The first thing Ash heard was the crack.It echoed through a golden void— the sound of something bizarre and ancient breaking open. Before him hovered an egg, radiant as the sun, suspended in nothingness. Veins of molten gold streaked across its shell, pulsing like a heartbeat. Then the egg cracked again. A sliver broke away, and a roar— ancient, soul-deep, world-splitting— erupted from within.Wings of flame burst outward.Ash staggered back, though he had no body here— only consciousness, floating in a realm made of a memory that was not his. The newborn dragon uncurled from the egg’s remains, its scales gleaming like hammered light, its eyes burning with intelligent sorrow. It opened its mouth again—And spoke."Asharion Veytrix… the last flame is yours to carry."Ash tried to speak, but fire consumed his lungs. The dream melted into white light.Then, a moment later...He awoke with a gasp, drenched in sweat despite the bitter cold. Smoke and ash filled his nose, causing him to co

Chapter 4: FaultThe flames crackled on the wood, sending coils of smoke twisting into the night air. Ash sat with his knees drawn to his chest, the scorched rabbit untouched at his side. Across from him, the elf licked the last bits of meat from her fingers with a feral sort of grace. Her eyes, pale as frost under moonlight, held no warmth.He swallowed, breaking the silence. “You were saying something about how humans broke the peace in the world.""So, what about it?" She replied coldly.Ash raised his voice. "Why won’t you tell me anything?”She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she leaned back against the tree trunk behind her and closed her eyes, as though his question were a passing breeze.Ash’s fingers tightened around his knees. “You said something about gods… about dragons. About the balance of the world.”“I did.” Her eyes slid open, hard now. “And I won’t say more.”“Why not?” He asked, his voice low and heavy.She snorted, low and dry. “Because I don’t share sacred tru

Night had painted the world in deep blues and ink-blotted shadows. The forest stretched endlessly, thick with the scent of damp bark. Moonlight filtered in slivers between leaf and branch, ghosting over the sleeping trees like breath on cold glass.Ash sat motionless against the trunk of a gnarled oak, knees drawn to his chest. His eyes, empty yet alert, stared through the flickering fire that barely warmed the clearing. The embers hissed softly, as if whispering secrets only they could understand.Across from him, the elf didn’t blink. She hadn’t in hours. Her silver eyes, sharp as knives beneath her hood, remained trained on him—on his wrists, his hands, the shift of his breathing. She held her dagger loosely at her side, but the tension in her muscles said she was ready to move, to stop him if he so much as twitched the wrong way.She hadn’t slept, since the sky dimmed into dusk and certainly after his failed suicide attempt earlier. She had a lot on her mind and his current state

A voice echoed, soft and melodic— a woman’s voice, familiar and warm.“My little moonbeam, your mother and father wish the best for you. Don’t forget—you are a daughter of Lunaria and Caluran. If you ever find yourself in an impossible situation… remember this.”A small elf girl with short white hair, neatly braided, sat on a tree stump in a thin, beautiful dress. She stared up at her parents, their faces hidden by the sun’s glare.“…don’t pray to the moon goddess. Or the dragons. Or the wind. Pray to no one.”“Fight. With all your heart.”“For your survival. To live.”The current slammed into her again, and the temperature plummeted. She could feel her shoulder wound freezing to the bone.She gasped for air, tried to swim, and scanned the shore— there was no sign of Ash. Fear stabbed through her… until she spotted him lying on the riverbank, safe. Relief surged through her body. She fought harder, but the current surged even more against her. Her limbs grew numb. Soon, she couldn’t

In the dark of night covered by snow and cold, the only source of warmth for the cake from the fire in their midst.The party of six sat around the fire, their weapons by their sides. They drank and laughed together, their leader Korran Hoxshore was silent.He stared into the eye of the fire and watched it like it was a strange thing. He could see the eyes of that dark figure staring back at him from the fire.He looked down at the bottle in his hand and sighed. "Too much ale will do this to a man."In all his years of banditry nothing he had learned had prepared him for what happened next. The fire was sniffed out by a cold wind, the sky went dark, no stars, no moon.A dark chuckle permeated through the darkness, one Korran had experience with. A few seconds later the flame caught fire back but this time all his men were gone. There was a figure sitting opposite him."No, not this damn nightmare again." He screamed as he reached for his axe and thrust it at the space between them. "W