NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36: Ashes and Echoes
"The past isn't gone. It simply waits."
🌑 Scene: The Tower's Heart — The Hall of Echoes
The battle with the Crimson Cult had scarred them. Arishka slept fitfully, her body healing — but her soul still bound by old wounds. Jemil stood watch over her, his blade across his lap, staring at the shifting walls of the Tower.
They were in a new floor now — Level 36 — and this one was different.
It was silent.
Not the calm kind of silence… the pressing kind. Like the Tower itself was holding its breath.
And then, the whispering began.
"You abandoned me."
A voice. Feminine. Familiar.
Jemil turned — and saw her.
🕯️ The Ghost of Veyra
Veyra.
She wasn't alive — not truly. Her body shimmered like smoke, and her eyes… held the sadness of someone who had waited too long for an apology.
"You told me I mattered," she said.
"You did," Jemil said, stepping forward. "You do."
"Then why didn't you save me?"
The floor trembled.
💭 The Hall Reacts to Memory
This was no illusion.
The Tower was using Jemil's guilt to power the challenge. His regrets, his mistakes, his echoes — all given shape.
The Hall of Echoes wasn't meant to test strength. It tested resolve.
Each step Jemil took forward forced him to relive what he'd lost: friends turned to enemies, lovers turned to dust, decisions that seemed right in the moment… but haunted him now.
He clenched his fists.
"I didn't come this far to drown in ghosts."
🛡️ The Wife Who Held Him Together
Elavira stepped beside him, her illusions flickering softly around them like protective fireflies.
"You're not alone," she said gently. "And you never were. Even in your darkest decisions… we still chose you."
She reached out, touching the edge of Veyra's apparition.
The memory faded — not in anger, but in peace.
"Let go," it whispered.
🔥 Trial of the Ashen Mirror
At the center of the hall, a massive mirror stood — black and cracked. Jemil approached it alone, and saw not his reflection, but a future:
Himself on a throne, cold and cruel
His wives turned to stone, eyes empty
The Tower silent, broken by power misused
"This is what you become… if you forget why you fight," the Tower murmured.
Jemil closed his eyes. Thought of Arishka's trembling hands, Kaelara's sarcastic loyalty, Elavira's soothing voice. Zhera's quiet strength.
"I'm not chasing a throne," he said. "I'm chasing them."
And with that, the mirror shattered.
🌟 Reward: Echo's Ring
A golden ring floated in the air where the mirror had been.
Echo's Ring — a relic that protected the bearer from illusion, and once per day, let them relive a moment… to rewrite it.
Jemil caught it.
And the Tower approved.
"Level 36 cleared."
❤️ Final Scene: Quiet Resolve
That night, Jemil sat with Elavira. They didn't speak — they didn't need to.
She leaned on his shoulder, and he finally breathed — not like a warrior preparing for battle, but a man learning to forgive himself.
📣 Call to Action
🪞 What moment would you rewrite if you could?
💬 Comment your favorite wife so far — and why!
🔔 Bookmark — Chapter 37 will shake the Tower to its core!