Flame Capital.
A kingdom of fire.
Literally. Fire was the absolute, dominant theme here.
Whether it was firewood meant for burning, the ashes left afterward, or the energy released during combustion, everything had meaning.
Fire drove back the darkness, dispelled the cold, and allowed civilization to endure.
Even in death, the bugs here often chose cremation, surrendering everything they were to the flames and ultimately giving back to this land.
No bug feared fire. Fire was their god.
But that love could all too easily turn into obsession.
"Mine... all mine..."
Outside the lower reaches of Ashen City, in a remote corner on the edge of Iseldor Town, inside a house completely sealed off from the outside world.
Fire was burning.
The owner of this house was a wanderer from the Wilderness.
He had no parents, no companions. From birth, he had wandered the Wilderness alone.
Stumbling along aimlessly, he should have died that way. But then that fire appeared, a towering torch that lit up the entire Wilderness.
For the first time, his eyes saw something other than windblown sand.
The howls from his mouth gradually took on meaning. The thoughts in his head slowly cleared from confusion. He stood up.
"G... guh... God!"
That fire was so dazzling, so warm, that the bug chose to head toward it.
He had no purpose, no reason. He was simply drawn to it.
He stripped clothes from the remains of lost travelers and took weapons from ruins scattered across the stony desert.
He changed from a beast into a bug possessed of intelligence.
Then he entered that place.
Flame Capital.
Truth be told, this seeker did not care what the place was called. He only wanted to get closer to that fire, and closer still.
Yet even if he could pass