destroying the lockets might put an end to it, she doubted their ability to fight against the remaining Council members. Oliver and Northmont alone would be enough to deal with Kess. Adding Niall into the mix would only seal the deal. It was why a big part of their plan hinged on getting the lockets away from their owners without a real fight. Rowan might be able to snuff out Fulminancy, but he had to be close to do it, and if his ratios were wrong, they were dead.

"Kess." She looked up at Rowan, and he watched her, the storm ruffling his hair. "We'll figure it out. Together." She smiled at him and took his hand. Maybe the odds seemed impossible, but they'd beaten worse ones before.

"Together," she replied.

Rowan watched Kess hang from a balcony several stories above the ground, dangling precariously, her left arm shaking. Kess was strong, but she was no acrobat, and she was still injured to boot. He wasn't sure he liked this plan of Arlette's anymore, but this was the easiest entrance to his father's rooms at the palace without going through hoards of interior guards. It would give them the best chance of sneaking up on his father, snuffing him with Fulminancy, and taking the locket.

Assuming he was even there.

Kess swore under her breath suddenly and dropped, aiming for the walkway where Rowan stood to the side. Her twist was off, and without Rowan grabbing her arm, she would have fallen to her death. She winced, dangling by her cracked arm as Rowan pulled her back onto the walkway.

"Sorry." She waved him off, rubbing her arm with gritted teeth.

"He's there, but he's awake, and he has two Blockers with him."

"Two doesn't seem so bad." Kess shot him a look. "We just make sure to surprise them this time." He eyed her arm, still bruised from the break, even with Claire's healing. "Can you get up fast enough to surprise them?"

"I'm a fair bit lighter than you," she said, scowling at the balcony again.

"Still, I'll give you a leg up, then follow. Smash the window as soon as you can, and I'll take whatever's on the right. Then we grab my father if we can."

"And if we can't?" Her eyes were solemn as she met his. Rowan just smiled, trying to will confidence he didn't feel into his face.

"We improvise."

He pushed Kess up towards the balcony, ignoring the ground yawning beneath him as he launched himself a little less gracefully. Swinging himself up onto the balcony, Rowan drew his sword as Kess smashed the glass with her staff, a dagger in her other hand.

Rowan locked eyes with the first Blocker he saw and drew his sword back to plunge it through the thing's neck. It worked, and to his left, he heard Kess's Blocker drop, the knife stuck through its head. His father stood there in front of an ornate hearth, locket around his neck, a look of shock painted on his face. Rowan lunged.

His father smirked, and Rowan hit an invisible wall. Pain lanced into his face and limbs, then panic. He couldn't move, could barely breathe as he hung there, frozen. Fulminancy warbled in front of him, active and bright, though the shield was thin enough that he felt he should be able to make it through. He strained against it, but pain crackled through his body, and he tasted blood in his mouth.

Kess threw herself at his father, staff in hand. Just before reaching him, a darkened bubble appeared, and Kess flew back into the wall with a crack. Rowan strained against that thick wall, his muscles screaming. His Fulminancy sat dormant as it shied away from the shield.

Slowly, Kess came to, looking dazed. She wiped her sleeve against her bloodied lip as she sat up, staff still in hand.

"I must say this is an unsurprising visit," his father drawled. "The end of the world upon us, and my son and his escaped whore, on my doorstep again."

"How are you able to—" Rowan's voice cut off as he gasped, straining against the wall.

"Ah, son. You're not as clever as you think you are. I knew what your powers were long before you did. Rather than let other people in on that choice bit of knowledge, I kept you out of sight of others who might be inclined to figure out why the Northmont family's eldest snuffed Fulminancy wherever he went." He smiled. "I, however, did not forget. Fulminancy was, originally, a balancing act between multiple elements, all working together in tandem. How appropriate that as Mariel's dream unravels, so too does her Fulminancy."

"So you learned to use both," Kess said, slowly getting to her feet with a wince. "Big deal."

"I seem to recall you looking much worse for the wear a few days ago," Northmont said. His father snapped, bringing the dark gray of Rowan's powers into his hands, and Kess flinched almost imperceptibly. Rowan's heart cracked in two at the look on her face. "I'm sure I can do a much better job than Conal this time—especially given that my mastery over both powers makes the two of you functionally Duds."

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Kess laughed bitterly, pulling her staff behind her arm. "Is that so?" she asked. Then she swung her staff around, cracking it against Rowan's father's shield. Kess's familiar Fulminancy pulsed there, a searing light. Rowan had to close his eyes, it was so strong—and yet it continued, blinding even through his eyelids.

What is she doing? She'll burn herself out with that much at once.

Rowan squinted against the light. Kess held her stance with her Fulminancy, pushing forward, but Northmont held firm, unruffled.

Fulminancy fizzled against the shield, with neither party moving nor retreating. Rowan spotted a few tendrils of Fulminancy trickling back into Kess, like recycled stream water, and grinned wildly. She could walk away from this. But why would she waste power on a stalemate with Rowan's father at all?

Then it hit him. The shield weakened enough for Rowan to turn his head towards the window, and what he saw would have made him stumble if he wasn't locked in place.

Shadows. Dozens of them, streaming towards the window. The first one peeked up over the windowsill, and his father gasped, letting the shield snap.

Kess hadn't been trying to win—she'd been calling in reinforcements.

Free to move again, Rowan leapt at his father—and away from the Shadows—but Kess was faster. She slammed the butt of her staff into Northmont's side, then reached up and deftly snatched the locket from his neck.

He lunged for Kess, then reconsidered as Rowan's sword came up in front of him, crackling with his own Fulminancy. Northmont looked at the Shadows creeping into the room, eyes wide with fear, then swore.

"You can keep the damn thing for all the good it'll do you," he snapped, but fear laced his voice. "There's nothing you can do with one more anyway, and you'll both be dead long before you can use it."

A dagger appeared in his hand, lightning quick, and he slashed at Kess, who narrowly dodged. The room was small, and she landed in Rowan's way as she caught her balance. His father was already out the door, a key in his hands.

The door shut, and the lock clicked.

Rowan turned back towards the Shadows still climbing into the room, their amorphous forms blocking most of the window and the exits to the connecting rooms.

"Kess," he said, backing up towards the door, sword in hand.

"I didn't think this far," she snapped. She swiped at a Shadow, but her staff passed right through it. It shuddered, then tilted its head at her as if curious.

"Well, start thinking." Kess chewed her lip for a few moments, then paused, snatching a paperweight from the desk in the corner of the room.

"Get to the door," she said. "Behind me." Fulminancy already swirled around the orb she held. It churned and sizzled, growing and growing, until the small paperweight was the size of Kess's head. The creatures surged forward, and Kess hurled the orb out the window.

Every last Shadow froze, then turned as one towards the window. Rowan held his breath, though Kess's breathing was a thick rasp in front of him. Shadows stilled, then quivered as one, ephemeral ears perking up in the thick ink that made up their bodies. Their heads rose, watching the window.

The front few left, followed by their brethren, and a tide of Shadows rushed out of the room, leaving it empty again. Rowan let out a shaking breath of relief. Beside him, Kess sank to her knees, pale and sweaty. She let Rowan pull her to her feet, swaying.

"Are you—"

"I'm fine—it was just a lot at once."

"How did you know that would work?" Kess simply blinked at him.

"I didn't. But I had a hunch after what Mariel told me." Rowan shook his head, thanking Mariel—or whoever was out there—that they'd come out unscathed yet again.

"Well, we'd be dead without it, so I'm not complaining." He moved to examine the locked door, but paused as he saw Kess examining his father's locket, her brow furrowed. She looked up at him, her gaze hopeful.

"Rowan, we can give you real Fulminancy," she said. "Permanently." Her voice sped up in her excitement. "It should stick with your father's locket—it's attuned to your blood."

She held out the locket, eyes wide with fear and wonder, grinning. The world narrowed on her face—and on the locket twining between them. They had time, even with Arlette fighting below, even with the other Seats to get to. But how much time?

Rowan stared at the locket for several moments, its golden twinkle as it spun in the air twisting his mind and heart into knots. The faint memory of Kess's power thrumming within his veins roared back, a heat to match the cool of his own powers. He'd wanted this—desperately needed it, even. Without them, he was half of a man. Half of an inventor. His lights no longer seemed to matter given the storm threatening to swallow the city, but what if he'd been able to control them with his own Fulminancy? Would the storm have spun up at all without his lights blowing on every street corner?

With true Fulminancy, he would never have to leave Kess for dead again. He would never have to languish, powerless, as men quibbled over money and politics while lives were at stake. He could face his father as an equal, no longer hamstrung by powers that could only protect, but something better—something wild, destructive, and free.

Kess's fingers shook as she held the locket out to him, her head darting to the door as she waited for him to decide. Rowan reached for his knife, considering, then paused.

No, he realized. I can't do it.

He'd spent a lifetime being told he was worse off for being a Dud. But none of that had been true. Rowan had his own way of fighting back—a way he'd tossed to the side like refuse, simply because his family hadn't accepted it.

But his powers had stabilized his lights—and saved Kess's life. Maybe if he hadn't been such a fool all those years ago, he and Claire would have returned as three instead of two.

Equal or not, he wouldn't make that mistake again—not as the Ashfall roared through the city, ripping up the very mountainside. In his final hours, at least, Rowan would face the future with his head held high.

He pocketed his knife and curled Kess's fingers back around the locket gently, shaking his head.

"No," he finally said. "I'll face him without it, Kess."

Kess's face fell. "He'll kill you," she said, horrified. Rowan reached down and cupped her cheek, smiling. He supposed it was possible she was right, but he would buy them time, at least until the end came. He would face his father with a shred of honor. It was all he had left.

"I'll fight him my own way," he said, stroking her cheek gently.

"But—"

"Kess, do you know what Rae told me while you were missing?"

"No," she said, frowning.

"She told me that I shouldn't be so quick to throw myself away. My father has spent a lifetime dismissing me—he won't expect that I might have my own way of fighting back."

Tears welled up in Kess's eyes, but eventually she nodded slowly, as if understanding. Rowan didn't say that he wasn't sure what he'd do at all—or if he had any plan to begin with.

"I'll go with you," she said, but Rowan shook his head. He looked back out at the Ashfall, its destruction now evident in the very outer reaches of the city.

"No. Someone needs to keep him occupied so he can't join up with your brother or Niall. We don't have time to fight two of them at once."

Kess opened her mouth to argue, but then she looked over his shoulder at the storm and paled. "We don't have time," she whispered. Then she looked up at him again, tears in her eyes. "I'll try to make sure you don't have to hold him off for long. Rowan—" She paused again, reaching up to touch his cheek. "Please don't make sacrifices."

Rowan smiled then, trying to appear confident and poised though his stomach was in knots. "I've had quite enough of those this year, between you and me," Rowan said, and kissed her.

It was a passionate kiss, more intimate than the one they'd shared that night in Kess's room, but as Kess pressed against him, running her hands through his hair, Rowan found he had no regrets. He might not live to see tomorrow, but he loved this woman—even the parts of her she refused to acknowledge. And Kess, in turn, had given him something priceless that he'd lost after all these years—pride. He would do something with these odd powers of his, and he would pave Kess's way forward however he could.

When they broke apart, Rowan wiped a tear away from Kess's face. She took a shaking breath, turned, and promptly smashed the door open with a Fulminancy-enhanced kick that snapped the door clean off its hinges. Rowan snorted, and she turned around, giving him a questioning look, wiping her face with a sleeve.

"What?" she asked. Rowan just smiled, shaking his head.

"Nothing like blowing through a door to complete a romantic moment."

Kess smiled, and though the storm marched through the city, Shadows played in the streets, and he still had his father to face, Rowan found that her smile was all that mattered.