Sun 24th Aug 2025 04:20

Session 1 - Day 3 - Morning, Third Chamber

by Elysiaera Calistrae

It was raining when I woke.
 
Soft, steady—like the forest was whispering. I packed quickly. The tomb was waiting.
 
I passed the statue again, its gaze unchanged. I turned left this time, into the darker corridor. Thirty feet down, the wall opened into a long chamber. A desk sat rotting in the corner, its chair slumped and mildewed. Behind it, a steward—well-dressed once, now hollow-eyed and hissing.
 
He rose with a dagger in hand. His baleful eyes seemed to ask, “Who disturbs my mistress?”
 
The fight was brutal. He grabbed me by the head, tried to drive the blade into my skull. I couldn’t get my rapier into position. I was too close, too cornered. But I moved—fast, desperate—and struck him with the pommel. He reeled. I retreated.
 
Then came the flame.
 
I didn’t mean to lose control. But I was tired of feeling weak. Tired of bleeding. Tired of wondering if I belonged here. The Emberlash surged—white-hot, furious, mine. It consumed the steward, the desk, the chair. I barely stopped it before it took the whole room.
 
My hands trembled. My breath came in gasps. I felt something inside me shift—expand. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. But it’s different. And it’s awake.
 
Then I heard it.
 
A voice from the corridor beyond. Gravelly. Ethereal. Ancient.
 
“Who are you?”
 
I didn’t answer. Not yet.
 
But I think I will.
—E