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

The guards rushed forward, trying to press around Oliver to where Kess still held the blade to Niall's throat. Kess stared at her brother, months of words threatening to overflow, the knife forgotten at Niall's neck. Niall forgotten beneath her. He struck, blasting Kess back with his Fulminancy.

Kess flew past Rowan, slamming into the heavy wooden desk in the back of the room, the momentum carrying the desk forward a few feet. She cried out, and the room went black for a moment. Rowan stumbled over to her, hand still on his side as she blinked to clear her vision. She tasted blood and held a sleeve to her mouth, dabbing at it. Miraculously, she'd managed to hang onto the knife somehow.

Niall got to his feet and dusted himself off, snatching a handkerchief from his pocket to dab at his bleeding face and throat. The guards took up positions around the room, clogging the exit, but Oliver held up a hand to stop them from moving further into the room.

Dazed, Kess met her brother's eyes as he spoke.

"They were right," he said, shaking his head. "I don't believe it. Everything they said about you—about the Seat—was right. I didn't want to believe it. I spent years trying to convince them you could be different, but you—"

"Oliver—"

"You murdered countless soldiers, dozens of men at that garrison. You destroyed the Archives. For months we've been sending letters home to the families of Blueblades with a date of death stamped on them—we send so many that we don't have the time or scribes to pen them all. I always knew you hated your Fulminancy, but Kess, this is—you're something different now."

Kess's hands shook as she took her knife and tore the bottom of the dress, resigned. She knew how this would go. Words had never been her strong suit, but she would try anyway, to buy Rowan more time, if anything.

"I did what I had to do," she said quietly. "Oliver, they were kidnapping children, murdering innocent people, raping women—"

"So murder was your answer in turn?" he asked coolly. Kess ignored him, her voice rising as she spoke.

"And what of you? Taking powers that don't belong to you? What happened to the girl whose powers you stole? The brother I knew would never have agreed to something like that. No, Oliver, I haven't changed, but you have."

"How did you—" He hesitated, eying her carefully, then seemed to decide something, his gaze falling away. "Fulminancy is best in the hands of someone who can control it," he said quietly. "Not in the hands of people like you and her."

"What did you do with her?" Kess hissed. Oliver looked uncomfortable.

"I don't know." He glanced at Niall with a note of concern, though Niall mostly just looked inconvenienced. Kess tried another tactic to stall as Rowan divested himself of his jacket, though the questions burned anyway.

"Oliver, what happened to you?" she asked. "Working with the Council, ascending to a Seat—" She stopped then, as a sudden thought occurred to her. "Who did you kill?"

Oliver surveyed her, his gaze dissatisfied. Then he simply blinked.

"Did you really think the Uphill took Aunt and Uncle?" he finally asked. Kess felt the blood drain from her face. "I guess you would have, with your…history. But no, they weren't taken for associating with you—they were my ticket in, all those years ago."

"You murdered our family?" Kess's voice cracked as she let the words out, raw and untamed. This creature—this wasn't her brother.

"Is it any different from what you did, Kess?" His voice was unnervingly calm.

"Of course it's different," she spat. "What I did was an accident, Oliver. A tragedy from weeks without sleep or food where they locked me in a box and beat me on a nightly basis. I wasn't even human anymore. I don't even remember those weeks. Tell me, how many new Fulminancers can control their powers under those circumstances? I was a lit fuse and the Council knew it—they used it. But you…you chose murder," she finished, shaking her head.

The words felt foreign in her mouth. For so long, she'd blamed herself for what happened that night. For so long, she felt like she'd bought her own life with her parents' lives. It was only now, facing her brother, that she realized she'd been unable to prevent that bloody night. What could she have done? She was as much a victim of that evening as her parents.

"Kess," Oliver said quietly. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what, Oliver? Like your murdered our family and lied to me for years? Like you joined the very people who took everything from me? Like you murdered Draven and kidnapped an elderly Fulminancer to hide your connection to his shop? You're a monster."

Kess shook, and it was all she could do to keep herself from charging at her brother. He watched her coldly, distaste on his face.

"You might think so, but the Council has a duty. What we do to ascend is savage—but necessary. Men and women with too many worldly ties won't do what's required when our responsibilities call. Would you not exchange two of your closest kin if it meant that tens of thousands more might live?"

Kess hesitated, her Fulminancy guttering slightly.

"In any case," Oliver said, "you know how this has to go." He eyed the Fulminancy gathering in Kess's hand in the form of a dagger and smiled faintly. "That's a new trick. But I won't fight you, Kess. It's not the nature of a Seat, and you have a trial to face."

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Kess snorted, gathering her feet from under her, kicking off her slippers. Next to her, Rowan's hand left his side and hovered over his sword. "If you're not going to fight me, then you might as well say you're giving me a free pass back Downhill."

Oliver paused then, his back to her already.

"Oh, I'm not fighting you," he said. "They are."

The soldiers filed out after Oliver, Niall on their tails, and Kess hesitated, dagger in one hand, Fulminantic dagger in another, confused. Then four Blockers appeared at the end of the hallway, wearing white robes, their limbs unnaturally long as they closed the distance to the small library, scythes in hand. Kess felt her stomach drop to the floor.

"Rowan," she said quickly, her mind calculating. They couldn't win against four, not in closed quarters like this, with Rowan already injured and Kess limited to daggers. "Promise me something."

"Anything." The four figures drew closer.

"The moment you get an opening, run."

"I'm not—" Kess met his eyes then, tears in her own.

"Rowan, please. If they capture us both, it's over. I need you to get word back to the others."

"They'll have you killed," Rowan protested. Kess gripped the physical dagger harder.

"Eventually, but it'll be a public trial. If they capture you, they might just do it in the cell. Mine will be announced. Worst-case scenario, you and Arlette send in a team." Rowan shook his head, glancing at the approaching Blockers again.

"Rowan." Kess snuffed out her Fulminancy and touched his cheek, gently. The Blockers were perhaps fifteen feet away now, taking their time, closing in on trapped prey. Rowan met her eyes, a whirlwind of emotions in his own. "Rowan, please do this one thing for me." He put his bloody hand over hers and nodded, slowly. Kess pressed her lips to his, terrified that it might be the last time. If it is, then there's no point in pretending anymore, is there?

Rowan broke the kiss, still looking a bit conflicted about his promise. Kess let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, then conjured her dagger again.

"I'd rather not have to keep that promise, if it's all the same to you," Rowan said, unsheathing his sword. Kess smiled grimly.

"My thoughts exactly."

The Blockers came.

Kess had one thought in her mind as the first approached the door, lengthening its arm to stretch inside the room: get Rowan out. She charged, thanking Fanas that she'd had the chance to slice off the better part of her dress, and slid under the legs of the first Blocker with a burst of Fulminancy in her feet, slicing the creature's arm with Eamon's dagger.

The arm snapped back, and the four creatures' attention turned to Kess. She smiled, rolling to her feet, then felt something cold and clammy grip her bare ankle. Her eyes snapped down. When did it have the chance to do that? It was all the time she had to think as her leg went numb and the thing hurled her down the hallway. Panicking, Kess flailed for something as she flew through the air. Her Fulminancy might save her from blacking out, but with the blow she'd taken earlier, she wasn't sure.

As she shot past another of the creatures, she grabbed at its scythe. The arm gave easily, but as it stretched to its full length, her body slowed down slightly. It was enough to keep her conscious, though the air still left her body as she slammed into the stone wall.

Gasping, she slammed the knife into the creature's wrist, pinning it to the ground where it writhed and finally let go of the scythe. Kess got to her feet, cursing the deadness she felt in her leg, and used the scythe to slice at the other creature's arm. It snapped back towards its owner, and Kess readied the scythe, sending her Fulminancy through it.

Mercifully, Rowan had fought his way free of the library. The Blockers' attention had mostly been on Kess. The hallway stretched away at a ninety-degree angle where both Rowan and Kess fought, with each end headed in different directions. Kess charged the closest Blocker, hoping to distract them long enough that Rowan would be able to escape.

Kess swung the scythe, narrowly missing the gut of one of the creatures. It sneered at her with an inhuman smile, its eyes hidden by the hood, and slammed its own staff towards her ribs. Kess managed to get her staff around to block the blow, just barely, though it sent her light form reeling backwards. The extra weight of the blade threw off her balance just enough to be awkward, and she swore.

Kess quickly realized that the Blockers they'd fought Downhill were merely the prototype. These were stronger, faster, and more cunning, as if their creators had tested them and found them wanting. Rowan was better equipped to deal with the Blockers with his brand of Fulminancy, but Kess caught glimpses of him struggling all the same. A sword simply couldn't match the reach of limbs able to stretch past their breaking point.

Kess had her own problems. She dodged another attempt to grab one of her weapon arms, her bare feet quick on the stone. As she jumped, there was a brief, terrifying moment where she hung in the air, helpless.

One of the creatures saw it.

It lengthened its torso and slammed its head into her gut, sending Kess sliding across the floor. She felt the impact with a sickening emptiness in her core, and her Fulminancy snuffed out entirely but for the small amount that played on her scythe.

They had to run.

Rowan had to run.

Kess stumbled to her feet, feeling a surge of pride as Rowan finally beheaded one of the creatures, his chest heaving with the effort. Blood dripped down his shirt, but he seemed confident, and for a second, Kess thought they might have a chance.

Then she looked to the right. Four more creatures crept down the hallway, and a sickly white hand shot towards her. Kess blocked it, but the distraction was all the others needed. The three remaining Blockers in the hallway attacked Kess in turn, and her staff snuffed out.

Kess's eyes snapped to Rowan, now standing isolated in the hallway. She shook her head. Run, she mouthed. Rowan stood there for several agonizing seconds, torment on his face. Leave, Rowan. One arm pinned her to the wall and another one disarmed her, sending her staff clattering to the ground. You can't be a hero here.

Kess watched him, pleading in her eyes. Keep your promise, she begged. Know when we've lost. Finally, after an agonizing moment, Rowan gritted his teeth, sheathed his sword, and ran.

Kess closed her eyes, relieved and sick as the sounds of his running footsteps faded down the hallway. She didn't take for granted what he had done. To leave her here would have gone against most of his instincts, but staying would have meant his death. At least now Kess could worry about herself. Fortunately, her Fulminancy had acted like a beacon for their enemies, and none gave chase after Rowan.

More arms grabbed onto her, and a sickening weakness flooded her body. Her Fulminancy choked and died, like a sputtering candle drowning in a storm. Kess fought to the surface of that storm, clawing at those last bits of light as they flickered and died.

It was gone.

And for the first time in her life, Kess found herself panicking without its touch.