Prologue: The First Embers

The lake was quiet—just the way Robert liked it. The gentle lapping of the water against the rocks, the chirping of birds flitting through the trees, and the occasional tug on his fishing line were all he needed these days. He cast his line again, his garnet staff leaning against a nearby tree.

At his feet, Ollie pawed at the ground, sniffing curiously. “Find anything interesting?” Robert asked with a soft chuckle. The rat froze suddenly, its nose twitching. Robert frowned. He followed Ollie’s gaze to the sky, where a single wisp of smoke curled upward in the distance.

“Strange,” he muttered. There hadn’t been any lightning storms or fires in Duckwood for weeks.

That night, the dreams came again...

He was back in the battlefield—a younger man, robed in crimson and gold, commanding torrents of flame against an endless tide of enemies. His voice echoed with authority, his hands a blur of fiery runes. But the shouts of his comrades broke through the din, pleading for orders that never came. A figure loomed in the distance, a superior officer shouting commands to rain destruction upon the weak, the innocent—collateral in the name of power. He hesitated, his resolve cracking under the weight of his conscience. He remembered turning his back, walking away as the flames consumed everything behind him. The screams followed him into wakefulness.

Robert shot upright, his breath ragged. Ollie was perched on his chest, staring into his eyes with an unnerving intensity. The rat’s nose twitched, and its eyes glowed faintly in the moonlight.

The next morning, as Robert tended to his crops, he found the signs. A rabbit, singed and lifeless, lay at the edge of his fields. Nearby, the old tree in Duckwood—his favorite to read under—was different. Its bark was blackened, and it wept a thick, tar-like sap.

Robert placed his palm against the bark. A chill ran through him as he felt the faintest trace of magic. A whisper followed, carried on the wind:

“Jase…”

It wasn’t an accusation—it was a call, one from his past.

Entered by: 0xEabe…B846