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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Teens
- Theme: Fairy Tales & Fantasy
- Subject: Creatures & Monsters
- Published: 02/01/2026
The Ashbound Trilogy
Born 1969, U, from Ohio, Lao People's Democratic Republic
Book I: The Map of Emberfall
The night the sky burned, Kade learned that maps could lie.
He was halfway up the cliffs of Emberfall when the first star fell—not a star at all, but a streak of fire tearing across the clouds. It vanished behind the mountains with a sound like thunder cracking stone. Kade froze, fingers digging into the rock face, heart pounding.
That was when the wind changed.
It carried ash.
Kade climbed faster.
Emberfall was a village clinging to the edge of the world, built above a canyon so deep no one had ever seen its bottom. People said the canyon was cursed, that it swallowed sound and memory alike. Kade never believed that. He believed in things you could touch: stone, rope, fire, steel.
When he reached the top, the village bells were already ringing.
“Inside!” someone shouted. “Everyone inside!”
Kade ran through narrow streets as sparks drifted from the sky like dying fireflies. At the center of the village stood the Watchtower—and beneath it, his grandfather’s workshop.
The door was open.
“Grandfather?” Kade called.
Inside, the old man stood over a stone table, breath ragged, one hand pressed to his chest. Spread across the table was something Kade had never seen before: a map, glowing faintly red, its lines shifting like embers beneath glass.
“You weren’t meant to see it yet,” his grandfather said.
Another impact shook the ground.
“What is that?” Kade asked.
“The reason Emberfall must burn.”
Before Kade could ask more, the workshop exploded inward. Figures in black armor poured through the smoke—faces hidden, blades drawn.
“Run,” his grandfather whispered, shoving the map into Kade’s hands. “Take it beyond the canyon. Find the Ashbound.”
“I won’t leave you!”
“You already have.”
The old man pulled a lever beneath the table. The floor split open, revealing a chute spiraling down into darkness.
Kade fell.
He landed hard, breath knocked from him, ash filling his lungs. When he crawled out, he wasn’t beneath Emberfall anymore.
He was beyond the canyon.
The world on the other side was wrong—sky tinted red, forests blackened but alive, leaves glowing faintly like coals. The map burned warm in his pack, pulsing like a heartbeat.
And then a voice spoke behind him.
“You carry fire that doesn’t belong to you.”
Kade turned, blade drawn.
A girl stood there, eyes silver-bright, cloak stitched with symbols that shimmered like heatwaves.
“My name is Lyra,” she said. “And if you don’t come with me right now, those soldiers will find you—and the map will kill us all.”
Somewhere far behind them, Emberfall screamed.
Kade followed her into the burning forest.
End of Part 1
The night the sky burned, Kade learned that maps could lie.
He was halfway up the cliffs of Emberfall when the first star fell—not a star at all, but a streak of fire tearing across the clouds. It vanished behind the mountains with a sound like thunder cracking stone. Kade froze, fingers digging into the rock face, heart pounding.
That was when the wind changed.
It carried ash.
Kade climbed faster.
Emberfall was a village clinging to the edge of the world, built above a canyon so deep no one had ever seen its bottom. People said the canyon was cursed, that it swallowed sound and memory alike. Kade never believed that. He believed in things you could touch: stone, rope, fire, steel.
When he reached the top, the village bells were already ringing.
“Inside!” someone shouted. “Everyone inside!”
Kade ran through narrow streets as sparks drifted from the sky like dying fireflies. At the center of the village stood the Watchtower—and beneath it, his grandfather’s workshop.
The door was open.
“Grandfather?” Kade called.
Inside, the old man stood over a stone table, breath ragged, one hand pressed to his chest. Spread across the table was something Kade had never seen before: a map, glowing faintly red, its lines shifting like embers beneath glass.
“You weren’t meant to see it yet,” his grandfather said.
Another impact shook the ground.
“What is that?” Kade asked.
“The reason Emberfall must burn.”
Before Kade could ask more, the workshop exploded inward. Figures in black armor poured through the smoke—faces hidden, blades drawn.
“Run,” his grandfather whispered, shoving the map into Kade’s hands. “Take it beyond the canyon. Find the Ashbound.”
“I won’t leave you!”
“You already have.”
The old man pulled a lever beneath the table. The floor split open, revealing a chute spiraling down into darkness.
Kade fell.
He landed hard, breath knocked from him, ash filling his lungs. When he crawled out, he wasn’t beneath Emberfall anymore.
He was beyond the canyon.
The world on the other side was wrong—sky tinted red, forests blackened but alive, leaves glowing faintly like coals. The map burned warm in his pack, pulsing like a heartbeat.
And then a voice spoke behind him.
“You carry fire that doesn’t belong to you.”
Kade turned, blade drawn.
A girl stood there, eyes silver-bright, cloak stitched with symbols that shimmered like heatwaves.
“My name is Lyra,” she said. “And if you don’t come with me right now, those soldiers will find you—and the map will kill us all.”
Somewhere far behind them, Emberfall screamed.
Kade followed her into the burning forest.
End of Part 1
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