The sun was slow that morning, barely peeking over the hills of Lunegrove. Frost still clung to the ground, and the air felt cold enough to bite through skin. Most people were still asleep, wrapped in blankets and silence.
But not me.
Quntuam Max. Sixteen years old today—not that anyone would care. No cake, no hugs, no "happy birthday." Just another day in a forgotten village, tucked between vampire lands and werewolf forests. The only human town for miles, and even we were barely holding on.
I lived with Old Marda. She wasn't my mom, just someone who found me crying near the woods when I was little. She gave me food and a roof, but that was it. No bedtime stories, no kind words. Still, I owed her. Life out there? Way worse.
Especially for someone like me.
The world had changed a long time ago. Now it was ruled by monsters—vampires in their dark castles, werewolves in their shifting skins, and humans who only trusted swords, spells, and silver.
And above all… they hated Alchemists.
Alchemists used to be powerful. They could turn water into fire, stone into light, even heal wounds with a touch. But the last known Alchemist had died over two hundred years ago. Burned alive by all three races. Now, if anyone even smelled like an Alchemist, they were hunted down.
Killed.
No questions asked.
That's why what happened next shook me to my core.
I woke up hungry—nothing new. Went to the small shack we called a kitchen. The hearth was dead cold. No firewood left. I tried to light a flame using flint and steel like Marda taught me. Nothing. My hands were freezing, and I was getting angry.
Then, without really thinking, I held my hand out over the wood.
I imagined warmth. I imagined fire. Not like a spark—more like a soft glow, like the kind Marda used to talk about when telling old stories she thought I wasn't listening to.
And then it happened.
The wood cracked.A flame appeared.
But it didn't just light—it moved. It followed my hand. Like it was tied to me. I waved to the side, and the fire leaned with me. I pulled back, and it flickered smaller.
My heart almost stopped.
I dropped my hand. The fire faded out.
I stood there in the cold, staring at my fingers.What. The. Hell.
That wasn't normal. That wasn't human.
That was… Alchemy.
And if anyone found out? I was done for. The village would turn on me. The vampires would suck me dry. The werewolves would shred me. The humans? They'd burn me alive.
But deep inside, past all the fear… I felt something else.
Excitement.
This wasn't the end. This was the beginning.