Morning fog drifted through Flamguardia like a lingering memory. Cairo crouched atop the city wall, perched beside a weather-worn gargoyle that overlooked the central square. Below, the marketplace stirred to life: children chased copper coins, bakers hollered over rising steam, and bells clanged to mark the start of trade.
He wasn't on delivery duty today.
He had told his parents he'd signed up to shadow a Hall apprentice for extra credit.
A harmless lie.
The truth was far stranger he was hunting ghosts.
Not the dead. The forgotten.
Remnants of bloodlines long buried under rewritten history.
His fingers brushed the parchment tucked into his coat: a faded charcoal sketch of the Ten Great Heroes' bloodlines, recreated from memory after reading that red tome in the Hall of Knowledge.
But Cairo didn't believe in ends.
Only silence waiting to be broken.
He started in the east quarter, near the old barracks that had become a refugee school.
That's where he saw her.
She stood in a dusty courtyard, crescent-shaped emblem at the end of her staff, correcting the stances of a dozen children. Her movements were graceful, controlled too refined to be self-taught. The way she was moving with the staff was ancient, fluid, practiced.
After the children scattered, Cairo stepped forward.
"You're wasting your time," he said.
She glanced over her shoulder, her tone clipped. "Excuse me?"
"You're better than this. Those kids are scribbling dust. You're weaving precision."
She turned to face him fully now. Her presence was undeniable. Modest clothes couldn't hide the glow of restrained light magic around her staff.
"Who taught you?" Cairo asked.
She hesitated. "My grandmother. From the old ways."
"Lioren blood?"
That stopped her.
Her fingers tightened on the staff. "Who are you?"
"Someone who remembers what the world forgot." Cairo's voice was calm. "I'm building something. A new Vanguard. And I want you in it."
"Lioren, not a lot of people know that name, how come you know about it?
Cairo smiled "Lets just say I know a lot of things, you'd be surprised about it"
She extended a hand. "Name's Serene. Serene Lioren"
"Cairo. Cairo Flamesworth."
Her brows twitched at that. But she said nothing. Not yet.
"Come with me, I'll introduce you to somebody."
By late afternoon, Cairo and Serene was navigating the edge of the lower districts rusted steel grates, cracked walls, and makeshift homes tucked between collapsed alleys. He was following a trail of broken crates and scattered coins. A local shopkeeper had mentioned a street brawl that ended before it even began.
He rounded a corner and saw them.
A broad-shouldered boy with electric tattoos trailing down his arms stood over three groaning teens. Another boy leaner, sharper leaned against the wall, flipping a coin.
"You done, Zayn?" the lean one muttered.
Zayn Blackvale cracked his knuckles, electricity still humming faintly in his palms. "Didn't even get warmed up."
The lean one smirked. "Show-off."
Cairo approached slowly. "Do you always settle arguments with lightning and bruises?"
Zayn glanced at him. "Who's asking?"
Cairo stopped a few feet away. "Someone who knows that lightning sigil on your wrist Blackvale clan. Storm Heralds."
Zayn's eyes narrowed. "You got good eyes, stranger." Zayn tilted his head, impressed. "And you are?"
"Cairo Flamesworth." Zayn paused.
"You're kidding,"
"No," Cairo said quietly. "And I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to ask if you're tired of pretending to be nobodies in a kingdom built on lies."
Zayn's crackling aura faded a little. "Say more."
Cairo opened his coat and unrolled the parchment. The bloodlines. The fallen names.
"We are the descendants of legends. Not the version they teach in school. The real ones. The ones who were betrayed."
Serene reads the text carefully, "Seraphina Lioren- The Radiant Valkyrie?"
Cairo nods "Ranked Number 5, one of the Ten Great Heroes"
Serene was overwhelmed "So my grandmother was right all along, no one really believed her".
Zayn looked at the list and sees an illustration of of a sword with lightning on it and said "This looks like the sword that our clan was keeping in the temple, So I'm a descendant of Caleum?"
Cairo explains "Our clans has been forgotten and was neglected in history, our ancestors are the ones who slayed the Abyssal Giant, that war changed Elyndria forever."
"And the queen?" Serene asked. "She's the one who changed it all and I'm gonna put an end to it"
"So you start a revolution?
"No," Cairo said. "I'm building a fire."
That night, beneath the old bridge, three figures sat in a circle: Cairo, Serene Lioren, Zayn Blackvale,
Cairo drew the diagram again, but this time in fresh dirt.
One by one, he added names to the tree.
The Ashen Vanguard was no longer an idea.
It was a spark catching wind.
And soon it would burn.