The night wind whispered through the high windows of Virdane Keep, dragging with it the sharp scent of iron rain from the Emberlands streets below. The sky above was void of moonlight or stars, cloaked in a dark red mist that spiraled slowly, as if the heavens themselves were reluctant to bear witness.
Inside the tallest tower, silence ruled. Not the peaceful kind, but a quiet thick with dread. The stone walls, usually echoing with footsteps and clinking armor, now absorbed every sound. Even the torchlight flickered cautiously.
In a private chamber adorned in fading banners and old brass sigils, Lady Elaira lay weakened but radiant. Her breath came in shallow gasps. Yet her arms, though trembling, held tightly the newborn against her chest.
A baby, Kael Virdane, whimpered—not with a cry of strength, but a quiet rasp of confusion. His tiny body curled close, and his fist… glowed.
The servants gathered stood motionless.
The light between the child's fingers pulsed gently.
Not flame. Not heat.
But something older. A memory of fire.
The elder maid—veiled, bearing an old sigil of an outdated system—whispered, "That's not elemental. That's… pre-systemic."
Another servant gasped and knelt, whispering old rites.
Lady Elaira only tightened her embrace, whispering to the boy:
> "My son… Kael… You may not be welcomed by the world.
But I will love you even if the stars turn away."
---
Kael's early years passed in obscurity.
He was rarely invited to feast halls. Never trained by family tutors.
His name was seldom spoken among the noble line.
But Kael—quiet, ever watching—felt the difference.
The flickering fire within him responded not to chants or spells, but to emotions: fear, sorrow, defiance.
He wandered the keep alone, favoring the shadows.
He remembered every face that looked past his mother with contempt.
He watched. He learned.
And at night, in silence… he heard it.
> "Don't fade… the flame is not gone…"
---
On his seventh birthday, there was no celebration.
Just a bowl of soup, a flickering candle, and a long, quiet hug from his mother.
That night, the world shifted.
A voice like velvet thunder echoed in his room.
> [System Fragment Awakening…]
[Initializing: Hidden Flamebearer]
[Warning: Unstable connection to pre-systemic core]
His eyes opened wide.
Floating text filled his vision—symbols written in light.
His hand ignited. Not in pain. Not in destruction.
But in acceptance.
As if the universe had whispered: "You are not forgotten."
---
📊 KAEL'S INITIAL STATUS
[Name]: Kael Virdane
[Race]: Human (Ash-Touched)
[Class]: ??? (Fragmented)
[Level]: 7
[Skills]: Ember Pulse (Lv.1), Shadowstep (Lv.2)
[Trait]: Dream-Echo Instinct (24%)
[Charisma]: 8 | [Luck]: 11
[Title]: Hidden Flamebearer
---
Beyond the Keep, rain began to fall—cold, whispering rain that turned to frost.
And across the stars, on a fractured world long lost to maps…
…a man opened his eyes beneath a foreign sky.
Dareth Virdane, the lost eldest son, stirred from his long silence.
He, too, felt the same flame awaken inside him.