The forest whispered like it was alive.
Leaves rustled not from wind—but from something unseen that stirred in the darkness. Gautam stood still, his breath shallow, the faint glow of his torch fighting against the encroaching mist.
He had lived all nineteen years of his life in the quiet village of Nareth, far from war, far from kings, far from magic. Yet tonight, magic had come for him.
"Gautam! Don't go any further!" Ren's trembling voice echoed behind him, breaking the suffocating silence.
But Gautam didn't stop. He could still hear it—the voice that had called his name moments ago.
"Gautam… come to me."
It hadn't come from a person. It had come from within.
He clutched the torch tighter, his knuckles white. The path ahead led to the old shrine, abandoned long before his birth. The elders said it was cursed, built over the gate to another world—the Shadow Realm.
They said those who entered were never seen again.
Gautam had always laughed at such tales. Until last night.
Until the dream.
In that dream, a woman cloaked in darkness had reached out to him, her voice like flame and sorrow intertwined. When he woke, the mark of a burning circle had appeared faintly on his right palm.
Now, that same mark pulsed under his skin as though guiding him.
Ren caught up, gasping. "You're insane, Gautam! The elders—"
"The elders fear what they don't understand," Gautam interrupted softly. His voice was calm, but his heartbeat wasn't. "Something's calling me, Ren. I have to know why."
Ren's face paled. "You sound like those who disappeared!"
Before Gautam could answer, the ground trembled. The sigil above the shrine's door—the same circular mark that now glowed on his palm—flared crimson, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Then came the voice again. Louder. Clearer.
"Gautam… open the gate."
Ren stumbled backward. "Don't! Please!"
But Gautam's hand was already moving, almost against his will. He pressed his palm to the sigil.
The stone burned. The light consumed everything.
Ren screamed, reaching for him—
—but the world shattered like glass.
---
When Gautam opened his eyes, he wasn't in the forest anymore.
The air was thick and heavy. The sky glowed red without a sun. Shadows twisted across the black ground like living smoke. He looked around, heart racing.
He had crossed over.
"The… Shadow Realm," he whispered.
A soft laugh echoed, melodic and haunting.
From the mist, a figure emerged—a woman cloaked in black, her eyes deep crimson, her hair floating around her like silk underwater.
"So," she said softly. "The heir of flame finally steps beyond the veil."
Gautam took a step back, raising the torch—but its fire flickered and died.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"I am what remains," she said. "The last whisper of the Flame King."
"The Flame King?"
She smiled faintly. "You carry his fire, Gautam. You always have."
He stared at his hands. Beneath his skin, thin cracks of red light pulsed faintly like veins of molten lava.
"What… is happening to me?"
"The gate didn't just open," she said. "It awakened what was sealed inside you."
"Inside me?"
Her expression softened, but her voice was heavy with regret. "You were never meant to live an ordinary life. You are the last of the Ardent Lineage—the guardians of the flame that keeps the Shadow at bay."
Gautam shook his head. "That's impossible. I'm just a villager."
"Then explain the fire burning in your blood."
Before he could answer, a low growl rumbled across the dark plain. Shadows moved—slowly at first, then faster. Dozens of red eyes opened in the mist.
Creatures—black, twisted things with bone claws and eyeless faces—crawled toward him.
The woman's eyes hardened. "The Shadow Lord's scouts. They've come for you."
She turned to him sharply. "Listen to me. You can fight them—but only if you trust the flame. Do not fear it. Command it."
"I don't even know how!"
"Then learn—now!"
The nearest creature lunged. Instinct took over. Gautam thrust out his hand.
A burst of fire erupted, golden and furious, engulfing the monster in an inferno. It screamed and vanished into ash.
Gautam stumbled back, staring at his burning hand. The flames danced, beautiful and alive—and they didn't hurt him.
The woman's eyes widened. "So the prophecy was true."
"What prophecy?"
"That the heir of flame would walk between light and shadow. That he would either save the realms… or destroy them."
"I don't want any of this!" Gautam shouted. "I just want my life back!"
"Then fight for it," she said. "Prove the fire is yours to wield."
The remaining creatures surrounded him. His heartbeat synced with the rhythm of the flickering flames. Fear melted away, replaced by a strange calm.
He raised both hands. The fire obeyed.
Golden arcs tore through the mist, cutting down the shadows one by one. The ground shook with each burst. By the time silence returned, the air smelled of burnt smoke.
Gautam fell to his knees, gasping. The flames faded from his palms.
The woman approached, her eyes gleaming with something like pride—and sadness. "You've taken your first step, Gautam. But this world… it will not forgive your existence. Nor will the Shadow Lord."
"Then let him come," Gautam said, still trembling but defiant.
She smiled faintly. "You speak like your ancestor."
He frowned. "You said you knew the Flame King?"
Her expression darkened. "I was once his guardian… and his betrayer."
Before Gautam could speak, the air turned icy. The ground cracked.
From the black mist rose another figure—tall, cloaked in endless darkness. Two crimson eyes burned like embers of hate.
The woman froze. "No…"
A voice rumbled through the realm, low and venomous.
"So… the last heir of flame has awakened."
Gautam felt the air tighten. His fire flickered weakly in his palm. The shadow's presence crushed his chest like invisible hands.
The woman stepped in front of him. "You can't take him!"
The shadow laughed, a sound that shattered the silence. "Can't? You forget whose realm this is."
He raised his hand—and the woman screamed as darkness wrapped around her, pulling her backward into the void.
"Wait!" Gautam shouted, reaching out.
She looked at him one last time, her voice fading. "Find the Sage of Light… before the shadows consume you…"
Then she was gone.
The darkness around Gautam trembled. The voice spoke again.
"Welcome, Gautam Ardent. Your destiny begins now."
The ground split open. Fire and shadow clashed, swallowing him whole.