Here is Chapter 4, written to continue seamlessly from your 1,000-word Chapter 3.
This chapter is also around 1,000 words for consistency (slightly over for nat
Snow blurred beneath Ashen's boots as he tore through the forest, Lira clinging to him with a desperation that felt like claws through his cloak. The girl's heartbeat hammered against his ribs, not fast like fear, but frantic, wild, the sound of something refusing to die.
Behind them, Ironhand crashed through the trees.
It wasn't pursuit. It was an avalanche in human form.
Branches snapped like brittle bones. Trunks the width of Ashen's chest splintered as Ironhand barreled through them instead of going around. Every impact sent a tremor skittering through the frozen ground.
"Ashen!" Lira cried as the world lurched from Ironhand's approach.
"I know," he said, teeth clenched. "Hold tight."
The slope grew steeper underfoot. Ashen's momentum dragged them forward faster than he liked, but stopping meant death. The forest thinned ahead, opening into white glare. He recognized the terrain a heartbeat before they burst from the treeline.
A ravine.
Deep, wide, and carved by centuries of winter storms. Its far side was a jagged wall of ice. Wind howled through it in a throat-deep moan.
Trapped.
Ashen skidded to a stop inches before the drop, boots carving twin trenches in the snow. He spun, setting Lira on her feet behind him, one arm reflexively sweeping her back.
Ironhand emerged from the trees seconds later, snow shaking loose from his cloak in a plume around him. His gauntleted fist hung at his side like a hammer waiting to fall. He was breathing hard but smiling, feral and triumphant.
"End of the road, Silent Knife."
Ashen raised his blades. His breath created thin clouds that drifted between them like smoke before a duel.
Lira trembled behind him. Her hand found his cloak again. He didn't look back—but he shifted his stance so his body shielded her entirely.
Ironhand rolled his neck. "You could've walked away," he said. "All you had to do was leave the girl. Why is she worth dying for?"
Ashen didn't answer. He had no answer—not one he understood. Instinct wasn't something he could explain.
Ironhand chuckled. "You don't even know, do you? You're a weapon, Ashen Vale. A blade someone else forged. And blades don't choose."
He stepped forward, snow groaning beneath him.
"This is mercy," Ironhand added. "I'll make it quick."
Ashen moved first.
He lunged with both knives, one angling high, one low—a killing strike on any other man. But Ironhand swung the gauntlet up with startling speed, catching the lower blade in a burst of sparks. The impact jolted Ashen's arm numb.
Ironhand's other hand shot forward, massive fingers closing around Ashen's throat.
Ashen twisted free a second before Ironhand crushed his windpipe. He used the momentum to drive a knee into Ironhand's ribs, but the man was built like stone. The strike barely forced a grunt from him.
Ironhand grabbed for him again, and Ashen darted sideways, slicing a line across Ironhand's thigh—not deep enough to cripple, but enough to draw a growl.
"You're faster," Ironhand admitted. "But speed tires. Strength doesn't."
He charged.
Ashen barely had time to shove Lira aside before Ironhand slammed into him like a falling tree. Pain exploded across Ashen's ribs. He hit the ground hard, snow flying around him.
Ironhand grabbed the front of Ashen's cloak and lifted him off the ground with one hand.
"I've killed men better than you," he said, breath hot against the cold air. "This doesn't have to be..."
A small sound broke through the chaos.
Not a scream. Not a sob.
A whimper.
Ironhand turned his head slightly.
Lira stood a few feet away, hands shaking, eyes wide. She wasn't running. She wasn't hiding. She just looked… defeated. As if she'd suddenly realized the world wasn't going to give her even this one mercy.
"Please…" she whispered. "Don't hurt him."
Ironhand's smile returned. "Child. I will make it fast for..."
Ashen's heel slammed into Ironhand's knee.
The giant staggered, dropping Ashen to the snow. Ashen hit the ground rolling, gasping for air, but he never lost grip on his knives.
Ironhand steadied himself and snarled. "Enough games."
He lunged again.
Ashen dodged, barely, the metal fist brushing the air near his skull. It smashed into the ground instead, sending snow and ice spraying upward. For an instant, the world became a white blur. Ashen used it.
He dove behind Ironhand and slashed at the straps securing the gauntlet.
Leather parted.
Ironhand spun, swinging wildly, but Ashen ducked and kicked the man's injured knee. Ironhand dropped to one leg with a roar. Ashen drove a blade into the joint of the gauntlet, wedging it between two plates where the metal flexed.
Ironhand's eyes widened. "You.."
Ashen ripped the blade upward.
The gauntlet tore open with a metallic shriek.
Ironhand bellowed in pain, grabbing his now-exposed arm, blood seeping between his fingers.
Ashen didn't hesitate.
He grabbed Lira, pulling her toward the ravine's edge as Ironhand struggled to rise. The giant's rage shook the air.
"You think you can escape?" Ironhand roared. "There's nowhere to run!"
Ashen looked over the ravine.
Sheer drop. Ice walls. A river far below, half-frozen and rushing like a beast. Jumping was suicide.
Staying was worse.
He crouched in front of Lira. "Arms around my neck," he said, voice rapid but steady.
Her fingers locked instantly.
Ironhand was coming again, stumbling but still impossibly strong, fury driving him forward.
Ashen stepped back.
Three feet from the edge.
Two.
One.
"Ashen!!!" Ironhand's voice cracked with something like disbelief.
Ashen met his eyes.
"I choose," he said.
Then he jumped.
Wind tore the scream from Lira's throat as they fell into the frozen canyon. Snow spun around them in a dizzying white spiral. The icy river rushed up to meet them.
Ironhand's roar echoed above, a sound full of rage, loss, and something Ashen couldn't decipher.
He didn't have time to.
Ashen tightened his grip on the girl.
The world became water, cold, dark and merciless.
And then everything vanished into the deep.