Episode 2: Flicker of Power
Five years passed.
Eldenbrook remained the same—a quiet village tucked between forest and foothills, where time moved slowly and the world rarely changed. But inside the humble forgehouse of Rurik and Mira, change had come like sunlight through winter snow.
Kael had grown.
The silent, pale-skinned boy they found during the storm now laughed, ran, and cried like any other child. His black hair had grown thick and wild. His eyes—still an unusual mix of blue with golden glimmers—had only grown more intense with time.
And though he never remembered where he came from, Kael never asked. As far as he was concerned, the couple who raised him were his only family.
"Steady hands, boy," Rurik grumbled one morning as Kael held a chisel to an iron rod. "You're not hammerin' bread. It's steel."
Kael puffed out his cheeks, adjusting his grip. "I am steady. You just sneeze every time I do something right."
Mira chuckled from the kitchen window. "Rurik, don't bully him. Let him work."
The hammer came down with a clang, sparks flying. Kael grinned at the shape forming under his touch—a small iron pendant for Mira's birthday.
---
That night, after supper and a long day of chores, Kael wandered to the back of the house—his favorite spot. Fireflies flickered in the grass. The stars above sparkled like distant dreams.
He sat cross-legged, staring at the sky. Something inside him always stirred at night, a quiet pressure beneath his skin. Like the wind was whispering his name.
He didn't understand it.
Sometimes, when he was alone… strange things happened.
Once, he fell from a tree, and the wind cushioned his fall. Another time, when Mira slipped on a wet floor, the flames in the hearth suddenly rose and warmed the air around her, stopping her shiver instantly. The older kids in the village thought he was lucky.
Kael knew better.
And tonight… tonight it happened again.
His fingers tingled. The air grew still.
He looked at his hand—and fire sparked to life on his palm. Small, warm, and flickering. It danced like it recognized him.
Kael's breath caught.
He should have been afraid—but he wasn't.
The fire vanished as quickly as it came.
But it wasn't over.
The earth beneath him shifted. Grass curled upward, as if drawn to him. The wind wrapped around his shoulders like a cloak. His body trembled—not from fear, but from… awareness.
Then, something even stranger.
The world around him stilled. Completely. No wind. No sound.
And in that silence… a voice echoed—not from the sky, not from the earth, but from within.
> "You are not yet ready… but you are chosen."
Kael stumbled back, heart pounding.
The voice was gone. The elements settled. The fireflies returned.
But something had changed.
He knew it.
---
The next day, Kael said nothing about what happened. Not to Rurik. Not to Mira.
But that night, alone in his bed, he whispered to the stars.
"I'll hide it. I promise."
He didn't know why he said it.
Only that deep down… he felt watched. Protected. And hunted.
---
Elsewhere…
Far from Eldenbrook, in a silver tower surrounded by arcane flames, a woman in golden robes stared into a scrying mirror. Her eyes widened.
"Four…?"
The mirror pulsed with elemental colors: red, blue, brown, and black.
"…The Prophecy… it begins again."
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