LOCATION: HOUSE EZURA, SOLAGUN – DOMINION OF FLAME
"The Flame tests all things. And some, it simply ignores."
— House Ezura Proverb
---
Damaso was the third son.
Taye had fire.
Kọ́lá had fire.
Damaso had… nothing.
They trained in the family court every morning. The sun was hot. The walls were hotter. Taye made fire come out of his sword like it was easy. Kọ́lá could heat the ground just by stomping.
Damaso just stood there, holding his wooden blade like it meant something.
His sweat didn't steam. His hands didn't glow. Nothing.
Their father sat above them, on the fire-throne made of redstone and metal. He watched everything. He corrected Taye. He praised Kọ́lá.
He didn't say anything to Damaso.
---
Later, Damaso followed him through the corridor. The walls had carvings of old Ezura warriors. Their Affinities burned from their eyes.
> "You didn't see me today?" Damaso asked.
His father didn't stop walking.
> "I saw."
"And?"
> "You don't move like someone born from fire."
"But I tried—"
> "Trying is for people who still have time. You've had sixteen seasons. The flame hasn't answered you."
That hurt.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
> "Watch your brothers. Learn not to get in their way."
Then he was gone. Just like always.
---
That night, Damaso didn't eat. His brothers were already bragging at the table. The cooks laughed. Even the guards were smiling. Nobody looked at him.
He went to the top of the outer wall, where wind blew hard and cold.
The sky was red. Solagun always looked like it was burning from afar.
He looked down at the ground below. The ruins. The cursed lands. The place where Affinity didn't matter.
And something inside him said, Jump.
He didn't jump.
But he climbed down.
Because something was calling.
And it wasn't fire.
---
LOCATION: OUTSKIRTS OF SOLAGUN – THE RUINED EDGE
It took him most of the night to climb down..Most would just fly downwards, or upwards but not him. He had nothing.
There was no ladder. No gate. Just wall and rock and some broken things from before the plague. He slipped once. Almost fell. Cut his hand. Didn't stop.
The air down here was different. No drums. No lights. Just dirt and dead grass and things people forgot.
His breath came out in clouds. Cold. But this was the Dominion of Flame. It wasn't supposed to be cold.
Something was wrong here.
---
He didn't know where he was going. He just followed the feeling.
Like a pull in his chest. Not pain, not hunger. Something else. Like the air was whispering to him but not in words.
And then he saw it.
A rock. Or maybe it was a shrine. The shape was weird. Old. Black stone with cracks glowing faint red, like it had fire hiding inside.
There was something sticking out from it.
A blade.
---
He walked closer.
The ground around it was burnt like lightning hit it long ago. Grass didn't grow here. Nothing moved. Not even wind.
The sword was stuck in deep, but it didn't look like it was made from metal. It was too dark. Too smooth. And it was humming. Just a little. Like it was breathing slow.
He reached for it.
Then stopped.
Something behind his eyes screamed don't.
But his hand moved anyway.
He touched the blade.
---
The world exploded or so he felt.
Heat punched through his body like thunder. His heart stopped. His vision blurred. His knees gave out. He hit the ground but didn't feel it.
He heard voices, not one.but many.
Screaming, singing, laughing then… just one voice.
A female, cold, beautiful. Angry.
> "Finally. Another fool with blood loud enough to wake me."
He tried to speak, but he couldn't breathe.
> "You shouldn't have touched me, child."
His chest burned but not like before. This wasn't pain, this was a Mark.
And then everything went black.