Ashen Ascension: The Divided Flame-Chapter 41: Exploding Pain

He spotted a tree with low branches and moved toward it, intending to climb and hide until they passed.

He grabbed the bark and pulled himself upward. Pain exploded through his body.

His muscles failed him. His grip slipped. He fell back to the ground, the impact knocking the air from his lungs. Before he could recover, movement appeared ahead.

Three boys stepped into view.

"It’s him," one of them said quietly.

The other narrowed his eyes, stepping closer. "The one who robbed us."

They did not rush him.

They slowed as they approached him, their earlier urgency giving way to something more cautious now that they could see him clearly.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. They had expected resistance and a fight.

Instead, Ivor lay on the ground, his body hunched slightly forward, his breathing uneven. Sweat clung to his skin, dampening his shirt, his shoulders trembling faintly with each breath.

They circled him, careful. One moved to his left, the other to his right, cutting off any immediate path of escape.

Ivor did not react.

He remained where he was, his head lowered slightly, his chest rising and falling as he struggled to maintain control over his body.

"You don’t look so strong now," the boy to his right said, his voice carrying a faint edge of satisfaction.

The other crouched down beside him, close enough that Ivor could feel his presence.

"Where did you put it?" he demanded.

Ivor did not answer.

The boy reached forward and grabbed his shirt roughly, his fingers searching through the fabric, then moving lower, checking his waist, his pockets. His movements grew more forceful as he found nothing.

"He doesn’t have anything," he said, frustration creeping into his voice.

He shoved Ivor back onto the ground.

"What did you do with the crystals?" the other asked.

Still, Ivor did not respond.

His body trembled beneath their grip, his breathing uneven, sweat running down his temple and into the dirt beneath him.

The crouching boy studied him more carefully now.

"...What’s wrong with him?" he asked.

The other frowned. "Is he injured?"

"He wasn’t like this yesterday."

He reached out and pushed Ivor’s shoulder.

No resistance. Only trembling.

He kicked him l in the side. Not hard enough to injure. Hard enough to provoke a reaction.

Ivor’s body shifted slightly with the impact, but he did not fight back.

"...Pathetic," the boy muttered.

They exchanged a brief look.

"He won’t go far like this," one of them said. "Call the others."

The other nodded and turned, breaking into a run as his footsteps faded quickly between the trees.

The remaining boys stayed. Ivor remained on the ground, his breathing ragged, his body slick with sweat.

Inside him, the pressure built again.

It spread through his muscles, tightening without warning. His hearing sharpened first, the forest clarifying around him. Leaves shifting. Air moving. The boy’s breathing, steady and unaware.

Then his vision followed.

The world narrowed.

Edges sharpened.

Clarity returned.

His fingers tightened slowly against the soil.

His body moved before thought could interfere. He pushed himself up, pulled out his dagger from the belt and drove it forward, the blade piercing into one boy’s shoulder. The boy cried out as Ivor tore the weapon free and pivoted, his knee rising violently into the other boy’s head.

The impact dropped him instantly.

Ivor ran.

But the strength did not last. The clarity faded.

Pain returned.

His legs failed again, forcing him to stop. Behind him, footsteps resumed.

Ahead of him, more appeared. Three more boys stepped into his path.

He turned to escape.

They were already behind him. Six of them surrounded him.

They closed in without hesitation.

The moment the sixth boy stepped into place, the circle tightened around Ivor, leaving no gap between them. Their footsteps were slow, deliberate, the confidence in their movements unmistakable now that escape was no longer possible.

Ivor remained on his knees, his body hunched forward, his breathing ragged. Sweat clung to his skin, his muscles trembling under the strain he could no longer suppress.

The first hit came from behind. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

A kick slammed into his back, driving him forward into the dirt. The impact forced the air from his lungs, his arms collapsing beneath him as his face struck the ground.

"Where are the crystals?" one of them demanded.

Another kick followed, this time into his side, rolling him onto his back.

"Speak!"

Ivor did not answer. He could not.

His body refused to cooperate, his senses unstable, the pain inside him rising and falling in unpredictable waves.

"He doesn’t have anything," one of the earlier boys said, stepping forward. "I checked him already."

"Then where did he put them?" another asked, his voice sharp with anger.

"He stole from all of us."

A hand grabbed Ivor’s hair suddenly, fingers tightening as they forced his head upward. His neck strained under the pull, his eyes lifting unwillingly to meet the boy in front of him.

The boy leaned closer, his face twisting with recognition.

"You remember me?" he said quietly.

His grip tightened.

"You tied my mouth that night."

With his free hand, he reached forward and grabbed the cloth covering Ivor’s face. He tore it loose in a single motion, exposing his features fully for the first time.

For a moment, he simply stared at him.

Then he laughed.

"Look at you now."

He twisted the cloth and shoved it into Ivor’s mouth, forcing it between his teeth before tying it tightly behind his head. The fabric pressed hard against his tongue, cutting off any sound.

He released Ivor’s hair only to grab it again and slam his face down into the dirt.

Soil filled his mouth. His nose. His lungs struggled for air as he tried to breathe through it.

A kick struck his ribs.

Then another.

His body rolled weakly with each impact, unable to defend itself.

"Where are the crystals?" someone demanded again.

Another boy stepped forward, pulling a dagger from his belt. He crouched beside Ivor slowly, his movements deliberate.

"You like using this, don’t you?" he said quietly.

He drove the blade down into Ivor’s thigh.

Pain exploded through him.

Ivor’s body jerked violently, a muffled scream forcing itself against the cloth in his mouth as his muscles spasmed uncontrollably. His hands clawed at the dirt instinctively, his vision fracturing under the intensity.

The boy twisted the blade slightly.

Ivor’s scream became a broken sound, trapped behind the gag.

"Feels different now, doesn’t it?"

He began to pull the dagger free.

He never finished.

Movement burst into the clearing without warning.

A blur of motion crossed the space between them in an instant.

Luna’s body twisted mid-air, her leg snapping outward in a spinning arc that connected cleanly with the boy’s head. The impact lifted him off his feet and sent him crashing violently into the trunk of a nearby tree. The sound of bone and wood colliding echoed through the clearing as his body crumpled to the ground.

She landed silently between them and Ivor, her amber eyes sharp, her posture low and ready.

Behind her, Nara stepped into view.

"No need for violence guys."

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Note: One bonus Chapter will be released for every 100 GTs. An additional bonus Chapter will be released for Castle.