Cinder Chapel Oath
Jace Kingsley
In the mountains’ forgotten underways, the ruined Cinder Chapel still breathes heat from a fissure sealed by ancient runes—and the seal is failing. Alina Crowe, a flame-touched priestess who never asked to be chosen, is summoned to renew it. The price is older than the stone: a “Bride of Cinders,” bound to keep a hungry presence from waking.
She refuses—until villagers vanish, ash-brands appear on doors, and desperate prayers are carved into rock like last words. Four dwarven guardians are sworn to protect her through the ritual: Eamon, a stern chapel knight with a tenderness he tries to hide; Torvald, the high priest who believes devotion can be holy; Bryn, a quiet ranger who stays without demanding; and Ulric, a terrifying former executioner searching for redemption.
But the chapel doesn’t respond to Alina like a visitor. It answers her like a key. As sabotage and betrayal close in, Alina uncovers a truth her mother buried: the spark in her blood may be the very thing sealed beneath the chapel—and the cult wants to use her as a door.
When the seal begins to crack, one question remains: will Alina be consumed… or will she rewrite the ritual on her own terms?
