Fantasy · 28 chapters · by Royendgel Silberie · in english
'Step into the flame, cadet Thorn.' The proctor's voice rings through the Emberhall. You mount the brazier dais, a hundred cadets watching, and the…
Chapter 1: The Black Flame
'Step into the flame, cadet Thorn.' The proctor's voice rings through the Emberhall. You mount the brazier dais, a hundred cadets watching, and the sorting flame climbs your body — warm, searching, familiar as a nightmare. Then it turns black. Not smoke. Black fire, silent as a held breath. Every proctor looks at everything except you. Two years ago your sister stood exactly here. Then this academy lost her.
What happens next? I stare the proctors down. Look at me. Say it. · I step off calmly before anyone starts asking questions. · I whisper my sister's name into the black fire.
Chapter 2: A Trick of the Drafts
You hold the senior proctor's gaze until he flinches. 'A trick of the drafts,' he announces, too loudly, and the hall exhales its relief. But across the dais one man doesn't pretend: Commander Rhen Valemont, black-coated, one gloved hand resting on the rail, watching you the way a hawk watches a snare. Then his voice cuts the murmur clean in half. 'Cadet Thorn. You're mine.'
What happens next? Fine. I meet his eyes and don't look away. · I salute like a model cadet and give him nothing. · My stomach drops — I know that name from the report.
Chapter 3: Rules of the Tower
Commander Valemont's tower study smells of cedar and old smoke. He doesn't sit. 'Rules. You fly when I say. You question nothing in front of the others.' His gloved hand rests on a stack of files — one bears the trials' crest from two years ago, you'd swear it. 'And cadet: I remember every word anyone has ever said to me. Choose yours carefully.' He requested you. Why?
What happens next? What's in the files, Commander? I ask it straight. · I recite his rules back word-perfect. Two can remember. · Why me? I let the question sound small.
Chapter 4: Casualty Reports
'What's in the files?' Nothing changes in his face — that's how you know you've struck something. 'Casualty reports,' he says. 'The trials keep them honest.' He slides the stack into a drawer that locks with a word, not a key. That night in the barracks, Sera Vane drops onto the bunk across from yours. 'Valemont never takes cadets,' she says. 'The last one he took is dead.'
What happens next? Dead how, Sera? I want the ugly version. · I pretend to sleep and file it all away. · Then why did he take me? I say it aloud.
Chapter 5: The Gauntlet
'First trial: the gauntlet!' Wind rips across the sea cliffs as you run the burning course — flame hurdles, live ember pits. Halfway through, every torch along the gauntlet flares black at your passing, a wave of dark fire chasing your heels. Cadets scream. You clear the final wall as Rhen catches your arm, grip iron, eyes furious. 'Who are you?' he says, too quiet for anyone else.
What happens next? Ivy Thorn. Farm country. Nobody. I lie clean. · Someone your torches don't like, apparently. I deflect. · Someone who lost— I stop myself too late.
Chapter 6: Nobody
'Ivy Thorn. Farm country. Nobody.' He holds your arm one beat longer, measuring the lie against everything he has ever heard. 'Nobody,' he repeats, and lets go. Behind him the proctors are already raking the black scorch marks smooth, erasing evidence with the ease of long practice. Later the archivist finds you — kind eyes, ink-stained fingers. 'Come to the Ashvault tonight,' Maren whispers. 'Bring your questions.'
What happens next? I'll be there. Questions are all I have. · Could be a trap. I'll go — armed with caution. · Why is she helping me? I ask her outright.
Chapter 7: The Torn Signature
The Ashvault at midnight: shelves of ash-paper, lanterns burning low and blue. Maren unlocks a cage of black iron. 'Incident report. Third trial, two years ago.' The file is thin — too thin. Casualty list: Fern Calder, deceased. Recovery of remains: page missing. Signature: R. Valemont — but the ink is wrong, the pen pressed so hard it tore through the paper. Bootsteps ring on the stair.
What happens next? I kill the lantern and melt into the stacks. · I tear out the signature page and hide it. · I stand my ground and face whoever's coming.
Chapter 8: The Vane Tribunal
You fold into the shadow of the stacks as Sera Vane sweeps in — out of bounds, after curfew, unafraid. 'The Calder file,' she tells Maren. 'My house wants it.' Maren's kind voice goes flat as slate. 'Tell Lord Vane the Ashvault keeps its dead.' When Sera leaves, Maren finds your eyes in the dark. 'The Vanes sat the tribunal that closed your sister's case. Remember that.'
What happens next? The night trial's coming. I go in hunting answers. · I confront Sera before the trial. We settle this. · I tell Rhen what I heard. Watch his face.
Chapter 9: Into the Breathing Dark
The night trial: enter the Broodmother's den, take one shed scale, come out alive. Torches forbidden. You go in fast and low, following the heat-shimmer, the dark thick enough to chew. Somewhere ahead, breathing — vast, slow, tidal. Behind you a cadet's scream cuts off mid-note, and the proctors' whistles never come. Nobody is coming. The den swallows sound, light, names. You keep moving.
What happens next? I follow the heat toward the nest itself. · I hug the left wall and count the alcoves. · That scream. I go toward it instead.
Chapter 10: From the Inside
Deep in the den you find the shed-pile — and beyond it a low tunnel breathing warm air, and a sound. Scratching. The wall beside the Broodmother's nest is scarred with hundreds of tally-marks, and one line of fresh letters cut waist-high into the stone: FERN CALDER. The rock dust still lies on the floor beneath. The letters are pushed outward, toward you. Carved from the inside.
What happens next? I crawl into the breathing tunnel after the sound. · I scream her name into the stone. · I run for Rhen. He knew. He KNEW.
