Ashbarrow is a wretched town, a secluded little town where nobody with a shred of nobility would ever be caught dead. The stench of the unwashed and rotting garbage littered the streets and alleyways, to outsiders it was a revolting place, containing the unwanted dregs of society. It sat at the very bottom of the kingdom, disconnected from the rest of the world who wanted nothing to do with it. But for the young boy Kaelem, Ashbarrow was home.

Kaelem had lived in Ashbarrow all his life, or at least for as long as he could remember. An orphan who scavaged to survive, stealing from those more fortunate for scraps. He had short brown hair and wore a simple attire, covered in the dirt and grim from the streets.

He knew every nook, every corner. He knew every alley and every deadend. He knew the perfect places to seemingly disappear. But more important than that, he knew the only way to survive was to take what you needed before someone else took it.

But right now, his stomach was growling letting him know he needed to eat.

He stood on the edge of an alley, leaning against the wall as he surveyed the crowd of people going about their day on the market street. His eyes followed an outsider as he weaved through people. He stood out like a sore thumb, instantly recognisable as an outsider because nobody in their right mind would wear robes so fine in a town like Ashbarrow. Outsiders like him didn't tend to last long here, they were too naive; too easy to deceive.

Kaelem's stomach growled again as he melded into the crowd, fixated on the man who was now browsing a vendor's stall. As he got closer it was more apparent that he wasn't from around here, he was too clean. And the embroidered bag tied loosely onto his belt, well it was just begging to be stolen.

'He'll never miss it…' Kaelem thought to himself, 'and I could eat for a week with the bag alone, nevermind whatever's inside it.'

The outsider was still oblivious, his attention on the vendor's stall as he browsed through various trinkets. Kaelem took a deep breath, sifting through the crowd as he slipped closer. His hand snatching out at the bag, unthreading it from the man's belt and tucking it under his cloak in one fluid motion.

His heart pounded, he could feel it in his ears. The thrill of the steal always made his heart race with excitement. A singular moment of power in a world where he had nothing. However he didn't stop, he continued with the flow of the crowd without missing a step. Disappearing down a narrow alley where he was quickly engulfed in darkness, hidden from prying eyes.

He stopped outside of an abandoned building, the walls had crumbled and the windows devoid of light. He pulled the bag from under his cloak, grinning in anticipation of his wares.

The grin faded almost instantly.

Inside of the embroidered bag, instead of jewels or coins, there was a single scroll. Old yellowed parchment, tied with a red frayed ribbon. He unrolled the scroll to be met with even more disappointment. Nonsensical ruinic symbols, unfamiliar and unremarkable were etched into the worn parchment. The ink was so old that it had lost its shine and no longer shimmered even under the dim light of the alley.

"What the hell is this?" Kaelem muttered, examining the scroll from front to back. He had seen his fair share of the weird and wonderful in Ashbarrow, but this was different. Despite its unremarkable appearance, the scroll felt strange - as if it was alive. The air around it felt tense and charged, like it was waiting in anticipation.

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His fingers explored the symbols, the moment he touched them, a spark of energy shot through his body. Kaelem yelped instinctively and almost dropped the scroll. Regathering his composure he noticed all of the symbols had begun to glow a shade of blue.

Panic rose from his stomach, his body telling him he should leave. He should run. Whatever this scroll was, it was more trouble than it was worth. But something held him firmly in place - the symbols, the glowing runes - they urged him to stay.

The glow from the scroll had begun to cast strange shadows on the brick walls, without warning the scroll drifted from his hands and grew brighter still. Before he could react, a wave of force exploded from the scroll knocking him back into the wall.

His vision became hazy for a moment, his ears ringing as he felt strange whispers. Voices speaking a language he didn't fully understand. As his vision cleared he noticed the symbols had lifted from the parchment and were swirling around him. Faster and faster, until they filled the air like a maelstrom of ink and light.

His hand shot out instinctively, as if to wipe away whatever he had released. To stop the chaos, but that's when it happened.

A bolt of blue lightning erupted from his palm, striking the ground in front of him. The alley flashed with light as the runes faded into the air like mist. The whispering stopped and the alley was silent once more, leaving only the sound of Kaelem's ragged breathing.

He looked at his hand in confusion, his minding trying to process what had just happened.

"Did I…?" he muttered under his breath, staring at his palm which was still tingling with the remnants of whatever that was. He had never felt anything quite like it before - raw power had surged through his body, but it wasn't his own.

Before he could contemplate further, a voice broke through the silence.

"Interesting."

Kaelem's head whipped around to the entrance of the alley, standing there watching him was the outsider. The man he had stolen the bag from. But he didn't look angry, he wore an amused smile as if he had been waiting for this to happen.

Kaelem checked his pockets, readying himself to run, but the man held up his hands.

"You can keep the scroll" the man said, in a calming voice. "It has no use to anybody anymore."

Kaelem's brows furrowed in confusion. "What? But-"

"You've already used it," the outsider continued, stepping closed. "Though it looks like you don't understand what exactly you've just done."

Kaelem stared at the outsider, cautiously edging away "Look, I didn't steal anything, if that's what you're-"

The outsider chuckled with amusement "Oh, you most certainly did boy. But that's beside the point. What matters now is that you've awoken something inside of you - something that has always been with you, but laid dormant."

Kaelem's list of questions was quickly becoming longer. "What are you talking about?"

The outsider tilted his head curiously, studying Kaelem as if seeing him for the first time. "There's more to you than you think, you've got magic in your blood. Ancient magic. And that scroll? It was just the key to unlocking it."

Kaelem shook his head, every sentence this outside spoke gave him a hundred more questions he wanted answers to. "You've got it wrong, it was all the scroll. There's nothing magic about me."

The outsider's smile widened. "Not yet, but there will be."

Kaelem glanced down at the scroll, which now lay lifeless on the ground. The symbols were now barely visible on the parchment.

"Who are you?" Kaelem asked, his voice choking for an instant.

The man extended his hand, his eyes gleaming with an unsettling confidence. "A friend. Someone who can help you. Who can show you what you're capable of."

Kaelem stared at the outsider's hand, his mind torn and his thoughts scrambled. His life thus far had been one of survival, of taking what he needed and living each day as it came. But this was it, a way out of that cycle. An adventure he couldn't have even possibly imagined before today.

He had felt it - power inside him, wild and unwieldy. But addictive, he wanted to feel it again. Kaelem wasn't sure if there was more to him than just a street rat scraping by in the cesspool that was Ashbarrow. But this man seemed to know more about him than he did.

With a deep breath, Kaelem reached out and shook the man's hand.

"Excellent," the outsider said, his smile growing wider. "Your journey begins now."