The man's eyes were glowing.
Not from magic.
Not from anger.
But from something deeper. Something older.
His hood fell back.
And I saw his face.
It wasn't burned or scarred like I expected. It was calm. Young, even. But his eyes... they were ancient. Like they'd watched kingdoms fall and didn't flinch.
"I am Vale," he said. "Flameborn. First Chosen. We are the Cinders."
His voice wasn't loud. But it echoed like a whisper in a cave, bouncing around my skull, lighting something up inside me.
The two behind him pulled their hoods down too.
A woman with silver hair and flame tattoos coiling up her neck like vines.
A boy younger than me, eyes glowing with embers. He didn't speak. Just stared, like he already knew my bones better than I did.
"We came to welcome you," Vale said. "You have awakened."
I took a step back. "I didn't ask for this."
"No one does," the woman said softly. "The fire chooses."
"I'm not joining your little fire cult."
Vale smiled. "You don't have to."
"Then why are you here?"
He stepped closer.
"To warn you."
"The world is already turning," he said. "You felt it. The stares. The silence. The way power pulls at you like a storm."
I didn't answer.
Because he wasn't wrong.
"Soon," he said, "others will come. Not to recruit. Not to test. To destroy."
The boy behind him tilted his head, finally speaking.
"They'll call you a threat. A mistake. A cursed child."
He smiled faintly.
"We call you brother."
I clenched my fists.
"If I'm really like you," I said, "then why do I feel like I'm losing myself?"
"Because you're still fighting it," the woman said.
"The fire doesn't want control. It wants freedom. Purpose."
"And what's that purpose?" I asked.
Vale's smile faded.
"To remind the gods that they are not alone at the top."
I should've turned and walked away.
Should've told them to leave.
But something in me was burning again.
Not the usual slow ache.
This time, it felt like I was standing at the edge of something—massive and dangerous. A cliff with no end.
"You say you're here to warn me," I said. "But what do you really want?"
Vale's eyes narrowed. "We want to show you the truth. Of what you are."
"And if I say no?"
He didn't blink.
"Then when the world turns its blade toward you… you'll be alone."
Suddenly—
The air shifted.
A magic pulse rippled across the forest.
Vale's head snapped to the side.
"Too late."
A voice rang out from the trees.
"Step away from the boy!"
Dozens of shadows burst from the forest.
Robes. Swords. Wands glowing.
Guild mages. Soldiers. Maybe twenty of them. All aiming at me.
One of them stepped forward.
Captain Norrin. Leader of the Capital Suppression Unit.
"The boy is under arrest for forbidden mana exposure," he said. "Step away and surrender peacefully."
Vale turned his head back toward me.
"Choose."
I froze.
The world seemed to move in slow motion.
Twenty weapons aimed at me.
A cult leader calling me brother.
And the fire in my chest…
...began to speak.
"Burn them."
No.
"They'll never stop. They want your power. Not your survival."
Stop.
"Let me help. You've seen what I can do."
I gritted my teeth. "Not now."
Vale looked at me one last time.
Then he raised his hands.
"Cinders," he said calmly, "fall back."
They didn't argue.
The silver-haired woman vanished in smoke. The boy turned to sparks. Vale took one step back—and disappeared.
Just like that.
Gone.
Leaving me in the center of twenty mages with itchy fingers and twitching spell circles.
"You're coming with us," Norrin said. "Now."
"I didn't do anything."
He raised his hand. "Your existence is the crime."
And that's when I knew—
They weren't going to let me walk away.
I didn't want to fight.
But the fire didn't wait.
It exploded out of me.
Black. Violent. Furious.
The mages screamed.
Spells flew in every direction.
One hit my shoulder — pain surged — but the fire responded on instinct.
Walls of shadowflame rose up, shielding me.
Another wave hit. The stone beneath my feet cracked.
I jumped forward.
Not because I planned to.
Because something inside me moved my legs.
Like it remembered how to fight.
I ducked under a lightning bolt.
Grabbed a mage by the arm.
Flames surged through my hand.
He collapsed screaming — alive, but barely.
Another tried to stab me.
I twisted away — too fast.
I shouldn't be that fast.
What is happening to me?
The fire didn't just protect me.
It guided me.
It wanted to fight.
And for once…
So did I.
It ended as quickly as it started.
Most of them were down. Unconscious. Smoking.
Norrin was still standing.
He was breathing hard, face twisted with rage and fear.
"You're a monster," he spat. "Just like the records said."
I stepped closer, dragging my injured leg.
"I didn't start this."
"You think you'll be allowed to live?"
His sword lit up.
Runes flashed.
A sealing spell — deadly to anyone with unstable magic.
He swung.
I closed my eyes.
And then—
A wall of silver fire exploded between us.
When the light cleared, Norrin was gone.
So was the spell.
And standing in front of me was a girl.
White cloak.
Eyes like moonlight.
Hair like frost.
She looked about my age — maybe younger.
But her presence?
It felt divine.
"I've been watching you," she said.
I blinked. "Are you gonna try to kill me too?"
She tilted her head. "Not today."