The Last Coal – Short Stories Fantasy & Adventures

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The Last Coal

The realm of Eldra had once washed in unending light, its brilliant roads shimmering under a sun that won’t ever set. Yet, that was before the fire. Nobody knew its actual beginning — the Incomparable Fire, as it was called — just that it had consumed at the core of the illustrious palace for a really long time, its glow supporting the land. At the point when it was stifled, the sun disappeared with it, and the realm was gulped by murkiness.

Years passed, yet nobody actually considered wandering into the illustrious mausoleums underneath the palace, where the last ash of the fire was said to lie, protected by traps, puzzles, and time itself. The accounts murmured of the maze’s bending halls, where the walls moved and the shadows murmured of the individuals who had entered yet stayed away forever. In any case, presently, the realm was near the precarious edge of ruin, its kin starving in the cool evening. Trust had developed as delicate as the actual ash.

Thus, a ragtag gathering of explorers remained at the doors of the demolished palace, prepared to set out on a mission that could save — or damn — them all.

The Adventurers

Woman Elyse, when an aristocrat of Eldra, had been projected out when the realm’s lofty position was usurped and her family blamed for injustice. She had gone through years in banishment, however when the murmurs of the coal contacted her, she realized reclaiming both herself and her house was her opportunity. She worried about the weighty concern of her past, yet her purpose was prepared. She had nothing left to lose.

Tessara was a rebel sorceress whose enchantment had for some time been banned, considered excessively risky for individuals of Eldra. She had been an untouchable even among pariahs, a sorry excuse for a surrendered individual everything for a sample of taboo power. She didn’t know she maintained that the illumination of day should return, however the commitment of what lay underneath the palace was too enticing to even think about standing up to.

Lastly, there was Myr, a huge, conscious wolf who had been bound to Elyse through a settlement made in the days of yore, before the realm fell. Myr’s fur flickered faintly in the obscurity, as though a piece of the lost sun actually waited in him. His eyes were the shade of liquid gold, and he could speak with a sharp knowledge, his brain far more seasoned than his structure.

Together, they slid into the maze underneath the palace, each step reverberating in the virus quiet. The further they went, the more severe the shadows became. Their lights faltered, projecting long, shaking shadows that appeared to go after them.

“You’ve hushed up, Myr,” Elyse expressed, looking at the wolf as they crossed a limited section. “Do you detect something?”

Myr’s ears jerked, his brilliant eyes restricting. “The air is thick with wizardry. There is more here than we were told.”

Tessara laughed dryly. “Obviously there is. This put is based on antiquated, unsteady power. I’m astounded the entire palace hasn’t imploded at this point.”

“We really want to center,” Elyse said, her voice sharp. “There are others after the coal.”

Tessara’s grin blurred. “Indeed. The Shadow Court. They’ve been hunting the coal for a really long time. They’ll remain determined to take it for themselves.”

The gathering proceeded, every footfall a test against the developing feeling of fear that stuck to them. The maze was alive in its own specific manner, a labyrinth of moving walls, disintegrating stone, and the cool, perpetual murmur of obscurity. It appeared to be like the very air planned to mislead them.

After what felt like an unfathomable length of time, they arrived at a huge chamber — its roof lost in shadow, the walls carved with shining runes. At the focal point of the room lay a stone platform, and upon it, a little, beating ash of light.

The last coal of the Incomparable Fire.

Elyse moved forward, her heart dashing. The ash ignited with a weak, delicate sparkle, like it could stifle all of a sudden. She loosened up her hand toward it, however a voice — low and cold — halted her.

“Did you figure you could recover what was lost with such ease?”

From the shadows arose a tall figure hung in dark robes — the shadowed face clouded, yet the voice obvious. The head of the Shadow Court.

“I’ve sat tight years for this second,” the figure proceeded, his voice bound with a bent craving. “I will take the ash, and with it, the realm will fall into timeless haziness, as the stars have aligned just right.”

Myr’s snarl poor the quietness, a low thunder that reverberated through the chamber. “You will not pull off this.”

Yet, the figure just giggled. “Your dependability is pretty much as lost as your confidence in the light.”

The room shuddered as the sorcery inside the coal started to mix. Elyse’s hand floated simply above it, the glow saturating her skin, filling her with a feeling of direction. She went to Tessara.

“Do you actually wish for the murkiness?” she inquired.

Tessara’s lips twisted into a miserable, knowing grin. “I never needed it. I needed to break liberated from both light and dull.”

Elyse’s eyes met hers, and at that time, she comprehended. The fight was not simply between the powers of light and murkiness — it was between their decisions, the ways they strolled, and the reclamation they looked for.

With a last look at Tessara, Elyse pursued her choice. She held onto the coal, feeling its power flood through her, filling her with warmth and light. The chamber shook fiercely as the ash lighted, projecting a splendid shine across the maze.

The Shadow Court pioneer ventured forward, his structure dissolving into smoke as he attempted to snuff out the fire, yet it was past the point of no return. The ash consumed too brilliantly, too savagely for him to control. The light spread outward, banishing the shadows, and the maze started to implode under the heaviness of its power.

Myr wailed, his brilliant eyes gleaming savagely as he limited toward Elyse, encouraging her to escape. “We should go! The fire can’t be held back here!”

With the coal currently bursting in her grasp, Elyse turned, her heart weighty with the acknowledgment that the way to recovery could never be simple. In any case, it was a street she had picked.

As they escaped the imploding vestiges of the palace, the main beams of daylight started to puncture the everlasting evening, projecting long, brilliant shafts across the land. The obscurity that had held Eldra in its grasp for such a long time started to withdraw.

Yet again and without precedent for years, individuals of Eldra could experience the glow of the sun.

Elyse, Tessara, and Myr stood together, looking as the realm was reawakened, the coal actually shining brilliantly in Elyse’s grasp.

The fire had returned. The light had returned.

Also, with it, trust