I fell through fire. That flame burned me alive, something which I honestly thought was impossible to someone who was already dead.
I've never been burned by straight fire in my life before well I guess previous life before...Yeah that's going to take some getting used to. Anyways what you think would be getting burned alive feels like times that by at least 100 and there you go.
The flame that the god gave me tore apart the empty world and stitched me into a new one. I felt heat, weight, pressure, Pain, things that didn't belong in the void.
And then I heard crying.
My crying.
Voices overlapped; muffled, frantic, relieved. Faint echoes at first then slowly getting nearer and nearer.
"He's breathing!"
"By the Flame, look at him…"
Light surrounded me, not harsh like headlights, but soft and flickering. The scent of incense like I was back in my grandmothers Buddhist temple she'd take me to as a child. There was a hum in the air almost like the string of a harp after it was plucked. Fabric brushing against skin. A heartbeat, steady and warm, near my tiny body.
A woman's voice—gentle, exhausted, trembling with joy.
"Welcome home, my little flame… Kaisel."
Is that my name now, I realized. Kaisel?
I tried to open my eyes. They burned, this time contrary to the saying, literally. A dim glow pulsed beneath my eyelids, heat gathering at my core. Something inside me was too bright, too fierce, too alive. "Is that my heart beat" I thought.
The midwife gasped.
"My Lady, look!"
If I could see myself, I would see something out of a fantasy novel.
A flicker of fire rose from my chest. Not normal flame. Not even elemental fire.
White.
A pure, soft white spark hovering above my newborn skin. It condensed then slowly coiled like a serpent moving up my tiny body past my neck.
They watched as this white ember weaved in long flowing arcs till it was hovering in front of my face. There it spiraled into the silhouette of an eastern dragon, shining as bright as the expanse I had just left. The dragon surged forward down to my face. twisting with explosive grace before nestling behind my left ear lobe searing itself into my skin.
Behind my ear I felt a warmth like no other. Like someone just put a handwarmer right behind my ear. The dragon burned until it was snuffed out, revealing its form but now as a small white tattoo, proportional to my newborn body. Just looking at it commanded obedience and submission.
The room fell silent.
The midwife dropped to her knees, trembling.
"That Concept Flame…? Is it possible—"
A deeper voice cut through the awe. Firm, composed, commanding.
"Control yourselves. The child's future will not be decided today."
My eyes opened for the first time.
A tall man stood beside my mother, broad-shouldered, dressed in dark black ceremonial robes edged with red and gold. His hair was black as charcoal; his eyes were sharp embers behind a disciplined gaze.
Is this my father?
He seemed lost in thought about what he just witnessed, jaw tight, expression unreadable.
"…The legends didn't lie," he whispered. "The fire of origin has never appeared since our First Patriarch… And it has chosen my son."
I felt soft warm hands around my body. They pull me to what I can only assume is a woman's embrace.
I was held up until I was eye to eye with what I assume is my mother. [add description of mother]
My mother held me closer, her warmth soothing the blaze in my chest. With one arm holding me and the other on my chest she says "He will be loved, Caelan. Not forged into a weapon."
He didn't reply.
But he didn't disagree.
The midwife eye's switching back and forth from the couple and their newborn. Fidgeting back and forth after she was just reprimanded, she finally finds her voice.
"My Lord… My Lady… what should we record in the Ashencrest Lord Legacy birth ledger?"
My father answered without hesitation.
"Kaisel von Ashencrest. Born with the True Fire, the Flame of Origin."
The words echoed in the chamber.
"Ashencrest? True Fire? Flame of Origin?" I thought to myself. "This is truly is a new world."
The midwife, eyes wide opened and stumbling exits the room straight toward the ledger.
My eyes grew heavy. The white tattoo dimming its celestial glow, sinking deeper and deeper, quieting its presence. It eventually disappears, leaving no trace. The memories of those in the room, being the only evidence of what transpired.
With my father and my mother gaze on me, unwavering they say.
"Love, is it wise to announce to the world what has transcribed here? He could be in danger"
"Seraphine, from the moment he was born into this world, he has been in danger. This world is not kind to those that shy away from their power"
My father then places his hand over my mothers.
"Do not worry, only the upper echelon of our House will know what transpired here. It will not be until the ceremony that the world will truly know. And if it leaks…."
My father's eyes gain a dangerous red tint, like a predator ready to strike. My mother in a contradicting warmth says "We will purge out the scum from the family."
The air itself responding to their emotions quickly hums then ignites into floating red and gold flames. Just as quickly it ignites it disperses into ash and embers. The flames and subsequent particles didn't hurt me. Instead, they felt comforting.
Their overlapping hands providing warmth to my ever-erratic heart, slowing its pace and wavering my consciousness.
As I drifted into sleep, I felt a familiar warmth.
The same sensation I got when the god had placed his hand on my shoulder.
So, this is my new life, I thought.
Fire. Family. Power. And a world waiting to burn brighter.
I closed my eyes.
And the first heir of Ashencrest slept beneath drifting embers.