Ember's POV
The screaming woke me first.
I shot up in bed, my heart pounding like a drum. Orange light danced across my bedroom walls—not the soft glow of morning sun, but angry, flickering flames. Through my window, I could see my neighbor's house burning like a giant candle.
"Mama! Papa!" I threw off my blankets and ran for the door.
The heat hit me before I even reached the hallway. Our house was on fire too. Smoke filled the air, making my eyes water and my throat burn. I pulled my nightshirt over my nose and stumbled forward.
"Ember!" Mama's voice cut through the chaos. She appeared through the smoke, her face covered in soot, dragging my little sister Spark by the hand. "Get to the back door! Now!"
"But Papa—"
"Your father's holding them off!" Mama shoved us toward the kitchen. "Go to the vaults like we practiced! Run!"
Through the front window, I saw something that made my blood freeze. Men in black uniforms were setting fire to houses on purpose. They carried torches and strange glass bottles filled with orange liquid. When they threw the bottles at buildings, flames exploded everywhere.
This wasn't an accident. Someone was burning Cindervale on purpose.
"Why are they doing this?" Ten-year-old Spark sobbed beside me, her small hand gripping mine so tight it hurt.
I didn't have an answer. I was only seventeen, and nothing in my life had prepared me for this nightmare.
A crash came from Papa's study. Through the doorway, I saw him fighting two soldiers. His hands glowed blue—he was using memory magic to confuse them. But there were too many.
"Papa!" I screamed.
"GO!" he roared, throwing one soldier across the room. His eyes met mine for just a second. "Protect your sister! Get to the vaults! Don't come back!"
Mama pushed us hard toward the back door. "Listen to your father! Run!"
The kitchen was already burning. Flames licked up the walls where Mama had taught me to bake bread just yesterday. The table where we ate breakfast every morning was on fire. Everything I knew, everything I loved, was turning to ash.
We burst through the back door into chaos.
Our whole town was burning. Neighbors ran screaming through the streets. I saw Mrs. Chen trying to save her baby from a burning house. I saw old Mr. Ramos collapse from smoke. The bakery, the school, the town square—everything was covered in flames.
"This way!" Mama pulled us toward the garden shed. "The entrance is under—"
A soldier stepped out from behind our apple tree. He was tall and wore a black mask that covered everything except his cold, dark eyes. In his hand, he held a sword that glowed red.
"Memory-weavers," he said, his voice flat and emotionless. "Lord Dredge wants you alive. The children are optional."
Mama stepped in front of us. Her hands began to glow that same blue light as Papa's. "You won't touch my daughters."
"Mama, no!" Spark cried.
Everything happened so fast. The soldier lunged forward. Mama pushed us backward. Blue light exploded between them. I grabbed Spark and ran.
"Don't look back!" I told her, even though I wanted to look back more than anything. I wanted to help Mama. I wanted to find Papa. But Mama's voice echoed in my head: Protect your sister.
We crashed through the garden, past Mama's herb plants, past the swing Papa had built for us. Behind the shed was a wooden trapdoor hidden under ivy. My hands shook as I yanked it open.
"Down! Now!" I practically threw Spark onto the ladder.
The underground passage was pitch black and smelled like old stone. We'd only been down here once before, when Papa showed us where to hide if anything bad ever happened. I never thought we'd actually need it.
We climbed down, down, down. The ladder seemed to go on forever. Above us, I heard shouting. Mama's voice. Then a terrible scream that made my whole body go cold.
"Mama!" Spark tried to climb back up.
I held her tight. "We have to keep going. Mama said—"
A boom shook the entire tunnel. Dirt and rocks fell on our heads. The trapdoor above slammed shut on its own. Or maybe someone closed it. I didn't know.
We finally reached the bottom. The memory vault stretched out before us—a huge underground room filled with shelves and shelves of glowing crystals. Each crystal held someone's memories. Papa had explained once that he and Mama were memory-weavers. They helped people preserve their happiest memories or forget their saddest ones.
Now those crystals were the only light we had.
"Ember, I'm scared," Spark whispered, clinging to me.
"It's okay. We're safe here. Papa said nothing can hurt us in the vaults."
But I was lying. I wasn't sure we were safe anywhere anymore.
I pulled Spark behind a tall shelf near the back corner. "We have to hide and be very, very quiet."
She nodded, tears streaming down her soot-covered face.
We waited in the darkness, listening. The sounds of burning and screaming felt far away now, like a terrible dream. Minutes passed. Or maybe hours. I couldn't tell.
Then I heard it—boots on the ladder. Heavy footsteps coming down.
Spark's eyes went wide with terror. I covered her mouth with my hand and held my breath.
The footsteps got closer. Closer.
"Find them," a cold voice said. "Lord Dredge wants the girl's blood. She's the last Pyromancer bloodline."
Pyromancer? What did that mean?
"And the other one?" a second voice asked.
"Kill her."
My heart stopped. They were talking about Spark. They wanted to kill my baby sister.
The soldiers spread out, searching between the shelves. Their footsteps echoed in the stone room. I pressed Spark closer against the wall, praying they wouldn't find us.
A hand grabbed my shoulder from behind.
I spun around and saw—nothing. No one was there. But when I turned back, a soldier stood right in front of our hiding spot.
His eyes locked onto mine.
"Found you," he said, reaching for us.
Spark screamed. I pushed her behind me and did the only thing I could think of—I grabbed a memory crystal from the shelf and threw it at his face.
It shattered. Blue light exploded everywhere. The soldier stumbled backward, screaming and clutching his head like something was eating his brain from the inside.
"Run!" I grabbed Spark's hand and pulled her deeper into the vault.
But there was nowhere to run. More soldiers blocked every path. We were trapped.
The cold-voiced leader stepped into the light. He wore a fancy uniform and his face was sharp and cruel. "Ember Ashford," he said, like he knew me. "Your parents discovered something they shouldn't have. Now the whole bloodline pays the price."
He pulled out a strange needle that glowed silver. "Hold her still. This will only hurt for a moment."
Two soldiers grabbed my arms. I kicked and fought and screamed, but they were too strong.
"Leave her alone!" Spark threw herself at them, but a soldier caught her and lifted her off the ground.
"Let my sister go!" I shouted.
The leader smiled—a terrible, empty smile. "I'll let her go, alright. Straight into the fire with the others."
"NO!"
The needle pressed against my temple. Sharp, burning pain shot through my head. I felt something being pulled out of me, like someone was reaching into my brain and stealing pieces of my thoughts.
The last thing I saw before everything went black was Spark's terrified face.
And the last thing I heard was the leader's voice: "Burn the second girl. Leave this one for the cleanup crew to find. Let her suffer with the gaps in her memory. It will drive her mad."
Then darkness swallowed everything.