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This chapter is drawn from Zyphar Chronicles I: The Becoming. By this time, Zyphar—still known as Animas—had already lost everything that could have held him human. The only thing left to him was a promise made by his three unorthodox masters. They did not offer comfort. They offered fire. And when the fire had reshaped his core, they sent him forward to testify what he had learned.

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As commanded by the Forging Trinity, I found myself in a city that groaned like a wounded beast beneath layers of snow—where towers stood like frozen judges, and every breath steamed with suspicion.

Power slept beneath fur hats and iron gates, and even the wind moved with caution—as if afraid to wake history.

I was greeted by people who, somehow, already knew my history. They offered me a home—more lavish than any before, with walls polished by privilege, and warmth laced with expectation.

The job was the same, but the instructions were different.

This time, I was to find the problems.

But never to solve them.

Perhaps they only wanted to archive failure.

Perhaps they feared what healing might reveal.

So I did as I was told. I walked and observed.

I walked past boulevards dressed in red memory, into a structure that had no name but wore a badge and stars.

My work required access.

So I was made to meet people. And in this city, status opened every gate. The people I met were always angry.

They craved revenge. Wore their hunger for glory like a uniform.

Even their smiles came clenched. I became close to one family.

The youngest son was a man of indulgence.

He drank vodka like his body was a furnace and the bottle was fuel. But when a starving man waited just beyond the bar’s door, he didn’t spare a single coin.

He asked me for a favor. He had heard that I carried blades—ones that cut through anything.

He brought me to another man.

This one wore three stars on his chest.

But the weight of them bent his spine.

They both had problems. Different ones.

The drinker told me his siblings wanted to divide their father’s inheritance.

“I want no blood,” he said. “But I also refuse to give anything away. I know you, Animas—you come from cities that work differently. Come meet my family. Even my mother. Help us reach something fair.”

The tri-star spoke next.

He had a rogue soldier—out of control. Unreachable.

He asked me to come to a place called the Snow Spare.

Expecting I might track down the rogue.

I told him I would join him, but that I would meet the family first. We went to the drinker’s home. To my surprise, his mother welcomed me with warmth.

She said, “I heard you lost your mother young.”

“So for today, let me be her.”

We sat near the fireplace. Her other children gathered.

Then she made an unexpected offer—“I will only agree to divide the dynasty,” she said, “if this man—is included as an equal.”

All three of her children fell silent. Then the eldest spoke.

“I agree. But he should be the keeper. He must make sure none of us turn this into war.”

There were quiet nods all around. And so it was done.

We went to the court. The family’s legacy was divided into five.

Three parts to the siblings.

One part to the mother.

And one to me.

I was bound by law to serve as the keeper, but once I returned to my place, I went to the counselor and asked if there was any place I could donate the share I had just received.

The counselor seemed pleased, almost eager, and assured me he would find a proper channel for such a gesture.

I was preparing to leave for the Snow Spare when the youngest sibling ran up to me—his breath steaming in the cold, eyes full of something between worry and habit.

“I heard you’re about to give away your share,” he said. “That’s not how it works. You were given equal share to be the keeper, not to dispose of it like it’s meaningless.”

I answered gently—told him I would remain keeper, but I had no desire for the portion. Since it was mine, I had the freedom to choose what to do with it.

He nodded slowly, then added, “It’s security, bro. If you keep it—like I do—we could rest easy.”

“Spend life at the bar. Just like before.”

I said I wasn’t interested in that kind of rest. I would simply do what I felt right. He gave a half-smile, said it was his duty to warn me. I nodded, and left for the Snow Spare.

Life was brutal there—so harsh that even finding a crust of bread became a test of will, and the moment I stepped deeper into its frozen veins, I found the true nature of the tri-star’s problem.

He had lied.

It wasn’t a rogue soldier.

It was a white shepherd.

Covered in red—its fur stained, its eyes hollowed by loss and rage—a creature once noble, now haunted.

It charged me.

Its hunger sharp.

But I was not hungry. So it failed.

Then it struck with heartbreak—but I had known greater grief.

So that failed too.

It expected me to retaliate. To strike.

But I didn’t.

Then it spoke. “I’ve killed,” it said. “More than you can count. I’ve done it in rage.”

I asked what rage meant to it.

It said, “They hunted someone I loved. Someone I tried to protect. They showed no mercy. So I became what they deserved.”

And me? I asked. What have I done that made you attack me?

“You stood on the same ground,” it said. “Where they stood. That’s enough. You are like them. And I must treat you the same.”

I calmly replied—if I am stronger than you, and you cannot defeat me, then what exactly am I supposed to do now?

The white shepherd didn’t flinch.

It said, “You will kill me. You must. You’ll see me as a threat. That’s how it works. I’ll try to defend myself, but I know I can’t.”

I opened my mouth to speak again—but a call came through.

I held up my hand, asked the shepherd to wait.

“I can’t,” it said. “I need to hunt. That is my survival.”

I offered it food. Something warm. It paused and agreed to wait.

I took the call.

A woman’s voice. Familiar.

She introduced herself, and I recognized her. One of the siblings.

A part-owner of the dynasty.

“I heard you’re giving away your fortune,” she said. “You may not feel like part of the family—but I have an offer.”

I told her to go on.

“Let’s get married. You and I. Our wealth combined would be unmatched. We’d rule the family. All of it.”

I asked her plainly what I would gain from that.

“Security,” she said.

“Comfort. A higher seat. You’d sit above everyone.”

I answered with a softness that you’re already sitting higher than many. Why do you need more?

She paused. Then her tone shifted.

“Forget it,” she said. “That was my offer. If you want it, I’m here.”

She ended the call.

The white shepherd had been listening.

“You could’ve taken it,” it said.

I didn’t. And that’s my decision. Then I asked—Can you take me to the place where your loved one was hunted?

It agreed. And we walked.

Through snowstorms and silence, through mountains that cracked under their own sorrow, we crossed days and nights until we reached a place where too many men gathered, rifles in hand, dressed not for survival but for dominance.

The shepherd pointed.

“See for yourself. These are the ones. They hunt to prove something—to wear their victory like medals, to call themselves hunters. That’s why I became their enemy.”

“Not because I hate them, but because they crave power, and I remind them they don’t own it.”

I listened. And I said, there are other faces of power.

It narrowed its eyes.

“I don’t believe that,” it said. “But show me. Show me something different.”

I asked it to have patience. Let me try.

It agreed. Stepped back.

I went to the head man of the grounds. Introduced myself.

He smiled wide—seemed pleased to meet me, and asked if I wanted to be hosted on the field. But I had other plans.

I asked him if he would sell the grounds to me.

He tilted his head.

“I’ve heard stories about you,” he said. “We all know envy when it climbs high. But I don’t want to sell. It’s not about money. This is my game. It feeds my soul.”

I nodded and said I would pay double the price, while he could still run the show.

He looked at me, cautious. “What will change?” he asked.

I said, just one thing. But you don’t need to know what it is.

He thought for only a second. Then agreed.

I gave the man all the shares I had received from the dynasty, and he accepted them with a pleased expression, announcing to the gathered men that I was now the rightful owner of the hunting ground—and even the hunters, rough as they were, seemed to welcome the decision without protest.

I gathered them under the cold sun, looked into their hardened faces, and spoke as clearly as I could—told them I would not take away the spirit that drove them to seek the hunt, for I understood what it meant to burn with purpose.

But I said that from this moment forward, the ground they walked would answer to my law. I told them they could come and hunt as much as they wanted—but not with rifles.

This law would change the day they could also give the same rifles to the prey and stand as equals.

Until then, they were all bound to hunt with their bare hands, as the animals do. Then I made them surrender their weapons.

I called the white shepherd to the field and turned to the hunters.
This, I said, is your prey.

The shepherd growled, eyes gleaming with rage, shoulders tense with memory, but when it saw the hunters retreating—every last one of them fleeing rather than facing a fight without machines—its rage shifted to confusion.

The former owner came running to me, his face twisted in disbelief. “What is this?” he asked.

I looked at him plainly.

This is the system.

And now, you belong to it too.

You may play by the rules, or leave the ground. He looked at me long, then turned and followed the others.

Now it was only me and the shepherd.

I had thought it might be grateful now—might bow its head in peace and let go of its wrath. But it didn’t.

It attacked again, just as before. It was trying to make me reveal the blades. But I had set the fight to be bare-handed, and I could not allow myself the privilege I had denied the others.

So we fought.

Hand to hand.

Beast to man.

From dusk until the pale bleed of dawn. When it grew tired, it stood panting, snow clinging to its blood-marked fur, and it threatened me—said it could howl and summon its fellow wolves.

I smiled.

Told it that I, too, could change the rules if I wished.

It paused.

Stood very still.

Then, with a voice now stripped of rage, it said, “I was a soldier, truly. Trained to protect. But when I was attacked, I was bound to strike back. Now it seems no longer worth it. I want to return to duty. I want to serve, not destroy.”

I smiled. Felt the storm inside it calm.

The tri-star’s problem was solved, for now.

I was preparing to leave the region when a call reached me again—this time, from the drunken brother, the one who once invited me to inherit a dynasty over drinks and warmth.

His voice was weak.

He was sick—so sick he couldn’t even rise to fetch water, let alone find the resources needed to recover.

He said—“Please send something. Anything.”

“I promise, I will repay you once recovered.”

I told him I was far away, couldn’t reach him directly.

Suggested he contact the family.

“I already did,” he said—“They told me we are separate now. They said, my problems are my own to carry.”

I was stunned. I asked, Even the mother?

“Yes,” he replied. “Including her.”

I told him I would see what I could do. And ended the call.

I was ready to help, but the shares I had once held—the only source—had been spent fully to purchase the ground.

I had nothing left.

So I contacted the counselor from the city again. He greeted me warmly, saying he had found a place where my donation could do real good.

I said I would consider it, but for now, I needed a favor.

I told him about the sick man.

He smiled faintly. Said the same man had contacted him earlier.

But he wasn’t sure the man would survive, even with help—so he refused. I asked him, if he would do it under guarantee—if I stood as the one accountable for the outcome.

He said yes. And I told him to act quickly. That I was returning to the city. I returned as fast as I could. But I was too late.

The drunken brother had died.

We buried him.

There was no one from the family present.

No candle held in memory.

The next day, I was summoned to court.

The mother and the two siblings stood on one side.

I stood on the other.

The judge opened with a statement.

The man left no successor. By law, we must divide his shares among those remaining.

The siblings spoke quickly.

He has no claim, they said of me.

“He is not family. Not by blood.”

“The shares should be divided among the three of us.”

The mother said nothing. Her silence was heavier than speech.

The judge took his time, reviewing the original document we had all signed—the one binding us to equal shareholding.

After a long pause, he closed the file.

“According to this,” he said, “You are four true equals. Not three.”

“I must rule in favor of a four-way division.”

The siblings were visibly displeased. But they could do nothing.

I returned once again to the counselor’s office.

Paid off the favor I had guaranteed. And asked him where to donate the remaining shares. He led me to an orphanage.

Stopped outside the gate.

“The curators inside…” he said, “Are like jail wardens.”

“I won’t go in. You do it. It’s your gift to give.”

I nodded. And stepped inside.

In the principal’s office, seated calmly at the desk, were my three masters. Their eyes met mine, and they said—

“Though you are late, we are pleased that you made it.”

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If this story stirred something in you—if the silence and the fire felt like they were yours too—you’re invited to continue the journey. The next chapter awaits on the website, titled Architecture of Fire.

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The fire was never meant to rest in a chapter. It was always meant to lead you somewhere deeper.