Revenant Slaves Chapter 19: Chapter 18: Ash

Read chapter 19 of Revenant Slaves by Zee on NovelPedia.

Chapter 18: Ash Spark was crying, and so was Miru as she hugged her parents. Ash himself had tears in his eyes as he hugged his mother, Rain. The frail old woman, who could hardly get up from her own bed, had come to greet him at the entrance of the settlement. She was using a patchwork wheelchair that Ash himself had helped piece together from the scraps available to them. She seemed smaller than the last time Ash had seen her; she looked much weaker as well. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair disheveled, and her face… had the most beautiful smile a human could have. Ash’s heart threatened to explode. He was finally back with his mother, and they were both alive. ‘Her health has declined so much in one day; this is all my fault.’ She seemed at peace just at the fact that her son had returned alive, but Ash gritted his teeth as he lay his head in her lap; his mother slowly began patting his head and planted a kiss on the top of his head. Ash refused to look up, tears streaming down his face. https://i.ibb.co/HJ1DMKc/Chat-GPT-Image-Apr-6-2026-06-57-48-AM.png In his mother’s lap, he started crying, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for worrying you, Ma.” “It’s alright, son, you came back to me, that’s all that matters. I heard you protected your younger siblings. I couldn’t be prouder.” He and his mother were a unique pair. The first natural-born child in a hundred years, and his mother. But, Rain hadn’t stopped there; she led the way to change the way of life for slaves throughout this settlement and many more. She had sheltered, protected, and guided other women to achieve this similar wonder. She taught them to struggle for freedom, through their children, and since the sovereigns didn’t interfere in her matters, or couldn’t because of her mysterious patron. It gave her a kind of legitimacy that let her be recognized and respected throughout the settlements on their part of the continent, and Ash shared in that prestige. Ash looked at the gathering crowd, and it dawned on him that some of them were missing their shifts down in the lava pits of the caldera. The warden and his soldiers could descend at any moment and start indiscriminately punishing everyone for such a mishap. ‘What were those idiots thinking?’ Ash sighed and rose, wiping away his tears. “What are the rest of you fools doing? Do you want us all to be flogged? Why aren’t you at your shifts?” “It’s okay, son, ever since the power outage, things have been quiet. The Warden is stuck in his tower, and the guards have pulled back. Those sympathetic to us have told us that they won’t be doing field inspections until at least the power is back on.” Rain replied. Ash heaved another sigh, “It would still be better if we gave them no reason to doubt us. I’ve dragged a lot of trouble back with me, Ma.” “Oh, are you finally going to introduce us to the strangers you’ve brought back with you?” “Ah, maybe we could have this conversation in the house, Ma?” Ash leaned forward and whispered. Rain didn’t ask Ash to explain; she nodded and gestured for one of the women from the crowd to come forward. Ash knew her; she was only a few years younger than Rain and was Spark’s mother. “Keep the people gathered around the house. I think we might want to make another announcement soon. Send runners to fetch anyone not here yet.” Rain said to Spark’s mother. “Ok then, Ash, why don’t you roll me back to the house, and request your new friends to follow us in?” Ash looked back towards Zain and Maya. Zain nodded his head at him in understanding, while Maya was still riding his shoulders, asleep. Ash was surprised at how long she had lasted, after witnessing the gruesome wound she had back in the apartment that she had cauterized and stitched shut herself. Ash called out to some of the men in the crowd and directed them to carry all the containers they had brought along from the city. They took his share and even helped Zain relieve his burdens. Some of the women stepped forward to help Maya, but Zain