Chapter 1: Silver in the Storm

Silver rain roared against the minivan, turning the dark road into a gray blur. Jasper Cole clutched the steering wheel, nerves frayed. Ellen, his wife, sang a campfire song, an anchor. Her melody wove through the chaos, a fragile plea for family unity. Jasper hummed along, glancing in the rearview mirror, her longing for their kids’ voices a weight in his chest. Zeke, fifteen, sketched fire monsters, their blazing forms alive on the page, spell like visions consuming him. Maisie, thirteen, adjusted her ninja mask. Anime driven, she dismissed Ellen’s song as childish as she dived into her latest anime on her phone.

Jasper’s heart ached. Ellen’s songs once bound them, but Zeke and Maisie drifted - obsessions stealing their childlike wonder and respect.

A car veered across into their lane. Jasper swerved, tires screeching in a near miss, but slammed into another vehicle. Metal crumpled, glass sprayed, and sparks flared in the hood.

Pain seared his hands, the airbags refusing to deploy. Ellen gasped, pinned by the dashboard, her song gone. “Jasper!” she rasped, eyes desperately looking back. Zeke groaned, his sketchbook discarded. “Mom?” Maisie gripped her mask, frozen, panicked.

“Stay calm,” Jasper called out. His heart hammered. Flames surged, dashing away his facade of calm. Seconds to react, he shielded Ellen, body braced for the kids. The flames soared, pain raced up his right arm to his ear and then vanished as they turned silver. Jasper felt light, his eyes caught starlight instead of a wreckage. A silvery flame flickered before him, but he was alone in this space.

As he gathered his bearings, a fiery figure rose, shifting into a silver woman, her smile gentle, eyes holding secrets. Her hum resonated in his burned ear, alive with power. Faces flickered in her glow. Ellen, Zeke, Maisie. Then more appeared. A gentle woman, a scholarly youth, a princess, and a brash swordsman. All strangers bound to her light.

Jasper’s mind raced. A strange world flashed - a cathedral of silver spires, rune-lit.

“Are you… god?” he asked, voice trembling.

“I am the Silver Flame, keeper of this world,” She said, pointing to his wedding ring. It burned, runes etching into it, pulsing. “Take it. It holds your memories, my gift.”

“Wait! What about my family? Will they be there?” Jasper pleaded, clutching the ring. His knuckles turned white, the runes glowing within. As his grip loosened, the ring felt heavy. This was all he got? The thought was a shard of glass in his chest.

Her smile turned apologetic, form flickering fire. “Awaken, chosen. The world calls.”

The burns returned, scarring, searing his right side - arm, shoulder, ear, while her tune continued in that ear. The cathedral faded, Ellen and the kids vanished with the faces of the strangers. Jasper fell through starlight, the ring clutched to his chest, heart fixed on his family.