⚔️ Chapter One: Cast Into the Cold
"You were not born broken. You were born unchained."
The sacred gates of the Ryujin Temple loomed behind him—silent, indifferent, eternal.Kazen stood on the cold stone steps with nothing but the ragged black robe clinging to his back. Snow flurried like dying ash, swirling around his bare feet as the heavy doors slammed shut behind him.
Exile.
The word echoed inside his skull louder than the sound of steel.They didn't just cast him out. They erased him.
"No blood of mine would remain magicless," his father had said in front of the entire high council.Lord Raizen never shouted—he didn't need to. His words hit like a blade and cut just as deep.
Kazen's magic never awoke. While the others at the ceremony sparked flames, summoned wind, or shattered stone, he stood there—still. Silent. Useless.The shame of Clan Raizen. The disgrace of the East Shrine. The one they labeled:
Null.
No rite of passage. No final meal. No goodbye.
Except—One.
As he was shoved out of the temple's divine circle, a hand brushed against his palm. Soft. Quick. Trembling.Hana.The only soul who had ever looked him in the eyes without disgust.
Her whisper barely reached his ears through the storm:"You don't need their flame, Kazen. You're already fire."
And then she was gone.
Kazen didn't cry. He didn't even blink.He turned toward the wilderness of the Hollowlands, the place where banished ones died in days—or hours. Monsters stalked those woods. Bandits. Cursed spirits. And things older than the Ryujin Temple itself.
He didn't flinch. Didn't look back.
They thought exile would kill him.
It didn't.
❄️ Three Weeks Later — Hollowlands, beneath the mountain's roots
His robe was now torn into a half-cloak. His body bore bruises. But his eyes… his eyes burned.
Beneath the earth, Kazen had fallen through the ice and into something ancient. A ruin, maybe. A tomb.Or something older.
There, buried in frost and stone, he found it: a relic pulsing with black-blue energy. No words. No enchantment. Just a pull—pure and primal. His hand reached out like it had been waiting his whole life.
And when he touched it—
He burned.
Not from fire.But from rage.
Visions slammed into him—of gods once chained in golden cities, of mortals who fought against fate, of a spirit of flame that refused to kneel.
When the vision ended, Kazen was on his knees. Eyes glowing with silver fire. His veins pulsed with something darker than magic—Soulfire.Not taught. Not inherited.Earned.
He rose, cloak billowing behind him in the ruin's glow.The weak boy they had cast away was dead.
What stood in his place was Kazen Everryn, bearer of the forbidden flame.No more begging for a name.No more waiting to be chosen.
He would carve his legend with fire and fury.
"Exile did not break me. It forged me. Let them come now—gods, kings, monsters. I am the storm they left behind."
⚔️ Chapter Two: Ashes Do Not Stay Silent
"The world silenced me. So I became louder than fire."
The cave shook.A deep rumble pulsed through the frozen earth as Kazen opened his eyes.Silver light still bled from his fingertips, pulsing like a second heartbeat. The relic had vanished—no shards, no fragments. Only the fire it left behind.
But he wasn't alone anymore.
Something stirred beyond the pillars of frost.
Heavy, dragging footsteps echoed through the tunnels. A stench of rotting meat. Chains clinking.
And then—it emerged.
The Bone Warden.An undead behemoth with skin stretched tight over broken armor, a cleaver longer than Kazen was tall dragging behind it. Its jaw hung loosely, rattling as it sniffed the air.
Its eyes glowed crimson as it locked onto him.
"Flesh," it growled. "New."
Kazen stood, fists clenched. Every part of him screamed to run. But something deeper—a spark—anchored his feet to the ground.
"No," he muttered."Not again."
🩸 The First Fight
The creature charged.
Kazen darted left, barely avoiding the bone-crushing swing. He rolled, chest heaving, and slammed his palm into the icy floor.
A flash of Soulfire cracked through the stone.
A blazing mark burned into the earth—a symbol he didn't recognize, yet somehow knew how to use.
Chains of light burst from the glyph, slamming into the Warden's limbs, halting it mid-roar.
But they wouldn't hold for long.
"If this is a gift from hell," he said, raising both arms, "then let me sin proudly."
He thrust his fists forward, and fire—black-edged and silver-cored—blasted from his hands.
It hit the Warden square in the chest.
The ice around them shattered. The ceiling cracked. The Warden screamed, its form crumbling to ash as the flame devoured it from the inside out.
And then—silence.
Just Kazen. Alone. Panting. Burning.
Alive.
🕯️ The Past Catches Up
As he staggered through the collapsed ruins, a soft voice echoed behind him. Familiar. Like a blade wrapped in silk.
"You always had it in you… you just needed a reason to bleed."
He turned.
Hana.Or rather—a vision of her. Drifting like smoke.
But this time, she wasn't dressed in temple robes. She wore black armor. A blade hung at her waist. And her eyes—flickering flame like his.
"You're not the only one they abandoned," she whispered. "Not anymore."
He reached for her, but she vanished into mist.
A promise? A warning? He couldn't tell. But he knew one thing:
The world hadn't seen the last of Hana. Or of him.
🏴 Kazen's Resolve
He emerged from the cave and looked at the sky.The stars above the Hollowlands shimmered, distant and cold.
He clenched the worn, frayed edge of his robe and tore it off.
Let the cold bite. Let the gods watch.
He had no clan.
No temple.
No name they could take.
But he had flame.
And flame was enough to start a war.
"I will not whisper my existence anymore. I will roar it into the bones of this world."
⚔️ Chapter Three: Whispers in the Iron Dust
"Sometimes, the silence of steel is louder than any scream."
The Hollowlands were behind him.Ahead lay the Dead Iron Plains—a wasteland of rusted armor, scorched bones, and the whispers of those long swallowed by war.
Kazen's boots crunched over sand turned to metal flakes. Every gust of wind scraped like a blade across his face. The sky above was no longer pale—it was ashen red, as if stained by the wars of forgotten gods.
But he wasn't alone anymore.
A caravan had broken down near the shattered cliffs—wagons smoking, corpses still fresh. Bandit sigils scorched into the wood. And in the center of it all, crouched beside a fallen horse…
…was a warrior.
Tall. Hooded. Wrapped in desert leathers, holding a massive war fan across his back—an ancient weapon of the Eastern Nomads. His name came only after Kazen approached.
"Back off, flame-born," the man growled without looking."Or I'll silence you before the dust settles."
Kazen's eyes narrowed.
"Then try," he said, stepping forward."I've already died once today."
⚔️ Clash Under the Red Sun
Without another word, the stranger rose and swung the fan open—razor-sharp blades spinning from its edges like shurikens.Wind howled. The air curved unnaturally as if obeying the warrior's will.
Kazen ignited.
Soulfire surged around his fists as he ducked the first attack, leapt into the air, and drove his heel into the ground, summoning a silver arc of flame that exploded beneath them both.
Sand turned to glass.
The fan-warrior landed hard, grinning.
"Good," he said. "You're not just noise."
They fought like storm and wildfire.Each movement a symphony of dust, flame, and rage.
Until finally—Kazen disarmed him, standing above the man, breath ragged, fire crackling around his arms.
"Your name," Kazen demanded.
The warrior laughed, wiping blood from his mouth.
"Rei," he said. "And you just passed my test."
🏹 Allies and Enemies
Rei revealed he was once an Iron Monk, now exiled for defying the War Priests.
He had been following the trail of The Crimson Legion, a rising army resurrecting lost relics, raising undead beasts, and hunting those with ancient powers—people like Kazen.
And they were looking for a girl.
Hana.
"If she's alive," Rei said, tightening the strap on his fan,"They'll use her to bait you. Burn you. Break you."
Kazen's jaw clenched.The idea of Hana, tortured, chained, her flame extinguished—it was enough to reignite the inferno inside him.
"Then let them try," he growled."I'll burn their gods next."
💘 A Moment of the Past
That night, while Rei scouted ahead, Kazen sat near the edge of a cliff, staring into the horizon.
A breeze danced by, carrying the scent of cedar.
He remembered the last time Hana touched his hand—how her fingers lingered a second longer than they should have, her eyes saying what her lips never dared.
"You never had to fight alone," her voice echoed in memory."I would've burned with you."
He closed his eyes, letting the pain burn away the cold.
"Then I'll find you, Hana," he whispered to the stars."Even if I have to burn the world twice."
"The dead stay silent, but their stories echo in us. Let mine scream."
🔥 Chapter Four: The Crimson Legion Rises
"You only fear a monster until you become something worse."
The next morning, the sky bled gold across the Dead Iron Plains, but peace never came with the dawn.
Kazen and Rei followed a trail of blood and burnt sigils deep into the Scorchlands—where bones turned to ash in the heat and magic clung to the rocks like poison.
Then, they saw it.
A fortress carved into a dead mountain.Black banners fluttered in the toxic wind.On each flag—a flaming red eye.
"Crimson Legion," Rei muttered. "They're not hiding anymore."
Guards in molten armor marched across the walls. Chimera-beasts were chained at the gates, snarling as if sensing Kazen's fire. And in the center tower…A cage of glass.
Inside it—Hana.
💢 Enemy Revealed: General Kael of the Bloodbound
They didn't even have time to plan.
An explosion split the cliff under them. A blur of crimson light streaked across the rocks and slammed into Rei, sending him flying into the rubble.
Kazen landed on his feet, fire already rising, as the enemy appeared.
He wasn't human.
General Kael stood nearly seven feet tall—armor stitched with runes, body brimming with necrofire. His eyes glowed red, and his voice was laced with magic.
"The Ember walks," he said coldly."Our master will be pleased."
"Tell your master," Kazen snarled, "I'm coming for him next."
Kael raised a bone-bladed glaive.
"Then burn, boy."
⚔️ The Fight Against a Monster
Kazen charged, flame ripping through the air.
Kael countered with blood-fire—darker, colder, more ancient. The clash sent shockwaves through the valley, flattening entire rock formations.
Each hit from Kael's blade sapped Kazen's strength. This wasn't just magic. It was soul-consuming.
Rei limped into the fight, fan spinning.
"He's drawing from the underworld," Rei shouted."We need to cut the tether!"
Together, they launched a final attack—Kazen striking high, Rei sweeping low. They severed the black chain binding Kael's heart to the mountain.
The general screamed—flame pouring from every crack in his armor—as he exploded in a burst of corrupted energy.
When the dust cleared, only his glaive remained.
🧬 Secrets in the Blood
In the aftermath, Rei examined the weapon.
"This isn't ordinary necromancy," he muttered."This is Primordial. Forbidden even to the War Priests."
He looked at Kazen.
"You're not just flame-born," Rei said slowly."You're part something else."
Kazen turned toward the tower where Hana was held.
"Let's save her first," he said."Then you can tell me what kind of monster I am."
💘 A Glimpse Through Glass
That night, Kazen reached the tower, alone.
Through the crystal cage, Hana stood—barefoot, pale, but alive. Her hand touched the glass as he approached.
"Kazen," she whispered, eyes glistening."You came."
He pressed his forehead against the surface, guilt burning through him.
"I should've never let you go."
Her lips curved in the faintest smile.
"Then don't let go again."
But before he could break her free—alarms rang across the fortress.
The Crimson Legion was rising again.
And this time, they brought the true monster behind the flame.
"A cage is only strong until the fire inside decides to burn louder."
⚔️ Chapter Five: The Unseen Master
"True fear doesn't come from what you see—it's what waits behind the veil."
The fortress trembled as the Crimson Legion mobilized.
Alarms wailed. Horns howled. Shadow-archers lined the ramparts, their poisoned arrows trained on the tower where Kazen stood.
He didn't have time to burn the cage.
"Hana," he said, urgency in his tone. "I'll come back. I swear it."
She reached out, her fingers trembling. "Don't die before you do."
Kazen leapt from the window, a streak of flame diving into chaos.
💥 Rei's Trap and the Phantom Army
Below, Rei had already sprung his trap.
He chanted ancient syllables, calling forth phantom warriorsmade of mist and ash—souls from his cursed fan. They clashed with the Crimson Legion, buying time.
"This is war, Kazen," Rei shouted as they met mid-battle."And war means blood."
Together, they cut through the enemies—Kazen a comet of fire, Rei a whispering storm. But something wasn't right.
The sky… turned violet.
🧿 The Arrival of the Master
The world shook.
From the far end of the battlefield,a black carriagepulled by skeletal beasts emerged from the mist.
Every soldier—ally or enemy—froze in terror.
"He's here," Rei whispered, voice cracking."The Unseen Master. The one who leads them all."
The carriage door creaked open.
Nothing came out.
But Kazen's fire flickered.
His legs buckled. His chest felt hollow.
"Why... can't I breathe?"
"He's not stepping forward," Rei muttered, backing away. "He's already inside you."
🔥 The Truth Within
Suddenly, Kazen screamed, grabbing his head.
Visions hit him—burning cities, screaming children, an ancient throne buried under flame and bone.
"You were created for this," a voice echoed inside him."The perfect vessel. Born of fire... forged for conquest."
The flame inside him wasn't only his.
It had been placed there.
He collapsed, gasping.
"Rei," he groaned. "I'm not just a weapon… I am the weapon."
💔 The Twist: Hana's Secret
As they escaped into the forest, injured but alive, Rei turned toward Kazen.
"That voice inside you… it knew Hana. It said her name."
Kazen froze.
"What?"
"You didn't hear it… but it whispered, She betrayed you before she even loved you."
Kazen's fists clenched.
In the distance, Hana sat alone in her cage… tears slipping silently down her face.
And behind her… a sigil glowed on her back.
The same one from the Unseen Master's carriage.
"Not all chains are forged from metal. Some are written into your fate."
⚔️ Chapter Six:The Sigil of the Betrayer
"The mind breaks faster than bone when doubt takes root."
🌫️ A Forest of Whispers
The flames had died down.
Kazen stumbled through the ghostwood forest, half-conscious. Every breath was like inhaling smoke. The Master's voice still echoed in his skull—low, chilling, amused.
"She betrayed you before she even loved you."
He wanted to burn it out. But that voice had sunk into his bones.
Rei walked beside him in silence, watching his brother's back. The trees around them whispered like they knew the truth.
"You think he's wrong?" Kazen asked suddenly."That Hana… really didn't sell me out?"
"I think," Rei replied, "the Master doesn't lie. But he bends truth until it snaps."
🧿 The Sigil and the Prisoner
Meanwhile, Hana sat chained in a different prison now—one deeper, older.
Etched into her back glowed a cursed sigil.
She'd tried to hide it for years.
The Unseen Master had marked her the day she escaped his temple—but it wasn't loyalty.
It was control.
"You're not a traitor," she whispered to herself."You're a survivor."
But the brand pulsed, feeding the illusion into Kazen's mind. Feeding his doubt.
And slowly, it worked.
🧨 The Trigger
Kazen and Rei infiltrated the enemy's lower camp that night—covert and silent.
They reached the holding cells, killing quietly.
Then Kazen saw her—Hana, chained to a dark stone slab, glowing with the Master's curse.
She lifted her head, and their eyes met.
"You marked me," Kazen whispered."All this time?"
"No!" she cried. "He did. I fought it every day!"
"You should have told me!"
"Would you have trusted me then?"
Silence. Explosive. Heart-wrenching.
Suddenly—BANG!
An explosion tore through the camp.
A demon guard lunged at Kazen.
Hana screamed—
"Behind you!"
Kazen turned just in time to catch the blade, burning it mid-air.
She had savedhim.
⚔️ The Fight and the Revelation
They escaped in chaos—Kazen carrying Hana, Rei fending off cursed beasts.
Later, under the cover of moonlight, Rei examined the sigil.
"It's a seal. Not a pact," he confirmed."She's not bound to him. She's resisting him."
Kazen said nothing. His eyes were distant. He remembered the Master's words.
But he remembered Hana's too.
Her voice. Her fire.
And the way she screamed for him.
"Loyalty is proven in the shadows, not under the sun."
⚔️ Chapter Eight: The Crimson Veil Breaks"The greatest prison is the version of yourself you fear becoming."
🌫️ Glass Beneath His Feet
The ruined sanctuary hummed with old magic. Kazen's boots clinked against the glassy obsidian floor, a faint echo trailing behind him like a shadow. Beside him, Hana walked quietly, her fingers occasionally brushing his—a touch that once brought warmth, now sparking only tension.
They hadn't spoken since the reveal of her supposed betrayal. He now knew the truth... but the scar of doubt lingered like ash on his tongue.
"You sure this is where we'll find it?" Hana asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Kazen didn't look at her. "The Ember Codex is here. My mother once said, 'Truth bleeds where lies were buried.'"He knelt before a worn altar and brushed off the dust to reveal a sigil, etched deep like a wound carved by fate.
But the moment his fingers touched it—The world fractured.
🩸 The Crimson Veil
The chamber vanished.
Kazen blinked—and suddenly, he stood on a battlefield burning red. The sky bled with stormfire. His hands… were not his. They were larger. Older. Blood-stained.
He was no longer himself.
He was his father.
Screams filled the air—the Ember War reborn. The day his mother was struck down, the moment the villagers turned against their own, and the deafening roar of a man's soul shattering beneath grief.
Then, the worst of it—Kazen saw himself.Older. Hollow-eyed. Cloaked in crimson armor, sword dripping with innocent blood, standing atop a mountain of the dead at the gates of the Unseen Fortress.
The Master's voice coiled around him:
"This is who you become."
Kazen clutched his head, falling to his knees.
"No! I won't! I'm not him!"
But the illusions clawed at his mind.
"You already are."
🧿 Her Voice in the Chaos
Outside the illusion, Hana trembled as she saw Kazen frozen, his sigil burning white-hot on his chest.
She didn't hesitate.
Ignoring the danger, she pressed her palm against the glowing mark and whispered:
"I don't care who you were. I know who you are now."
Her voice cracked."You protected me when you had no reason. You stayed when you had every reason to run."
She leaned closer, forehead against his.
"So wake up… because I'm not leaving this hell without you."
🔥 The Codex Ignites
Kazen's eyes flew open.
They glowed—silver flames blazing from within.
The hallucination shattered like glass, scattering into crimson mist.
But the Codex hadn't vanished. It now burned within him, seared into his soul.
"I saw it," Kazen whispered. "The Master's true face. I know where he is now."
Hana exhaled a shaky breath. "Then let's end this."
They turned toward the exit—but the shadows thickened.
A man stepped out.Tall. Lean. Smirking.
Daichi.Once Kazen's childhood friend. Now the Master's favored hound.
"You passed the Veil. Impressive."He twirled a jagged obsidian dagger."But you're still just a pawn, Kazen. A spark pretending to be fire."
Kazen drew his sword slowly.
"Then let's burn the board."
He stepped forward, eyes locked.
"The only veil I wear now… is the smoke of my own rising."
"You cannot bury fire. You can only teach it to rise through the ashes."
⚔️ Chapter Nine: Rise of the Ember Heir"Some inherit crowns. Others inherit chaos—and learn to rule it."
🌫️ Smoke and Steel
The fight began with no warning.
Kazen charged.
Daichi laughed.
Their blades clashed in sparks and fury—two brothers forged in the same fire, now set to destroy each other. Hana leapt back, drawing her twin daggers as cursed shadows crept from the walls, conjured by Daichi's dark blood.
"You were always second," Daichi sneered, deflecting blow after blow. "Second to the Master's favor. Second to your father's legacy. Second… to me."
Kazen gritted his teeth. "Then why are you the one stalling me now?"
Flames burst from his blade. The chamber roared.
🧿 The Turning Point
Daichi faltered—just for a second.
That's all Kazen needed.
With a twist of his blade and a burst of emberfire, he sent Daichi crashing into the stone wall, blood smearing the sigil behind him.
But Daichi smiled, coughing red."You really think this ends with me?" he rasped.
Kazen's eyes narrowed. "No. You're just the last thread tying me to the past."
He raised his sword—
Daichi looked him dead in the eye and whispered:"Then cut it."
Kazen did.
🔥 The Heir's Awakening
As Daichi's body slumped, the chamber trembled.
Cracks ran through the obsidian floor like veins of light. The Codex pulsed within Kazen's chest—and thenrose, a swirling mass of ember and memory, forming a crown of flame above his head.
But he didn't reach for it.
Hana stepped forward, her gaze unreadable.
"You won't wear it?" she asked.
Kazen looked at the flaming crown. "Not until I've earned it. Not until the Master falls."
From the shadows, Rei emerged—bruised, breathing hard.
"You'll get your chance," he said. "Scouts just returned. The Unseen Fortress is awakening."
Kazen turned, the glow in his eyes now steady.
No longer a fugitive. No longer a pawn.He was fire reborn. He was the heir not chosen—but forged.
And he was coming.
🌒 The Final March Begins
They stood on the cliff's edge that night, watching the Unseen Fortress pulse with dark light across the valley.
Kazen took Hana's hand.Rei stood beside them, silent, loyal.
Below them, their gathered allies waited—riders, rogue knights, outcast mages, ember-bound warriors—all drawn by the fire in Kazen's soul.
He turned to them and raised his sword.
"Tomorrow, we light the sky."
The army roared in reply.
"True heirs don't wait for crowns. They ignite kingdoms with their own fire."
⚔️ Chapter Ten: The Ember That Was Cast Away"A flame cast out does not die. It learns to burn without permission."
🌫️ The Final Gate
Dawn broke like a blade of light.
Kazen stood before the Unseen Fortress—its towering obsidian walls laced with cursed sigils, alive with smoke and shadow. The air stung like venom; even the ground seemed to hiss under their boots.
Behind him stood his army—outcasts, rebels, ember-bonded, and broken warriors once like him.
No banners. No trumpets.
Just fire in their eyes.
Rei nodded, drawing his twin sabers. "You lead. I follow."
Kazen glanced at Hana. She was armored in dusk steel, her daggers glowing blue. The sigil on her back was faint now—fading.
"You don't have to come," Kazen whispered.
She stepped closer. "You weren't cast away alone. Neither will you rise alone."
He breathed in. Then raised his blade.
"Break the gates."
The charge was silent. Swift. Deadly.
And the war began.
🧿 The Unseen Master
Inside the black throne room, he waited.
The Unseen Master. His face hidden beneath layers of silver veils, voice like velvet ash.
"You've come far, little ember," he purred. "But fire alone cannot kill shadow."
"I'm not here to kill shadow," Kazen said as he stepped forward. "I'm here to become what you fear."
The Master raised his hand.
Chains of memory lashed out—ghosts of Kazen's past, Daichi's twisted laughter, Hana screaming, their father's blood.
The Codex in Kazen's chest flared.
And he shattered the illusions.
Rei and Hana flanked him as the final battle erupted—swords clashing, magic tearing the floor apart, screams and light colliding in a dance of fate.
🔥 The Death That Was Promised
The Master fought like a god.
He struck Rei down with a black blade. Sent Hana flying into a pillar with a single thought.
Then he turned to Kazen, and the world fell silent.
"I made you," he hissed. "I forged you in pain. You owe me your power."
Kazen's eyes burned. "You're right."
He drove his sword into the Master's chest—deeper, past bone, into the magic that pulsed beneath.
"You made me fire. But fire doesn't kneel."
The Master screamed as the emberfire within Kazen ignited completely—spreading through the room, unraveling the dark.
Light exploded.
The fortress cracked open.
And the Master turned to dust.
🌕 Ash and Crown
Silence.
Then breath.
Kazen stood alone at the center, smoke curling from his wounds.
Hana limped toward him, bloody but alive. Rei coughed behind her, half-conscious, but grinning.
"You did it…" she whispered.
Kazen looked up. The flaming crown now hovered above the ruins, waiting.
But this time, it didn't float down.
It bowed.
And Kazen walked past it.
"I don't need a crown to rule," he said softly. "Let it burn. Let it remind them that fire cannot be tamed."
Hana caught his hand. "Then what now?"
Kazen turned to the horizon—the world waiting.
"We rebuild. We protect the castaways. We become what they feared we'd never survive to be."
Rei dragged himself up with a groan. "Kings, huh?"
Kazen smirked. "No."
"Legends."
🎇 Epilogue: The Ember That Was Cast Away
Years passed.
Children told tales of the Ember King who didn't wear a crown. Of the Queen with daggers and a phoenix heart. Of the brother who returned from the shadows.
A flame once thrown into the cold…
…had become the fire that lit the world.
"The strongest flames are not those born—but those who chose to burn brighter after being cast away."
🔮 Bonus Scene: The Boy at the Edge of the World
"Every legend leaves behind a spark."
A quiet cliffside. A lone boy stood barefoot, staring out at the vast silver sea.
In his hands, a tattered page—an old folktale, half-burned, half-saved.
"The Ember King," he read aloud, tracing the words with his finger. "Kazen of the Forgotten Flame."
The boy turned as an old wanderer approached him, wrapped in ash-gray robes and leaning on a carved wooden staff. His face was shadowed by a hood.
"Still reading that one?" the man asked.
The boy nodded. "He was real, wasn't he?"
The old man smiled faintly.
"Real enough to change the world."
The boy looked back to the horizon. "I want to find him. Or… become like him."
The wind picked up, scattering embers across the air.
The old man turned, walking back down the path. "Then learn to be cast away, boy. And when they forget your name…"
He glanced back, eyes sharp—flickering like embers.
"…burn so brightly they'll never forget your fire."
The boy smiled.
And the spark was born again.