To Bind Fire (Empire of Ash and Song #1)

by D.E. Carlson

“What did he do?” The Storyteller abruptly broke off her song. Her voice was tremulous, with anger or sorrow, Iris could not tell. “He brought evil. He corrupted the hearts of man and turned them away from Harmony with El. He seduced man with visions of power.” “Why didn’t El stop him?” The old woman shifted her glowing eyes from the horizon back to Iris. “Because, child of fire, El does not want to make slaves of man. He wants the joy of being chosen, and will accept the pain of rejection for a time, out of hope.”

“You can choose him. That is good. But you are not only yourself. You are a part of the whole.” The old woman set aside her tube and turned. Her gaze pinned Iris to the rocky ground. “Only when all the families choose El can Harmony be restored. Till then, there will be pain.”

“We are not defined by what happens to us, but by how we respond to it.”

“It was like . . . like . . . being a star. You’re surrounded by darkness, but he puts his light in you, and you shine.”