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

Claire's idea had seemed better from a distance. The lumbering shadow creature stood at least three stories tall, its amorphous form phasing in and out as Fulminancy raced up its limbs. She skidded to a halt nearby as it approached the school, her heart pounding and her arms shaking. Rae's dagger sat uncomfortably in her hands.

If it touched her, she was done.

If she couldn't aim the dagger properly, she was done.

If more soldiers or Blockers arrived, she was done.

Her plan was full of holes and might need a miracle to pull off, but it was better than watching the creature terrorize a school of children in what was probably the last half hour of anyone's life in Hillcrest.

She tightened her grip around the dagger and ran, passing the creature. It spun briefly, but the meal Claire presented wasn't enough to entice it—or so she hoped. If Shadows ate Fulminancy, then this one would be much more interested in a school full of children who could barely control their own powers. In fact, they might as well have been a buffet for the thing.

Claire didn't particularly care about its inclination to eat, because she wouldn't be letting it get that far. She dashed up a set of stairs on the side of the building, climbing until she was on the roof and even with the creature. Briefly, she lost her footing as her momentum carried her to the edge of the roof. She slammed into it, then watched the Shadow's makeshift heart swirl and churn. A tiny glass ball pulsed there, surrounded by crackling dark blue Fulminancy—oddly familiar Fulminancy. Kess's? She realized, baffled. Why wouldn't she be controlling it?

Fulminancy had an odd tendency to stick to its owner's wishes—like a vine climbing its way up a trellis, sticking to a familiar path. Claire had dealt with enough Fulminancy in her practice to recognize that pattern, but even if Kess had made the giant Shadow, it was clear it was far from her control now. Little lines of light trickled out from the orb to form tiny veins that fed the bodies of smaller Shadows within.

For such an abomination, it had an oddly…human way of looking around. So many of the Shadows did. And this one, in particular, was powered by a lot of powerful Fulminancy. Claire had no weapons. She didn't know how to use her Fulminancy to fight. But she did know how to soothe, to mend, to convince a body that it wanted to heal. Her Fulminancy wasn't the crackling plasma of Kess's or the umbra of Rae's, but it had its own power too.

Claire paused for a moment longer, remembering the times she'd taken control of Fulminancy within a body and simply forced it to mend itself. This can't be that different, can it? She thought. She tightened her grip on the dagger and took a deep, steadying breath.

She concentrated as much of her Fulminancy into the dagger as she could, the weapon flashing green and gold against the dark backdrop of the storm. Her legs shook as she faced down the creature, but she stood firm, willing it to lumber forward as its amorphous head cocked to the side, studying her.

She dumped every bit of her Fulminancy into that dagger, and when Claire was drained and the dagger full to bursting, she took one look at the gap between her and the creature, and simply leapt from the roof.

There was no other way to cross the chasm. She didn't know how to throw knives, and she had no bow, so she simply threw her body, knowing she might not survive the fall. A list of tolerances for bones and ligaments forced its way to the surface of her panicked mind, and Claire blanked it out.

She sunk the dagger into the crackling well of Fulminancy, as the ground yawned before her, coming faster than expected. She kept her eyes open and her feet down as she flew—she would have less chance of survival if she didn't control her fall.

She knew it would hurt, though. Claire slammed into the plaza and heard a snap before she felt pain. Something sharp knifed into her lower leg, a searing pain and a disconnected feeling that she knew meant she had broken something. Still, she didn't come to a stop. She had too much momentum, and even after injury, she continued to roll, and those sharp pains continued, lancing up her side. Eventually, she came to rest by a bush thrashing in the storm winds, and rolled to her side, groaning, her vision trying to tunnel.

Broken leg, she thought, scrunching her eyes shut. Ribs, cracked, maybe snapped. Bruises. Possibly a broken hip. She forced her eyes open and pushed aside the pain and analysis. She had to concentrate.

Blinking to clear her vision again, Claire looked at the Shadow, and saw her own green Fulminancy coursing through its veins. It had paused in front of the school and was examining its leg, clutching its side in pain. Claire's eyes widened. If it's doing that, then…

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She willed it to protect, to serve, to stay away from the young Fulminancers unless she gave it other orders. It stood there, cocked its head, and walked away from the school towards Claire. Adrenaline kept her alert through her terror, but she knew she had minutes, perhaps, until unconsciousness and shock. It worked, she thought, feeling a surge of triumph even through the pain. It actually worked.

She yelled over the storm to the creature, a wild grin on her face. "Come here, you oversized brute." It lumbered forward. Claire looked at the twisted state of her leg and instinctively felt for her Fulminancy, but came up empty. If that was the case, then it wouldn't hurt to have the creature carry her—if it could do such a thing.

"Can you make yourself solid?" she asked. It tilted its head again, and then reached out a hand, tentatively. Claire poked at it, and though she felt its desire for her powers, she no longer had any on hand, as they were powering the beast. Its flesh was cloud-like and pillowy, writhing gently where it met her own. She shrugged, then winced at the pain. Good enough, she thought.

"Pick me up—gently—and let's see what we can do with you." The Shadow complied, and Claire kept her attention on not blacking out as the creature gently lifted her into its arms. From here, she could see the Ashfall as it tore its way through the city, closer now than it should be. Perhaps she'd saved these children for now, but what would happen when the storm arrived? Still, a few pairs of eyes watched from the window, and she smiled. A little boy grinned back from the darkness.

Claire and her new friend lumbered back up the street. Claire figured she might one day forget most of what happened there that day, but she would never forget the look on Arlette's face as the Shadow lumbered forward with Claire in its arms.

"Fanas, Faleas, and Mariel's holy gray skies," Arlette swore, nearly dropping her sword. "Claire, we've got to get you out of that manor more often."

Rae studied the man who'd taken her powers without an ounce of pity. He did look a bit like Kess now that she realized the connection. Only he had none of Kess's spirit. This man would have crumpled under the same things that Kess had faced.

She supposed she should feel something for him—he'd seemed remorseful when he'd taken her powers—but it was hard to dredge up much pity for him now, given that he was doing the same thing to Kess.

It didn't leave her with much of a choice. The man was writhing in pain, clutching his arm, though he would soon recover. Rae snatched the locket from him—her locket—and sliced her own palm, watching as it dripped onto the locket and trickled away.

Rae had lost something precious that day underneath the palace. She had minutes, perhaps, before the Ashfall was upon them. Minutes left with her Fulminancy still. She longed to feel its touch beneath her skin. It was her last rite—her final wish before death. She would be alive again, one last time, before it was all gone.

And yet, what if she could buy yet more time with her Fulminancy? What if Kess and the others were wrong—if the Ashfall was simply another storm to be weathered? Rae could keep the locket. She could flee, far from this place, far from Hillcrest.

She could survive again, as she and Reina had done all those years ago. She could leave the mountains, with nothing but her Fulminancy at her side.

Rae hesitated, hand bleeding onto the locket.

The storm was closer now, having devoured about half the city already. She imagined the manor she'd come to call home was gone. As it inched forward, it tore up the earth itself, eating so deeply into the mountainside that Rae was fairly certain not even the dungeons would survive. It made a mockery of the damage from the Archives storm, which on its own would have ended Hillcrest, given enough time.

She turned back to the locket, and the world seemed to slow down.

Rae's powers had never been her own. She'd been hunted like an animal, then used as an assassin for the Council. Her life was mottled shades of gray, and yet through it all, a thin thread of color spun—her Fulminancy.

The Ashfall howled behind her, and Rowan and Niall argued about something as the Council appeared. Slowly, Oliver recovered from his wound, turning to glare at her instead, though he continued to gasp and sputter like a child. Kess watched the storm blearily, shadows crawling up her arms—a woman resigned to her fate.

I could leave, Rae thought. I could leave it all behind again.

Without her powers, she was nothing. She couldn't fly through the sky, the world a blur of color and light. She couldn't feel the storm, singing through blood and bone. She was her Fulminancy.

And yet that thought which for so long had sustained her as truth rang now hollow in her head. She'd been herself long before Fulminancy—when Reina's smiles were all that mattered. She was still herself even with this gaping hole inside she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to fill. She was damaged and bleeding, but still alive.

There was more to life than running—than hiding. There was more to life than power and control—Rae had seen that with Kess firsthand. Rae didn't know what the future would hold, but she'd found something with these people—something quiet and steady, but powerful nonetheless. Something real. Something more tangible than Fulminancy, and stronger, for once, than her desire to disconnect and run.

She took a deep breath and met Kess's eyes. Kess glanced at her, gripping her arm to chase away the shadows. Rae smiled and nodded. Kess would know what to do.

Fulminancy was a companion and a friend. It had sustained her through dark, lonely years. But at that moment, Rae bet on something more powerful than the lightning that arced across the skies and through her veins. She bet on another form of power. Foreign power, the taste of which she'd only just begun to grasp. She would see where this power led, even as the world spun into chaos.

Rae raised the dagger and plunged it through her locket.

And for just a moment, she swore the world burst into color again.