Ashes And Echoes
CHAPTER 1- ASHES AND ECHOES
The air was thick with smoke rising from burning rooftops. Ash drifted through the sky like black snow, settling on shattered stone and terrified faces.
In the center of the town square, a woman knelt on the cold ground, wrists bound tight.
An angry mob circled her.
“Kill her!” “Witch!”
“No—no—” Her voice trembled, thin against the roar.
Where is this?
Why are they doing this?
The smoke clawed at her lungs.
She tried to lift her head.
Through the shifting bodies, she saw him.
A man in a grey cloak stood apart from the chaos.
Still.
Watching.
His face was half-hidden in shadow.
Unreadable.
Their eyes met.
For a second, the world narrowed to that gaze.
Then a rough hand shoved her forward.
Stone scraped her knees.
A shadow fell across her back.
Steel flashed in the firelight.
The axe rose.
“Ahhh—!”
The scream tore through smoke and sky as the blade came down.
Lyra jolted upright in a dark bedroom.
Her lungs dragged in air as if she had been drowning.
Sweat clung to her skin.
Her heart pounded violently against her ribs.
"Ha-Ha-"
She looked around wildly.
Her bedroom.
She grabbed at her neck. Her fingers pressing frantically against her skin, sliding to the base of her throat.
It was a dream.
“Lyra! Oh good heavens, what happened?”
The bedroom door burst open.
Her aunt and uncle rushed in.
“What happened?” her aunt asked, brushing damp hair from Lyra’s forehead.
Lyra swallowed.
“It… it was a nightmare. I watched a horror movie two days ago. It must be because of that.”
Her uncle’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You were worried for nothing, Luci,” he sighed. “She’s not a child anymore. You even woke me up. Come on, let’s sleep.”
“Do you want me to stay?” Luci asked gently.
“No, I’m fine.” Lyra wiped her forehead with trembling fingers.
“Good night,” Luci said softly before leaving.
“Night, Aunty.”
The door clicked shut.
Silence returned.
Again, she thought.
That same dream.
And that man.
Even in the raging crowd, he had been the only one she looked at.
The only one she searched for.
I’ve seen him before.
Not just tonight.
In other dreams.
His face was always blurred.
But his presence—
Unmistakable.
