Questions & Answers about Вокруг пустота, ни огня, ни пепла.
Why are огня and пепла in the Genitive case when there's no verb or the word нет in the sentence?
In Russian, stating that something does not exist requires the Genitive case. Even without the word нет (there is no), the repeated particle ни ... ни ... (neither ... nor / not a single ...) acts as a verbless existential negation. It implies absolute absence, which forces the following nouns into the Genitive.
The dictionary forms for fire and ash are огонь and пепел. Where did the vowels go in огня and пепла?
Both of these masculine nouns contain a "fleeting vowel" (о in огонь and е in пепел). When a case ending like the Genitive -я or -а is added, that last vowel in the stem drops out. This is a very common pattern to watch out for in Russian masculine nouns.
Why isn't пустота also in the Genitive case?
пустота (emptiness) is in the Nominative case because its existence is being affirmed, not denied. The sentence literally means "Emptiness [is] around." The Genitive rule here only applies to the things that are missing or negated (the fire and the ash).
How does ни огня, ни пепла differ from saying нет огня и нет пепла?