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1. Smoke Before the Storm
The sun was rising late.
Not because of clouds—but because of the ash.
Aira stood at the edge of a cliff just beyond the southern ridge of Emberhold, her crimson cloak billowing. Beneath her, miles of forestland were shrouded in an unnatural haze. Smoke rose from dozens of scattered fires. Not wildfires. Not raids.
> Controlled burns. Deliberate. Ritualistic.
She narrowed her eyes. "Something's driving them out."
Behind her, Kaelen approached, looking grim.
> "It's happening again," he said. "Just like ten years ago… before the last Beast Tide."
Aira's gaze didn't move. "Tell me everything."
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2. The First Signs
Two days earlier, reports flooded in from outer territories:
In Briarreach, all magic beasts vanished overnight, leaving only scorched earth and scattered bones.
In Lunestone, hunters found a tunnel bored straight through a mountain—lined with claw marks.
In Scar Vale, scouts recorded an eerie sound: a low, unified growl echoing across the valley at dawn.
> "They're migrating," said one messenger. "No… rallying."
And every trail, every disturbance, pointed in the same direction:
North. Toward the Flame Federation's heartlands.
Aira felt her chest tighten.
> "They're converging."
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3. Beast Tide — The Forbidden Term
The term Beast Tide hadn't been used publicly in over a decade. It was a word governments buried under treaties and censored history.
> "The last one wiped out seven guilds, five towns, and nearly breached the capital," Kaelen reminded her. "They don't come randomly. Someone calls them."
Aira remembered what the Embercore Sigil had whispered the night she cleared the Crucible:
> "When the Sovereign awakens, the horde will rise."
Her awakening might've been the trigger.
Or something darker had sensed it—and reacted.
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4. The Gathering Storm
The Flame Council convened in emergency session. Aira sat in silence as flame-mages, tacticians, and envoys argued.
> "We need to raise the southern wards."
"Dispatch aerial scouts to the wild zones."
"No, we cannot incite panic by using the word 'Tide'!"
"Are you fools waiting for the first city to fall?!"
Councilor Vael looked to Aira.
> "You fought alone in the Crucible. What's your read?"
Aira stood, casting her voice through the chamber.
> "They're not rampaging. They're organizing."
"Something or someone is commanding them."
"If this is a true Beast Tide… it's not natural. It's directed."
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5. An Unwelcome Visitor
That night, as Aira reviewed scouting reports, the flame sigils guarding her door flared. She rose instantly, chains hovering at her shoulders.
The door opened by itself—then a figure stepped in.
Clad in gray robes, masked, bearing no aura.
But Aira recognized him instantly.
> "Eron," she said.
The spy master of the Flame Council.
> "I don't waste time with pleasantries," he said, tossing a crystal across the table.
It projected an image—a rocky canyon, hundreds of feet deep, filled with monsters.
But these weren't wild.
They stood in rows, in formations, obeying signal flares.
> "They're not just coming," Eron said.
"They're marching."
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6. Dark Allegiances
Eron flicked to another image. A robed woman stood before a horde, her hands glowing with dark energy. Behind her flew a black banner—fanged and coiled.
Aira's stomach clenched.
> "That's a guild insignia," she muttered.
"Shadowbrand."
> "The banned cult guild," Kaelen said in disbelief. "Didn't they get purged five years ago?"
> "Apparently not," Eron said. "They've gone underground. And now, they're summoning beasts in massive numbers."
Worse, they were unifying species that had historically never allied. Wyverns. Tunnel Drakes. Ember Lions. Acid Swarms.
This wasn't instinct.
This was war.
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7. The Beast Whisperer
The image shifted again—closer now. The woman leading the monsters lifted her hood.
Aira leaned forward.
> "That's… impossible."
The woman had crimson eyes. Fire glyphs danced on her skin—almost like Aira's.
But twisted.
"Her name is Velmira," said Eron. "Once a Pyromancer of the old Flame Federation. Banished for attempting to control primal beasts. She's back—and she's using your fire heritage to legitimize her cause."
Kaelen clenched his fists. "A false prophet."
But Aira didn't speak.
Because she recognized something in Velmira's aura—the same hunger she had felt in her mirror double.
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8. Whispers in the Wilds
While command strategized, Aira took a risk.
She flew alone into the Ashfang Forest—where creatures stirred violently at night.
There, she summoned a fire spirit—a wispy, ember-eyed elemental.
> "I seek the origin," she told it. "Tell me what your kind hears."
The spirit flickered. "The wilds speak in fear. The heartbeat of the earth is disrupted. A new rhythm is rising. Not nature's. A false beat."
> "Velmira?"
The spirit quivered. "She is the Flamebreaker. Her voice carries the Tyrant's tongue."
> "Tyrant?"
But the spirit vanished before it could answer.
Aira stared at the blackening sky.
> "This is no ordinary Tide…"
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9. Preparation Begins
The Flame Federation had no choice but to act.
They issued Tier IV Monster Protocols. Citizens were relocated. Outer towns fortified.
All A-Rank guilds were summoned.
Aira volunteered to lead a vanguard force to intercept one of the known converging hordes near Scorchpass Ridge.
She was given command of 30 elite fighters, including flame mages, rune archers, and shield tanks.
> "You're a solo fighter," Kaelen said. "You sure you want to lead?"
> "No," Aira said. "But I need to learn how."
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10. Before the Tide Breaks
That evening, standing before her gathered troops, Aira addressed them.
> "Some of you know me as the Blazebound, Crucible Sovereign, whatever titles they toss around. But out there," she said, pointing toward the wildlands, "titles mean nothing."
> "What matters is that you live, and they don't."
> "I will burn a path through anything that comes for us. But you must trust me. Fol
low my flame."
The soldiers pounded fists to their chests.
> "Yes, Commander!"
As they marched into the darkness, Aira looked back at the flickering lights of the city.
> "Let them come," she murmured.
"I'll be the fire that breaks their storm."
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