Fin was unconscious, but he was dreaming.
He saw a giant tree, its soft and gentle light caressing his face. The trunk was massive—at least forty feet wide—and soared over a mile into the sky. Thousands of thick branches stretched outward, covered in an uncountable number of glowing emerald leaves. As he stared up at the colossal tree, a question surfaced in his mind:
How could something like this exist? How long would it take to grow this big? How much water would it need?
As if in answer, his eyes drifted downward. Behind the tree rested a vast lake, its waters as dark and still as polished onyx. It emitted no sound. There were no ripples, no animals—only silence and wind. And yet, it called to him. Not like a whisper, but like a command.
He ran toward it, faster and faster. Nothing else mattered—only the lake. As he reached the water's edge, he leaned forward to look at his reflection. But the moment his face neared the black surface, a wave of dread crashed over him.
Something was wrong.
He tried to look away, but couldn't. His reflection stared back—and then it moved.
A hand emerged from the water, pitch black and wrapped in curling smoke. Freezing air poured from it. The hand reached out and grabbed his hair, yanking him downward. He didn't even have time to scream before he was pulled under.
Darkness.
Then—he woke.
Fin gasped and bolted upright, breath ragged. Panic set in. He was in a strange room, lying on a makeshift hospital bed, his body wrapped in bandages. His heart pounded. But what truly terrified him were two glowing marks, shining faintly through the wrappings on his arms.
"What is this? Where am I? What's happening to me?!"
The ruckus brought a nurse bursting through the door.
"Thank the gods you're not dead. It's such a hassle cleaning up the mess," she muttered.
"Excuse me?! Where the hell am I?! What happened?! One second I'm on the street, the next I'm here. Please explain!"
"Hold your horses, young man. You're in a hospital. You've been injured—and in a coma for five years."
Her tone darkened.
"As for what happened... well, it's hard to say. Do you remember anything from before you blacked out? The fight, maybe?"
"Sort of," he replied, voice trembling. "It's... blurry. Wait—did you just say five years?!"
"Yes, but that's not the important part." She crossed her arms. "The beings you saw weren't the only ones. At least six more appeared across the country. We call the event Godfall. Entire cities were levelled. Millions died. The only city still standing after witnessing one of these fights is the capital."
"That's... horrible. But I want to know what happened to me. And these marks—what are they?!"
The nurse frowned. "I don't really know how you ended up here. Someone just dropped you off, unconscious and glowing. But the marks—I do know a bit about those. First, how old are you?"
"I'll be eighteen in three months," he muttered. "Assuming I'm even keeping track correctly."
"Perfect. You still have time," she said, brightening. "Listen closely. These marks are called brands. They first appeared right after the Godfall ended. Around a million people across the country were branded. Not all survived the branding process."
"Branded?" Fin repeated. "What does that mean?"
She continued, ignoring the interruption. "Those who bear the marks are called the Branded Ones. Everyone who survives getting branded gains enhanced strength and durability. But there's a catch: the last day of your eighteenth year, a rift opens before you. Step through it, and you face a trial. If you survive, you'll ascend—becoming something beyond human. If you fail... you die."
She sighed wistfully. "I envy you. Becoming a hero with powers—that's something I used to dream about."
Fin blinked. "Okay... I don't think I understood all of that, but I think I get the basics."
"Oh, don't worry! I'm not the best explainer," the nurse said with a grin. "The teachers at the Academy are much better at it."
"The Academy?" Fin raised an eyebrow. "Every time you answer a question, I get more confused. What's that now?"
She rolled her eyes. "A lot happened in five years, okay? The Academy is an international school set up by the three sovereign kingdoms. It's where Branded like you go to prepare for the trial."
"Great," Fin said dryly. "So I'm basically on death row with extra steps."
"Well... yeah, pretty much. But don't take it personally. Most of the Branded die during their trial. Still, you might beat the odds!" she said cheerfully.
Fin stared at her.
"My life was already over before all this. Dying during some trial doesn't sound worse than starving on the streets. So... when do I go to this so-called Academy?"
"We'll monitor you for a few days to make sure you're stable. After that, an envoy will come pick you up. It's instant travel—very cool to watch."
Fin slumped back onto the bed.
"I guess I've got nothing else to do but wait."
The next few days flew by incredibly fast with no noticeable moments. The doctors and nurses did a few test on him and all the results pointed that he was okay, it would have been a miracle for a normal human being to spend five years in a coma a wake up complete fine but as it turns out Branded ones were really tough.
The next few days passed quickly. Doctors ran tests, and to their surprise, everything came back normal. For a normal human, waking from a five-year coma would be a miracle—but Fin was Branded, and that meant tougher than most.
On the second day, he finally unwrapped the bandages from his body and faced the mirror. Two glowing marks stared back. One radiated a soft, white light in the shape of a small star. The other pulsed with shadow, curling mist rising from its edges like smoke from dying embers.
After that he watched the scars that he had all over his body — it looked like he had been really injured after the Godfall and that the scars were the proof that even if his mind did not remember being hurt his body did, he also noticed that his body was way more muscular that it used to be with no trace of malnourishment — witch did not make any sense to him.
Then he looked at his face his eyes were still the same deep blue colour but now there was a small ember of life burning inside of them, but what truly shocked him was his hairs — they were clean for once in his life, they revealed the gorgeous pale gold colour that he used to love.
After admiring himself for what felt like minutes but in reality was closer to an hour he flexed his muscles:
"Damn I look good." He whispered with a proud tone.
The night came so he promptly went to bed, tomorrow was the day he would depart the hospital for the academy and he needed to be prepared for anything that would come his way.