Gage Village, nestled in the green cradle of the southern hills, was the kind of place forgotten by time. Surrounded by ancient forests and kissed by ever-blowing breezes, it was a quiet haven—until the night of the twin births.
On June 25th, under a sky veiled by stars and an unusually bright full moon, two boys were born just minutes apart. The wind howled strangely that night, swirling through the village like a spirit searching for something lost. The elders would later say it was a sign.
The boys were named Kaze and Atlas.
Where Kaze's cries burst loud and wild, like a storm breaking over the mountains, Atlas was silent, his eyes open and watching—as if studying the world he'd just arrived in.
Years passed swiftly. Gage Village knew peace, and its children grew strong beneath its calm skies. Kaze and Atlas became inseparable—brothers not by blood but by fate. While Kaze was headstrong and loud, Atlas was thoughtful and patient. Their bond was a balance of opposites.
At the age of five, like all magically gifted children, they were enrolled in the Gage Mage Academy, a humble school built beside the old Whispering Trees.
Their first day was filled with excitement.
"We're finally here!" Kaze shouted, his eyes wide as the instructors gathered the children. "This is it, Atlas! We're gonna be the best mages ever!"
Atlas smiled gently. "Let's learn everything. Together."
Their magics were different. Kaze showed an affinity for Wind Magic, easily summoning breezes and spinning leaves through the air with a flick of his fingers. His energy was raw and erratic, but powerful.
Atlas, meanwhile, possessed something much rarer: Soul Magic—a subtle and uncommon form that allowed him to sense energy, emotions, even intentions. While others flared with spells, Atlas quietly read the invisible threads that connected people to the world.
By age ten, the boys had become the pride of the academy.
Kaze could now ride short gusts into the air, and his wind blasts had grown strong enough to knock over training dummies. Atlas, though less flashy, had learned to read emotional auras and disrupt magical focus in duels with a whisper of energy. Their sparring sessions were the highlight of village gatherings.
One evening, after a day of training, the boys sat under their usual hill tree.
"I compressed a wind ball today," Kaze boasted. "Knocked Master Varn's staff right out of his hand."
Atlas looked up at the stars. "I learned how to calm a monster using my energy threads. They feel pain, too, you know."
Kaze grinned. "That's why we're the perfect team. You think, I blow things up."
But fate, as ever, is a cruel architect.
On a stormy night not long after their twelfth birthday, tragedy struck.
A tempest unlike any before ripped through Gage Village. Trees snapped like twigs. Lightning danced like spirits in rage. In the chaos, Kaze's family was caught outside, trying to secure their animals.
They didn't survive.
The next morning, silence hung over the village like a funeral shroud.
Kaze never spoke of it. Not at first. But the light in his eyes dimmed. His laugh vanished. His magic grew… unpredictable. Wild. Broken.
Atlas saw it all. Not with his eyes—but through the soul threads that now twisted around his friend like a storm looking for something to destroy.
One evening, by the quiet village pond, Atlas finally sat beside Kaze.
"You don't have to carry it alone."
Kaze didn't look up. "You wouldn't understand."
"No," Atlas admitted, "I wouldn't. But I'm still here."
Their training changed. Their bond, tested. One day, their sparring became a real fight.
Fueled by grief, guilt, and rage, Kaze attacked. His wind tore through trees. Atlas countered, defending with practiced precision—but even he couldn't match the raw fury Kaze unleashed.
A final burst sent Atlas crashing into a tree, blood staining his robes.
Realization crashed down harder than the wind.
"I didn't mean to—" Kaze dropped to his knees. "Atlas… I'm sorry…"
Atlas, through pain and blood, reached out a hand. "Then tell me. What really happened that night?"
Kaze hesitated. Then, voice shaking:
"It wasn't the storm that killed them. It was me. I… I lost control while training. I shot wind into the sky… I didn't know it would…"
He broke. "I never meant to—"
Atlas closed his eyes, nodded once. "Then don't run from it. Make it mean something."
Their fingers clasped, two broken boys trying to hold each other together.
And then, everything went dark.
[End of Chapter 1]