Fire in the Blood

Morning broke with a golden-red hue. Kael sat by a fading campfire, while Aven stood still, eyes fixed to the north.

> "So… who am I really?" Kael finally asked, breaking the silence.

Aven didn't answer right away. He unrolled an old scroll from his cloak and laid it on the ground.

> "Kael, you're not just descended from Soulcrafters… your blood contains the First Shard."

Kael stared blankly. "What's the First Shard?"

> "It's the origin flame. The primal element used to forge the very first Soulcraft. Most Soulcrafters inherited fragments… but you, Kael… you are its full vessel."

Kael felt lightning strike through his bones. "That's impossible."

Aven held his gaze.

> "Not yet. But it will be… once the Gate fully opens. And the enemy already knows about you."

The wind turned colder. In the far distance, a strange flute echoed—high and shrill, like the scream of something long forgotten.

Kael looked to the sky. He could feel it now. Something inside him was waking. Like fire… like blood… or perhaps both.

The ancient scroll slowly unraveled on the ground, marked by age: fold lines, dried blood stains, and symbols almost lost to time. Aven pointed at one carving shaped like a closed eye with fire in its center.

> "This is the Soulfire emblem, the deepest power of Soulcraft. Only those with the First Shard can activate it."

Kael touched the symbol. It was warm. Then hot. Too hot.

> "Agh—!"

Suddenly, the symbol flared bright and Kael was thrown backward. Fire wrapped around his body for a second before vanishing. The ground beneath him burned into the same fire-eye shape.

> "What did you do?" Kael gasped.

Aven's eyes were sharp. "That wasn't me. Your body recognized the truth."

In the distance, the sky turned dark—even though it was still morning. A black mist crept across the horizon like a massive hand reaching to seize the world.

> "We don't have much time," said Aven.

> "Why?" asked Kael.

Aven turned to him.

> "Because that symbol… has been erased from the world for over a thousand years. And the fact that you reactivated it… will shake the old order that tried to bury it."

[FLASHBACK – 1,200 Years Ago]

The sky burned crimson, fractured by a rain of soul meteors. The world was still young, and the first Soulcrafters had only begun to understand the cost of power.

At the center of a giant stone circle stood a woman in a gray cloak. Her name was Isenra, the Bearer of the First Flame.

> "A soul cannot be forged without pain," she whispered, stabbing a dagger into her own heart.

Her blood ignited a blue flame into the air. Her scream tore through the heavens, forming the emblem: an eye with an eternal flame at its center.

> "Soulfire… must not fall into unworthy hands," were her final words before her body turned to stone, fusing with the emblem.

[BACK TO PRESENT TIME]

Kael woke with labored breath. The Soulfire that had touched his body now pulsed in his veins—like a second heartbeat.

> "I… saw something," he said.

The wind around the valley began to swirl. Pebbles trembled. The Soulfire burning within Kael's body was slowly affecting the surroundings.

Aven narrowed his eyes, sensing the shift in Kael's aura.

> "You're not just anyone, Kael. That vision wasn't just heritage—it was a warning."

Kael stood, his left hand still trembling.

> "I didn't ask for this… But I won't run."

Suddenly, out of the forest mist, emerged a hooded figure. His face was hidden, but his presence shook the earth. Hanging from his chest was the same Soulfire emblem—but inverted.

Aven clenched his jaw.

> "The Reversed Wardens… they sensed your awakening."

Kael swallowed hard.

> "Are they… killers?"

Aven nodded slowly.

> "They are shadows of former Soulcrafters. They hunt rising flames… because they fear the return of the First Soul."

Without warning, the Warden struck, releasing a slash of dark energy aimed at Kael.

Kael closed his eyes. Suddenly, the Soulfire symbol on his chest blazed and created a shield of blue flame.

> Clang!

The attack deflected.

Aven shouted,

> "Now you understand… your old soul has died. The one standing here is the last heir!"

Aven turned sharply.

> "What did you see?"

Kael hesitated. "A woman. She sacrificed herself. She… created this fire."

After the brief battle, Kael collapsed to the ground. His breath was ragged. The Soulfire on his chest still burned, but his mind slowly slipped from the physical world.

All sound vanished.

Darkness.

Silence.

Then... a woman's voice echoed within him.

> "Kael… Kael… I've waited long for a soul like yours."

Kael turned. In a glowing blue void, a woman stood clad in white robes, long silver hair flowing behind her. Her eyes were deep, wounded—yet filled with hope.

> "Who are you?" Kael asked, his voice faint.

She stepped closer.

> "I am Lyra, one of the first Soulcrafters. That Soulfire mark… once belonged to me."

Kael froze.

> "You appeared in my vision?"

Lyra nodded.

> "Not just your vision. I'm part of your legacy. Our souls once merged… in an unrecorded life."

Suddenly, the space began to crack, and Aven's voice echoed from the outside.

> "Kael! Wake up!"

Lyra gave him a final look.

> "You must choose, Kael. Remain yourself… or rise as the Heir of Souls."

Kael gasped awake. But now… his gaze had changed. An ancient fire was burning in his eyes.

Aven saw it and whispered,

> "He's connected… to the source."

The sky over the eastern border grew dark—not from nightfall, but from a black mist that choked the heavens.

Atop the crumbling fortress of Mor'Kael stood a tall man clad in dark armor, skulls etched into his pauldrons. His eyes glowed faint crimson—not from magic, but from an eternal wrath.

He was General Varcus.

> "The mark... it has returned," he murmured.

"And its bearer... a boy named Kael."

Behind him, a silent legion of soldiers stood, each armed with aether-tech weapons and ancient machines. Varcus stepped forward, eyes fixed eastward.

> "Ready the battalion. We march when the sun falls."

"Kael must be taken… alive."

One subordinate, a woman named Cyra, asked cautiously,

> "Why not kill him, General?"

Varcus paused. Then he turned, gaze cold and sharp.

> "Because if he holds Lyra's legacy… then he's the only one who can unlock the Soul Gate."

In a forgotten temple deep in the northern wilds, an ancient bell tolled faintly. Someone unraveled a roll of decayed silk.

Aelra, a silver-haired girl with pale blue eyes, stood before the half-shattered statue of Lyra.

> "He has emerged... The final bearer of the flame."

"Kael… your name is written in the oldest prophecy."

She placed her hand on the engraved Soulfire emblem etched into the temple floor. It flickered faintly—responding to the blood Kael now carried.

Suddenly, thick mist curled around the temple, and a deep voice echoed from the shadows.

> "Will you betray us again, Aelra?"

"Or this time… will you truly choose the light?"

Aelra closed her eyes, voice steady yet burdened.

> "I do not choose the light… I choose hope."

Far away, lightning slashed across the sky. In the city below, Kael awoke with a gasp, his chest tight—as if something ancient had stirred within him… and the world.