Chapter 1 – The Day of Flames
The sun was setting over the village of Kazen Hollow, painting the sky with an unsettling crimson hue. The hills surrounding the valley lay in an eerie silence, as if nature itself were holding its breath.
Rael Kazen, a fourteen-year-old boy with hair as dark as night and amber-colored eyes, was on his way home after training with his father, Commander Arven Kazen. Around his neck hung a small silver pendant bearing the emblem of their house: a falcon with outstretched wings, proud and vigilant.
As he neared his home, a sinister smell of smoke began to creep into the air. His legs sped up, first by instinct, then by pure terror. When he crested the last hill, his world shattered.
The village was ablaze.
Screams. Fire. Bodies on the ground.
Hooded figures moved among the burning houses, wielding black blades seemingly carved from shadow itself. A tall man, wearing an ivory mask and eyes red like fresh blood, strode through the massacre. His cloak rippled like a living shadow, and every step he took made the ground tremble.
Rael dashed toward his house, his heart pounding. A part of him already knew what he would find, but he ran anyway. He hoped. He prayed.
He found his mother, Elira, kneeling beside the body of his younger brother, Kaien. Her hands trembled, her eyes full of tears—but still proud. When she saw Rael, she managed a faint smile.
"Run…" she whispered.
She didn't have time.
The masked man appeared behind her. A flash of steel. The dull sound of a blade piercing flesh. Rael screamed, but no sound came out. The scene etched itself into his soul like a curse.
The man turned toward him. For a moment, time seemed to stop. Rael stared at him, felt something stir deep within — an ancient, buried power — but he was too weak, too untrained.
A figure struck him from behind. The world turned black.
The last thing he saw was that masked face… smiling.
And then, only fire.