The room was warm, lit by a large fireplace in Emberly Keep. Its defiant flames filled the air with heat. Six intricate fire and ember designs hung on the stone walls, showing the Ember clan's symbol. The air smelled of burnt wood. Clan Head Valthor stood by the fire, hands behind his back. His tall shadow stretched across the floor. He stared at the flames, his eyes unyielding.
Theo Emberly knelt on one knee, the warm floor hard under his leg. He was an elder in the Ember clan. His fire power was weak, unlike the strong flames of his family. Years ago, Valthor had given him a task: marry Lara, a woman from the ice-powered Rime family. Valthor wanted a child who could use both fire and ice together, a strong heir. Theo and Lara had six children. Four had fire power, two had ice. None were what Valthor wanted.
"Theo," Valthor said, his voice deep and harsh. He kept looking at the fire. "You have six children. Four with fire, two with ice. That's not what I asked for."Theo's face tightened. He looked down. "Clan Head, I tried—" , "Quiet." Valthor's voice was cold and harsh, like a winter wind. "Your fire is weak, Theo. I gave you Lara to make a strong child, one with both fire and ice. We need an heir to make our clan better than the Pyreclaws or Frostveins. This seventh child, Kael, is your last chance." He stopped, and the fire's crackle filled the room. "I want a child with fire and ice together. Or at least strong fire or strong ice. If Kael has nothing good, he's not an Ember. Send him away. Let the snow take him."
Theo's breath stopped for a moment. His hands shook. He remembered Kael as a boy, his hands cold even near the fire at Emberly Keep. Lara had seen it too, but she stayed quiet. Theo hoped it meant something special, maybe a power the affinity beast's heart could awaken at RimeCastle. Now, with Kael almost thirteen, that hope felt heavy. He'd seen other children sent away, their names forgotten, left in the cold. Kael was his youngest, still kind. Could Theo let him go?
Valthor spoke again, his voice low but not kind. "This marriage was your chance to show your worth, Theo. Don't fail me. The Pyreclaws are getting stronger, and we need power to stay on top. Go." Theo stood, his knee sore. He bowed, feeling Valthor's words like a weight in his chest. He left the room. The fire's light stayed bright behind him, like a warning.
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Kael Emberly sat in a shaky carriage. His breath made clouds in the cold air leaking through the wooden walls. Snow fell hard outside, covering the road to RimeCastle. The Ember clan's old castle was a place of fire and tests, built in a snowy valley. Every Ember child went there at thirteen to wake their power. They had to show their fire could burn in a snowstorm. The elders said a fire that's strong in a snowstorm would be unmatched anywhere.
Kael held his cloak tight, his stomach churning with hope and fear.At Emberly Keep, Kael heard stories. RimeCastle was a test. Children who couldn't make strong fire were sent away. Their names were erased from the clan. They were left in the snow with nothing. Kael's father, Theo, had told him once, his voice strict: "You're an Ember, Kael. You must have fire. You must have both." Both—fire and ice, what his parents' marriage was meant to create. His mother, Lara, had ice power. She was chosen to make a special child. But what if Kael wasn't special? What if the cold feeling in his chest meant no fire at all?
The carriage hit a bump, shaking Kael. He looked out a small, icy window. The world was all white. He thought of his mother's quiet face when Theo said he had to go to RimeCastle. Her ice-blue eyes looked away. Once, when Kael was little, she saw him stare at a candle. His fingers felt cold, not warm. "Don't tell your father," she whispered, sounding scared. Kael didn't understand then, but now, close to RimeCastle, it worried him."Keep your head down, boy," the driver said, his voice rough over the wind. "RimeCastle is an unforgiving place for dreamers."Kael nodded, though the driver couldn't see. The old man's hands were scarred from driving young Embers to their test. "Is it true," Kael asked softly, "that they send you away if you fail?"The driver laughed, spitting into the snow. "Yes. I've seen kids like you, sent out with just a cloak. The clan doesn't want weak fire." He looked back. "You're an Ember. You'll be okay. Or you won't."
The carriage stopped. Kael saw RimeCastle through the window: tall black stone towers standing in the snow. Torches burned along the walls, their flames defiant. A big iron gate had the clan's sign—a flame with embers around it. This was the place where Kael's future would be made or broken. His hand touched the dagger at his belt, a gift from his mother. Its handle felt cold. Kael stepped into the snow, the castle's shadow covering him.
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Kael's boots crunched on the snowy path as he followed an elder through RimeCastle's yard. His heart beat fast, full of fear. He was almost thirteen, and today he'd learn his power. The castle's black stone walls had intricate fire marks, glowing in the torchlight. Kael saw other buildings—places where young Embers trained, practicing their fire. Shouts and flashes of flame came through the snow. Kael's hands were sweaty, even in the cold. He was scared.
The elder, an old man with gray hair and a kind smile, looked back. "Nervous, Kael?" he asked gently. "It's okay. Every Ember feels scared before their awakening."Kael nodded, his throat tight. "Will it hurt?" he asked, feeling silly.The elder smiled more. "A little. The affinity beast's heart is strong. It's a special creature that wakes up magic powers." He patted Kael's shoulder. "I'm Elder Torren. You're Theo's son, right? You'll do fine."Kael wanted to believe him, but the cold in his chest made him worry.
He followed Torren to a round building in the yard's center, its roof covered in snow. They entered a big room with walls covered in fire designs. Fires burned in bowls, lighting the room. In the middle was a stone table. On it sat a heart, the size of a fist, glowing white. It was from an affinity beast, and its power could wake up magic. Its heat warmed the air.Kael stopped when he saw the elders sitting around the table. Theo was there, his face hard, wearing red robes. Lara stood next to him, her hands together, her ice-blue eyes on the floor. They had come after Kael, by a faster road from Emberly Keep. Their faces made Kael feel small. Two other elders sat quietly, watching him. Torren joined them, his smile gone.Theo stepped forward, his voice strict. "Kael. Eat the heart. Show the clan your power."
Kael felt sick, but he walked to the table. The heart glowed, smelling like metal and blood. He picked it up, his hands shaking. It was heavy. He took a bite, the raw meat tough and bitter. He gagged but kept eating. The elders watched. Lara's fingers moved a little, but she was quiet. Kael swallowed every piece, his throat hurting.A warm feeling started in his stomach, moving to his chest. It felt like fire, strong and hot. Kael gasped. He felt intricate magic lines inscribing in his heart, like a design or pattern forming. The heat grew, making him sweat. He fell to his knees. The pain was unbearable for a child, but he held on because he knew losing consciousness meant death. He clutched his chest, breathing hard. The lines stopped, but they were not complete. They were broken.
A cold feeling came, sharp like ice. Pale flames appeared on his hands—not hot, not warm, just pale flames.The room was quiet. An elder coughed. Lara's eyes widened in fear. Theo's face turned angry. "What is this?" he said, his voice unyielding. "These pale flames have no heat, nothing HERE!"Kael looked up at his father, terrified and breathing fast. "Father, I—""Stop." Theo's voice was cold. "You failed, Kael. You're not an Ember! "
He looked at the elders. "Tell the guards they know what to do next."A terrible feeling rose in Kael's heart, his throat dry—perhaps from failure, perhaps from the affinity beast's heat, perhaps neither.Lara reached out, then stopped. Torren just looked coldly at Kael. The other elders nodded. Kael's heart felt heavy, the cold in his chest growing. Guards took him from the room. Kael cried for his mother to save him, begged his father for a second chance, asked the elders for mercy, but received no response. As they threw him out of the castle, Theo's words echoed in his mind. He would be left to die in this harsh snowstorm.Snow fell hard near RimeCastle.
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In a forest, Kael's breaths were rough, each one painful. Blood dripped from a cut on his arm, turning the snow red. He held his mother's dagger, its blade chipped. A snow wolf lay dead at his feet, its mouth open, eyes empty. Kael's legs shook, and he fell next to the wolf. The cold stung his skin. His fingers held the dagger tight as his eyes started to close.
He was thirteen, barely an hour past his awakening. The world wanted him Dead .Memories came like weak flames. The awakening room at RimeCastle, with its fire designs and the beast's heart. Theo's angry face, Lara's quiet fear, the elders coldly watching. Kael had eaten the beast's heart, felt the heat, then the cold. His pale flames were a sign of failure. After the test, guards threw him out. In the great hall, Theo had shouted: "You're not an Ember." Guards pushed Kael out the gates. Lara looked away, her hands tight. Kael was cast out for a power he didn't understand, rejected by a family that valued only fire.
The forest was quiet, only the wind making noise. Kael's blood mixed with the wolf's, freezing in the snow. The wolf had attacked, its eyes hungry. Kael, weak from cold and exhausted from trudging through the heavy snowstorm, fought hard. His clothes were torn, his flesh carved by the snow wolf's claws. His pale flames didn't work. Terrified, he used the dagger. He won, but the cold was stronger now.As his eyes closed, one thought stayed strong: I'm not done yet. He wasn't the special child his father wanted. But he was alive. For now, that was enough.
He slowly slit the snow wolf's throat to drink its blood. He was starving after the journey, the awakening ceremony, the hour-long trek to the nearest forest, and the fight with the wolf. As he drank the blood, a small heat formed in his stomach, mixing with the remaining bits of the affinity beast's heart. The warmth traveled to his heart. Before he could react, this heat began inscribing new magic lines, completing the unfinished design. The incomplete became complete, but at the cost of Kael's remaining energy. The inscription gave him his powers, but before he could use or understand them, he fell unconscious.