The clicking sound of backgammon pieces echoed through the dimly lit room. Arash stared at the board with a cold, calculating gaze. His thin, bony fingers moved the pieces with exemplary precision. Across from him sat a middle-aged merchant whose face was growing paler by the moment.

"Double six!" Arash announced in a quiet but firm voice as he arranged the final pieces.

The merchant angrily pounded his fist on the board. "Impossible! How can a twelve-year-old boy defeat me three times in a row?"

Arash shrugged. He didn't even smile. Victory was ordinary for him. "You have a predictable pattern, Mr. Merchant. Your third move is always foreseeable."

At that moment, a smaller girl with braided hair and large, eager eyes entered the room. Azar, Arash's ten-year-old sister, excitedly ran toward her brother.

"Arash! Arash! Tomorrow is the Fire Ceremony! Can you believe it?" Her voice trembled with excitement.

Without changing his cold expression, Arash collected the coins he had won from the game and put them in a small pouch. "Calm down, Azar. It's just a ceremony."

"It's not just a ceremony! Our lives will change! If I become aflame, or you..." Azar's eyes glistened with tears.

Arash gave his sister a deep look. Unlike him, Azar didn't hide her feelings. Everything was visible on her face: fear, hope, excitement. For a brief moment, the coldness in Arash's gaze mixed with concern. He knew well what passing through the First Flame meant. The most important day in every person's life. The day that determined who was "chosen" and who was not.

The night before the ceremony, Arash sat in the courtyard of their master's house, staring at the starry sky. Master Keyhan, a wealthy man from the renowned "House Ruby Ember" , had adopted them after their parents' death; not out of kindness, but because of the talents he saw in Arash.

"Can't sleep?" Azar's voice came from behind him.

Without turning around, Arash answered, "I'm thinking."

Azar sat beside him. "About what?"

"About the ceremony, only two years left. About what will happen." Arash turned a small stone in his hand. "I've calculated it, Azar. The probability that both of us will be chosen is very low. The First Flames are our entire lives, but at the same time, it's very cruel if we're not chosen... Azar..."

Azar's face fell. "But everyone says you have a special talent! I'm sure you'll at least become a Kindled!"

Arash nodded. "For me perhaps, but..." He swallowed his words.

Azar squeezed her brother's hand. "Don't worry about me. What matters is that we'll always stay together, right?"

Arash, for the first time that night, looked directly into his sister's eyes. "Always." He said this, but in his mind, thousands of thoughts and plans were forming.

...

The great Fire Temple of the capital was located in the northeastern part of the land, at an altitude of two thousand meters above sea level, in a valley surrounded by volcanic mountains with peaks higher than 3,000 meters.

The most important natural feature of this place was Lake Shafagh, about 80 meters in diameter and more than 60 meters deep, where the sacred fire blended with the red light of sunset, making its waters shine like fire.

This legendary lake is where fire and water, instead of being enemies, burn in sacred harmony with each other, radiating divine light.

The water maintains a constant temperature of 21 degrees Celsius in all seasons. This mineral spring, rich in calcium, has created a natural elevated oval-shaped plateau over thousands of years by depositing limestone sediments, about 60 meters higher than the surrounding plain. The combination of the lake's water and the volcanic activity of the region had made this place sacred for the Flame ritual, as water and the ancient white flame were considered the two purifying elements in this ritual.

The Fire Temple was crowded. Thousands had gathered to watch the Fire Passing ceremony. In the center of the temple burned a massive white-colored flame: the First Flame, an ancient fire said to have been burning since the beginning of creation.

Arash and Azar Looking at the line of twelve to fourteen-year-old adolescents. This year wasânt their turn. Master Keyhan was watching them from a distance, his gaze focusing more on Arash.

Azar fearfully squeezed her brother's hand. Arash, however, stared at the flame with his usual cold gaze.

Today, Lord Kaveh, the son of one of the city's elders, walked with firm steps toward the flame. The moment he entered the fire, the flames turned a brilliant orange color and swirled around him.

"Kindled!" The voice of the High Priest echoed through the space, and the applause of the audience rose.

Arash calculated under his breath. "So far, out of sixty people who have been tested today, twenty-seven became Kindled, five became Ashborn, and twenty-eight were not chosen."

Azar asked anxiously, "Were there no Blazed or Ignited?"

"No. Usually, such ranks are announced only in the final days when it's the turn of the great and royal families."

The line slowly moved forward. From a distance, Arash and Azar could see Master Keyhan staring at them intently. He was a middle-aged man with penetrating eyes and a hard countenance. It was rumored that he himself was a Blazed, though he rarely used his powers.

"Twenty-fourth turn, Kumar, son of the Master Blacksmith!"

A sturdy boy with broad shoulders stepped forward. When he entered the fire, the flames showed no change. They just passed through him as if he wasn't there at all.

"Not chosen!" was announced, and the blacksmith man lowered his head.

Azar whispered, "You said twenty percent aren't chosen, right?"

Arash nodded. "Yes, and out of every hundred people, forty become Kindled, one becomes Blazed, one out of every hundred thousand becomes Ignited, and one out of every thousand becomes Ashborn."

"And Flameborn?"

Arash smirked. "One in a hundred million. In the entire history of our land, only seven Flameborn have been recorded."

The High Priest's voice rose: "Today is the sixth day of the great Selection ceremony. So far, we have witnessed the emergence of two Blazed. One on the third day, and another yesterday. No Ignited has appeared in this year's ceremony yet."

The crowd whispered excitedly. The competition between tribes and great families was always about which would have more and more powerful chosen ones.

In one corner of the square, a group of nobles stood. Among them, Lady Mehrnaz, wife of Lord Keyvan from the "House of Ruby Ember", looked at her son Artin with special pride. His test was scheduled for tomorrow.

"My son will be at least a Blazed," she confidently told a woman beside her. "The blood of Ruby Ember flows in his veins."

The other woman, Lady Shida from the royal family {House Atar}, responded with a faint smile: "Prince Tirdad will also be tested tomorrow. The prophets say he will be the third Blazed this year."

Azar, who heard them, looked at Arash. "Do you hear? They say tomorrow two people from the great families will become Blazed."

Arash shrugged. "Prophecies aren't always right. The flame itself decides."

That day's ceremony continued until sunset. Of the sixty-five people tested, thirty-eight became Kindled, six became Ashborn, and twenty-one were not chosen.

As the sun was setting, Arash and Azar quietly slipped out through the crowd. Unlike other adolescents their age who excitedly discussed tomorrow's ceremony, they were silent.

On the way back to Master Keyhan's mansion, Azar asked, "Do you think if our mother and father were alive, they would be happy with our ranks?"

Arash paused for a long time. "I don't know. I don't have many memories of them." But he was lying. He remembered well how his father, an ordinary Kindled, always looked enviously at the chosen ones of higher ranks.

"Dad always said it doesn't matter what you are, what matters is what you do." Azar's voice was quiet and full of memory.

Arash gave a bitter smile. "Yes. He was like that himself. Although he was only a Kindled, he did things that many Blazed couldn't do."

When they reached the mansion, Master Keyhan was waiting for them in the hall. "Tomorrow is an important day," he said coldly. "You two will attend the ceremony, but near me, in the nobles' stand."

Arash asked in surprise, "But... we are only your adopted children. The nobles' stand..."

Master Keyhan raised his hand for silence. "I have decided to reveal your true identity. You are not your father's children, but the grandchildren of Lord Arvin from House of Vertragna 'Varharan'. Your mother was his daughter."

Azar stared at him in disbelief. "This... this is impossible. Our parents..."

"Your mother was banished from her family for marrying an ordinary Kindled. But now, Lord Arvin has grown old and has no heir. He is willing to accept you as his grandchildren."

Arash stared penetratingly at the master. "Why now? After all these years?"

Master Keyhan smirked. "Politics, my boy. Lord Arvin needs allies, and I... well, having connections with House Vertragna is beneficial for me."

Azar looked at her brother fearfully. Arash took her hand and squeezed it.

"And our ceremony? It was supposed to be in two years..."

"Tomorrow," Master Keyhan said decisively. "You will be tested tomorrow, on the seventh day. As the grandchildren of Lord Arvin."