NOVEL WEB Chapter 10: Bones of the Skyborn
The map on the wall was older than the war itself.
Aaron stood before it, eyes scanning the parchment's faded lines and gilded names—Takoba, Gizana, Hollowmere, Nareth, and the Vellun Coast. Each name whispered secrets, growing louder as his fingers traced the roads between them.
Behind him, Frankfurt's voice broke the silence.
> "Maro is not what it was. It never was."
Aaron turned slightly. "What does that mean?"
> "What you call a kingdom," Frankfurt continued, "was once a prison built by kings afraid of fire. Your ancestors weren't nobles. They were rebels with stars in their blood."
Aaron's gaze settled on a symbol etched near the mountains of Nareth—a shattered crown circled in flames.
> "What's this?"
Frankfurt's eyes darkened. "The Pyre Gate. The place where the first Skyborn were burned alive. They say their ashes still whisper in the wind. Some say… they never died."
---
Later that evening, Aaron sat with Ashen in the private quarters of the western tower. The child held a book without a title. As he opened it, images shimmered across the pages—memories trapped in ink.
> "Did you know about Nareth?" Aaron asked.
Ashen didn't look up. "It's where I was supposed to die."
Aaron froze.
Ashen's voice was distant, steady. "I was taken there when I was little. They called it a 'testing ground.' They burn children like me there. To see if the flame comes out clean… or cursed."
Aaron clenched his fists. "And you escaped?"
Ashen's pale eyes met his. "No. Someone set me free. But I never saw who."
---
Down below, in the Hall of Chains beneath the Pierce estate, Kain entered carrying a torch.
Frankfurt stood beside an iron coffin suspended in a circle of rune-stones. Frost clung to its edges, yet faint blue fire pulsed from within.
> "Is that… a Skyborn?" Kain asked.
Frankfurt nodded. "The last confirmed one before Aaron. Burned in the year of the Black Sun. But her heart never stopped glowing."
He looked at the torch in Kain's hand. "Bring Aaron down tomorrow. He needs to see this."
---
That night, Aaron dreamed of Nareth.
Not the place as it was, but as it burned.
He stood atop a mountain of white ash, surrounded by towering statues of flame. The sky cracked open, and from it descended figures with fire in their veins and wings of soot.
> One of them looked at him and said:
> "We are the fire you forgot."
---
Aaron awoke gasping, the edges of his bedsheets scorched.
Ashen stood at the door, eyes glowing faintly. "You saw it too."
Aaron sat up. "Saw what?"
Ashen stepped forward. "The call. The mountains are waking. And they remember your name."