THE WAR OF SUN AND ASH
Deep within the capital, the King stood before a massive celestial construct known as the Solstice Engine. Rings of divine machinery rotated slowly around a blinding core of light. Behind him, Solaris knelt, his body broken, ribs shattered, blood soaking the marble floor.
"My King… Ushinai synchronized with the Catalyst."
The King paused.
Then he spoke calmly.
"So the child has finally awakened."
Solaris trembled—not from pain, but from the tone.
The King turned.
"Prepare the Sunblades. Tell the world their god has spoken."
Solaris bowed deeply.
"Yes… Your Majesty."
War was officially declared.
---
Ushinai awoke inside an abandoned cave.
Gold-ash fractures ran across his skin like living scars. His eyes flickered unpredictably. Lyra sat beside him, exhaustion etched into her face.
"Your heart stopped twice," she said quietly. "Don't scare me like that again."
Kael guarded the entrance, sharpening his blade. Zell paced restlessly.
When Ushinai tried to stand, the world warped. Stone melted into flame. His pulse spiraled out of control.
Lyra grabbed him.
"Don't force Apex Mode. It's eating you alive."
"I need to control it," he said through clenched teeth. "The King is—"
"The King is coming here," Kael interrupted.
---
Outside, the sky turned white.
A burning circle formed overhead—not a sun, but a divine portal.
Solaris descended with twenty Sunblades, warriors whose golden armor gleamed like molten daylight. Their swords hummed with holy power.
By decree of the King, Solaris declared, Ushinai must die.
Lyra raised her bow.
Kael readied his scythes.
Zell steadied himself despite trembling hands.
Ushinai stepped forward.
"You want me?" he said. "Come take me."
---
The battlefield exploded into chaos.
Kael tore through Sunblades with shadowed strikes. Lyra's arrows carved craters through the earth. Zell moved faster than ever before, disrupting enemies long enough for the others to strike.
But the Sunblades were unnatural.
They regenerated burns.
They resurrected after death.
They adapted to every technique.
Solaris watched calmly.
"This is pointless," he said. "Your people will die."
Gold-ash flame ignited around Ushinai.
"They're not followers," he replied.
"They're family."
---
Solaris raised a radiant crystal. The sky fractured.
From the heavens descended a divine weapon—
THE SPEAR OF SOLARUS.
Holy fire erupted as Solaris grasped it.
"Round two, monster."
Light and ash collided, leveling the valley.
---
Apex Mode began to destabilize.
Gold and black flames twisted violently through Ushinai's body. His heartbeat fractured. His veins glowed.
Lyra screamed for him to stop.
But Solaris drove the spear through Ushinai's stomach.
Pain detonated something inside him.
Apex erupted completely.
His form warped. Flames bent reality itself. His voice distorted into something inhuman.
Solaris stepped back in fear.
"What… have you become?"
---
Ushinai seized him and slammed him into the earth. Each step shattered the ground. Solaris panicked for the first time in his life.
Lyra ran forward, screaming his name.
Kael grabbed her arm.
"He'll kill you too."
Ushinai released a blast meant to erase Solaris—
But the unstable flames spiraled outward.
The explosion swallowed the battlefield.
Kael shielded Lyra with his body. Zell tried to flee—but the blast struck him directly.
When the smoke cleared, Zell lay motionless.
Burned. Broken.
Ushinai collapsed as Apex burned out.
Solaris escaped through a portal of light.
---
Hours later, Ushinai woke.
He saw Lyra crying.
Kael standing in silence.
Zell's body covered.
"What… happened?" he whispered.
Lyra looked at him with tears streaming.
"You did."
His memories returned in fragments—the screaming, the explosion, the loss.
He fell to his knees.
"I didn't mean to…"
Kael's voice was cold.
"Intent doesn't matter. Outcome does."
---
They buried Zell atop a cliff overlooking a valley of ash.
Ushinai swore he would never lose control again, never let his flame hurt those he loved.
Lyra cried.
Kael walked away.
The Ashen Dawn was breaking.
---
Across the kingdom, the King appeared in a massive projection.
"My people," he announced calmly. "A demon has awakened. A child of forbidden flame named Ushinai."
Images of destruction filled the sky.
"I shall purge him and bring eternal daylight."
Panic swept the realm.
Some joined Ushinai.
Others fled.
Some tried to capture him.
He isolated himself in guilt.
Lyra approached him.
"You weren't yourself," she said. "But that doesn't erase what happened."
"I don't deserve forgiveness."
"That's not your choice," she replied softly. "Your choice is who you become next."
---
An ancient Seer appeared.
"The Antares has awakened," she said.
She spoke of prophecy—of a child destined to burn the world or save it.
"I choose to save it," Ushinai said.
"Then you must face the part of you that wants to destroy it."
---
The sky tore open.
The King himself descended.
Gravity bent beneath his feet.
Lyra and Kael collapsed to their knees. Ushinai struggled even to breathe.
"Your father was a failure," the King said calmly. "And now you repeat him."
"I'll die before I serve you," Ushinai growled.
"That can be arranged."
The King moved faster than light.
Ushinai blocked—barely—and his arm shattered instantly.
With a touch to his forehead, every flame within Ushinai vanished.
"You are not ready," the King whispered. "Grow stronger. Suffer more. Then I will retrieve you."
He vanished.
---
Ushinai shook violently.
Then he stood.
"We're done running," he said. "We gather allies. We train. We hunt Solaris. And then the King."
Lyra stepped beside him.
Kael nodded.
War had begun.
And the Ashen Dawn would not break again.