Kingdom of Ash

A bridge between their two peoples, as
Manon had become.
A light—as the Thirteen had exploded with
light, not darkness, in their final moments.
“When iron melts,” Petrah murmured, her
blue eyes swimming with tears.
The Thirteen had melted that tower. Melted
the Ironteeth within it. And themselves.
“When flowers spring from fields of
blood,” Bronwen went on.
Manon’s knees buckled as she stared out at
that battlefield. Where countless flowers had
been laid atop the blood and ruins where the
Thirteen had met their end.
Glennis finished, “Let the land be witness.”
The battlefield where the rulers and
citizens of so many kingdoms, so many
nations, had come to pay tribute. To witness
the sacrifice of the Thirteen and honor them.
Silence fell, and Manon whispered, her