The air in Ashen Vale hung heavy with the scent of burnt sage and ancient stone. Eldrin stood before the weathered monolith of his ancestors, its surface etched with runes that pulsed faintly under the dimming twilight. The village elders encircled him, their faces grim beneath hooded cloaks. Today was his Rite of Ascensiona-day meant to bind him to the legacy of the Titans. Instead, it would unravel everything.
The chieftain, a gnarled man with eyes like flint, raised a bronze dagger. Its edge glinted coldly as he pressed it to Eldrin's palm.
By blood and bone,"the elder intoned, 'e honor the Titans' covenant."
Eldrin's breath hitched as the blade bit into his flesh. His blood dripped onto the monolith, seeping into the grooves of the runes. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then, a faint red glow sparked beneath his skin, tracing jagged patterns up his forearm. The ground beneath his feet trembled.
Stop the ritual!" someone shouted. Villagers staggered back as fissures spiderwebbed across the stone platform. Eldrin clutched his throbbing hand, the sigils now burning like brands. Above him, the monolith groaned, its ancient fractures splitting wider.
Fire erupted.
A ceremonial brazier toppled, scattering embers across the cracked earth. Where the flames met the glowing sigils, the ground convulsed. Wooden huts warped into spires of splintered timber; the village well erupted in a geyser of ice. Eldrin stumbled, his vision blurring as chaos unfurled around him. Through the smoke, he glimpsed Rivennhis oldest friendlunging toward the chieftain, sword in hand.
Eldrin, *move*!"Rivenn roared, slashing at a serpentine tendril of stone that lashed toward the elder. The blade struck true, but the metal hissed and melted, dripping like wax.
Eldrin's knees buckled. The sigils now covered his arms, his neck, his faces lattice of crimson light throbbing in time with his heartbeat. He crawled backward, his fingers digging into the shuddering earth. A child's scream pierced the din. He turned to see a girl trapped beneath a collapsing roof beam, her mother clawing at the debris.
No!"Eldrin reached out, but the sigils flared. A shockwave ripped from his palm, flattening huts and hurling bodies through the air. When the dust settled, half the village lay in ruins.
---
The chieftain dragged himself upright, one leg twisted at a grotesque angle. His voice boomed across the carnage.
This is no son of the Titans!
This is *chaos* incarnate!"
Villagers emerged from the wreckage,their faces contorted with fear and fury. Torches were lit, their flames trembling in shaking hands. Eldrin staggered to his feet, his throatraw from smoke and shame. Rivenn appeared at his side, blood streaking his temple.
You need to run," Rivenn hissed, thrusting a leather satchel into Eldrin's arms. Inside lay a tarnished family creste-wolf's head encircled by thorns. H ead north to the Ashfall Library. Find the scholars. Theyll know what you are."
Eldrin's protest died as the mob surged forward. Rocks flew, one grazing his cheek. Rivenn shoved him toward the tree line. *Go!*"
He ran.
Branches tore at his tunic as he plunged into the forest. Behind him, Ashen Vale burnedapyre of his own making. The sigils on his skin dimmed but did not fade, their glow a sickly blue in the gathering dark. His stomach heaved, and he collapsed against a tree, vomiting bile onto the moss.
When he looked up, the forest had gone silent. No birdsong. No wind. Only the distant howl of wolvesor something worse.
A twig snapped.
Eldrin froze. Shadows shifted between the trees, resolving into figures clad in blackened armor. Their helms bore the crest of a thorned rose, and their leader carried a spear tipped with a shard of pulsating crystal.
The Nexus Child," the soldier sneered, leveling the spear. Lady Ophira awaits."
Eldrin's breath fogged in the cold air. The sigils flared again, brighter now, as if answering the crystal's call. Somewhere deep in his bones, a fire kindleda-hunger he could not name.
The wolves howled closer.
--.
Rivenn found him at dawn, slumped against a boulder at the forest's edge. His friend's armor was scorched, his sword notched and dripping with ichor. Without a word, Rivenn hauled Eldrin into a battered carriage hitched to a skeletal mare.
Theyll hunt you to the edges of the realm,"Rivenn muttered, cracking the reins. The carriage lurched forward, wheels screeching against the frozen mud. But Ill be damned if I let them take you alive."
Eldrin stared at his hands, the sigils now dormant but indelible. What *am* I, Rivenn?"
His friend didnt answer. The forest gave way to barren plains, the horizon smudged with storm clouds. Behind them, the howls turned to screamsnot wolves, but men. Rivenn cursed, urging the mare faster.
Too late.
Black-armored riders descended from the cliffs, their steeds armored in bone and malice. The leader's spear gleamed as he hurled it. Rivenn yanked Eldrin sideways, the weapon embedding itself in the carriage wall.
Silence-powder!"the soldier barked. A glass orb shattered at Eldrin's feet, releasing a cloud of shimmering dust.
Agony lanced through his veinsthe sigils writhed, their light guttering. He collapsed, choking on blood and ash.
Rivenn leapt from the carriage, sword raised. You want him? Come and*bleed* for it!"
Metal clashed. Eldrin watched through blurred vision as Rivenn parried and struck, his movements fueled by desperation. But the black thorns of Ophira's legion were relentless. A blade found Rivenn's thigh; another gashed his ribs.
Run"· Rivenn rasped, his eyes locking with Eldrin's one final time before a spear pierced his chest.
Something inside Eldrin snapped.
The world turned red.
Fire erupted from his palmsnot ordinary flame, but liquid shadow that devoured light and flesh alike. Soldiers screamed as their armor melted, their bones crumbling to ash. When the darkness receded, only Rivenn's helmet remained, its metal warped into a twisted teardrop.
Eldrin cradled it, his hands trembling. The sigils burned cold now, a reminder of the powerand the cursethrumming in his blood.
A laugh echoed through the treeslight, mocking, and utterly devoid of warmth.
Well done, child of chaos," a woman's voice crooned. Youve learned to bleed the world as it has bled you."
Eldrin turned.
There, perched on a branch like a raven, sat a woman with eyes like fractured emeralds. She twirled a dagger made of crystalline energy, her smile sharp enough to cut stone.
Welcome,"she said, to the beginning of the end."