The Infinite Ascent
Chapter 13: Ashes Of The Fallen
Silence draped over the battlefield like a suffocating shroud, heavy and oppressive. It was a silence that felt almost tangible, a quiet so profound that it enveloped everything in a thick, numbing embrace. The eerie stillness was occasionally punctuated by the faint crackle of dying flames, embers sputtering out their last desperate gasps of life. I could hear the groans of stone as it succumbed to the pull of the abyss, collapsing into the dark chasm that lay below. The once-mighty Fireborn Colossus, a towering figure that had loomed over us with molten majesty and unrelenting rage, lay defeated. Its formidable form had been reduced to a chaotic scattering of smoldering fragments, the remnants of our victory strewn across the shattered remains of the bridge we had fought so fiercely to protect. No longer did its core blaze with the hellish light of an inferno. Now, only the faintest glimmers of embers pulsed weakly, as if defiantly challenging the inevitability of its end.
Amidst the wreckage, we stood paralyzed, shadows of what we had been before this confrontation. Our weapons felt heavy in our hands, weighed down by the burden of grief and exhaustion. Each ragged breath scraped against our throats, as if even the act of filling our lungs with air was too much to bear. This should have been a moment of triumph, a moment to savor our hard-fought victory. Yet all that clung to our souls was exhaustion and loss.
At my side, the boy clung to the edge of my cloak, his small frame trembling with every heaving breath. His wide, terrified eyes remained glued to the spot where the colossal form had once stood, as if he feared it might somehow resurrect and rise again, ready to unleash another torrent of destruction. I knelt and lowered a hand to his shoulder, desperate to steady him. "It's over," I whispered, the words barely breaking the stillness. "For now."
But even as the words left me, I felt the hollowness that echoed behind them. The Path offered no true endings, only cruel beginnings disguised as momentary reprieves. We had not triumphed over the darkness; we had merely survived it, only to stand on the edge of yet another unknown.
From the jagged rim of the fractured bridge, the scarred man's laughter cut through the desolation, harsh and bitter. His weapon, still dripping with molten ichor, hung loosely in his grip. "Pathetic," he muttered, though the crooked smirk on his lips betrayed a twisted satisfaction. His gaze turned to me, sharp as his blade. "That wasn't victory. That was survival. Nothing more." The weight of his words lingered like smoke, choking what little hope remained.
The crimson woman stepped forward, her tattered robes billowing like forgotten banners amidst the ruin. Ash streaked her form, but her poise remained unshaken. Faint flames danced around her hands, less weapons now than a mantle of authority she wore with quiet dignity. Yet even she could not hide the sorrow in her eyes.
Around us lay the remnants of the chosen. Bodies half-buried in debris, faces frozen in grim defiance or wide-eyed terror. Their sacrifice had kept us alive, yet their silence screamed louder than the colossus ever had.
The boy tugged at my sleeve, his voice fragile. "Why... why did they have to die? Couldn't the Path have spared them?" Each word cracked like glass, shattering the silence.
I knelt to meet his gaze, my heart aching beneath the weight pressing down on my chest. "The Path doesn't spare, child. It tests. And those who fall..." The words burned on my tongue. "...they carve the way for those who remain."
His lip quivered, tears brimming, but slowly he nodded. Somewhere in his grief, the faint ember of resolve still glowed.
The crimson woman's voice was steady. "This place will not hold much longer." She gestured to the fractured stone bridge, which continued to crumble into the abyss. "We must move before the Path collapses it entirely."
The scarred man's grin widened. "Let it collapse. The weak are gone. What remains is stronger." His words dripped with contempt.
I rose sharply, fury sparking inside me. "Say one more word, and I'll carve your philosophy into your flesh."
For a moment the silence tightened, taut as a drawn bow. His smirk faltered, but only for a heartbeat before returning, sly and venomous. He said nothing more.
We began our march across the ruined bridge, each step deliberate, the abyss yawning hungrily beneath us. The air was thick with smoke and sulfur, the very world groaning beneath the weight of ruin.
As we walked, my thoughts churned. The colossus was no mere guardian. It had been crafted to test us, to thin our ranks, to break our spirits. And if such a creature was only one of many trials, what horrors waited deeper within the Path?
Halfway across, the boy's voice reached me again, quiet but piercing. "Will there be more like it?"
I hesitated. I wanted to tell him no. I wanted to promise safety. But lies are fragile things, easily shattered in the crucible of the Path.
"Yes," I admitted at last. "And worse."
His small hands clenched into fists, but to my surprise, his voice steadied. "Then... then I'll stand. Like you said. No matter what."
A faint, bitter smile tugged at my lips. "Good. That's all the Path asks."
The crimson woman glanced back at us, her expression unreadable. For the first time, though, I thought I saw something soften in her eyes, a flicker of approval or perhaps pity.
By the time we reached the far side of the bridge, the last fragments of the colossus had crumbled away, leaving nothing but ashes carried into the abyss by unseen winds.
Ashes of the fallen. Ashes of those who had carved the way forward.
I looked back once, letting the silence etch itself into memory, and swore quietly to myself.
Their deaths would not be meaningless.
The Path would demand more. More trials. More sacrifices. More lives.
But so long as I drew breath, I would see it through.
Not for myself. Not even for the Path.
But for those who could no longer walk it.
To be continued...