UNITY

Chase quickly sat up in his bed, as the smell of a large fire burned the inside of his nostrils.

He turned his head to the wide-open window, praying and hoping that his reason for panic was just some sort of misunderstanding. 

However, his hopes died when his eyes scanned the dark horizon of the night. He was greeted with a terrible scene that made his heart stop. 

As Chase scanned the horizon, his chest tightened with dread, his thoughts immediately turning to his friends. 'Were they safe?'

The entire town of Willowmere was bathed in flames. Chase quickly rolled out of his bed, grabbed his school bag, and ran straight to the door. 

Before Chase could even process his next move, the door slammed into him with brutal force, hurling him halfway across the room. He collided with the wall, the impact leaving him dazed as shards of wood and plaster rained down. A large, dark silhouette loomed in the doorway, its sheer size casting a menacing shadow across the flickering firelight.

The figure in the shadows was much taller than the doorway, as he swung a large, shiny club directly into the wall above the entrance to his room.

The entire ceiling shook as the wall crumbled and fell to the floor with a loud crash.

As the tall, hunched-over man slowly made his way into the room, the fire from the village finally illuminated the man in Chase's room.

A sense of terror consumed the small boy as the face of the man came into light.

Half of his face was bloodied and covered in a thick layer of frost, and he wore large chainmail and leather gown-like armor that covered nearly his entire body below his face. 

The firelight revealed a face that froze Chase in terror: bloodied, frostbitten skin stretched over a grotesque, ogre-like face, framed by maroon hair and a tangled mustache. The man's crooked smile widened as his bright blue eyes locked onto Chase, pinning him with a predator's gaze.

The man began to take small, limping strides towards the injured boy.

Suddenly, a thin orange beam of light instantly zapped through the savage's neck. After a couple of seconds of silence, the man's eyes widened in fear as his head slid from the crown of his neck.

His severed head fell to the floor in front of Chase, causing the boy to nearly puke at the gruesome sight. 

Shortly after, the body collapsed onto the severed head, crushing it with a sickening crunch. Chase sat only a couple of inches from the decapitated body as his stomach tightened violently.

He tried to look away from the terrible scene in front of him, but the sight of the man's body was the only thing that he could see in the dimly lit bedroom. 

Stepping over the rubble was a man with blazing orange hair; he had a sick, yet soft face.

Chase's father was standing on the debris of the wall, holding a large topaz-encrusted battle axe. 

Not only was the battle axe shrouded in a beautiful red and orange flame, but Blaze's hair and eyes were also covered in the ethereal flame that lit up the room.

Chase was still, however, in a state of panic. He quickly stumbled over the body, tripping and crawling behind his bed.

His father said nothing as Chase attempted to stop his rapid breathing and calm down. The enflamed man stepped over to the brutal murder scene and placed the tip of his blazing axe on the man's back.

The fire spread from the axe to the man's body, completely incinerating the fear-inducing scene that once was.

"We have to go, Chase..." Blaze said quietly as he looked at the open window with what appeared to be a solemn expression. 

Chase finally began to calm down as his father spoke. 

However, the boy hesitated before he could stand up and remained seated.

"I'm scared," Chase whispered.

The boy's father sighed as he knelt down next to the debris in front of the small table next to Chase's bed.

The two remained silent as screams could be heard in the distance. Chase was just hoping and praying that he would soon wake up from this terrible nightmare.

But nothing came. His eyes were wide open, his heart felt heavy, and his nose burned from the large fire that was wiping the small town Chase grew up in off of the continent. 

Chase's father finally stood up and looked at the boy who sat in the darkness. "Chase, it's time to leave. We have done all we could, but it looks like you're going to have to head north."

He paused for a moment before speaking again. "You will go around the village near the tree line, and you will take the northwestern path until you reach the village of Denna. Then you will take a caravan northeast until you reach Phoenix Academy in the mountains."

Chase was trying to process everything his father was saying; however, it was too much to take in.

"But I'm not even accepted. What am I supposed to tell them?" Chase hurriedly asked as he pushed himself up with shaky arms. 

Blaze reached into a small satchel hung over his shoulder and pulled out a mesmerizing silver dagger that was crested with orange gems. A large emblem of a phoenix sat on the tiny guard above the handle. 

"You will tell them that the House of Phoenix sent you... and that they guarantee you a full scholarship attending the academy."

Before Chase could even respond, his father grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the bedroom.

Chase hurriedly followed his father down the stairs while trying to take everything in.

'But the House of Phoenix went extinct decades ago...'