Ember

For years I had been trying to become the One. Only the best of the best could become the One, and I had set my mind upon that goal from the moment I first heard about it. Training was then all I could think about, it consumed every thought. Every action taken was to become the best. I had to. It would give me all the power I've ever desired, and help me rise beyond the grim circumstances that I was born into. The strong preyed on the weak in this world. If you weren't good enough you would be driven down to the point of slavery. Pain and submission were all that consisted of this reality. That was the kind of world that I had grown up in, and it was the kind of world that I was going to end. I had seen my mother being beaten because the food that she was forced to make for our community's strongest, wasn't good enough. It was never good enough. Whatever she did, whatever my father did, whatever anyone below ever did it was NEVER good enough. We were all covered in scars, bruises, each of them telling a tale of a time of mistreatment. Why should we be beaten to the brink of death for being born a rank lower than the best? Why couldn't we all be treated with respect based on the common ground of humanity? We were all people. We had thoughts, we had feelings. So why couldn't we be treated as such? These were the thoughts that motivated me during the late hours of the night as I pushed myself to the limit. My powers had never been strong. I had the power of fire, though it looked more like a candle flame whenever I tried to produce any sort of flame. Most in the field of the flame could manipulate fire, they didn't produce it. Once they had a flame they could control it, strengthen it, make it grow to impossible degrees, and use that power to fight and maintain their dignity. I could only produce a flame and control my own, never the fire of others. It wasn't strong, but with each passing day of abuse and degradation, it grew. I got stronger and stronger as my passion for the salvation of my loved ones grew. I could barely look at any of the higher-ups without losing control of the fire. My days passed in my mind clouded by anger and hate for those that would put down others weaker than them. Family dinners became less and less frequent as I forsook eating for extra time in the cold mine of the ancients where my fire could burn with all of the anger that I had restrained during the day. My parents questioned me with worried expressions about my increasingly distant attitude, and as I told them about my plan they shared a look that told me everything. Their conversation with me confirmed my suspicions. They didn't want me to become the strongest, they told me that it was unnecessary and that having me there alive was enough for them. They didn't believe that I could do it. They thought that I would die. I tried to tell them of my newfound power but they didn't listen, they couldn't understand. I was doing this for them, for us! For a better life! They wanted to keep me safe they said. Wanted me to change the world without violence they said. Wanted me to rally up others and not do it alone they said. But, they couldn't understand. I had to do this, I had to fight alone and prevail, I had to prove to the world that we weren't going to stand and take whatever they threw at us just because of the powers we were born with. I worked even harder, pushing myself till I could see the chasm of death, laughing at my efforts. It was as if the whole world thought I couldn't do it. The trees danced in giddy mockery, the grass giggled and gossiped, even the sky seemed to pity me in all its glory. But, they didn't matter. No one else mattered anymore. They had all conformed to the expectations of the strongest and had accepted their ranks. I wouldn't, conforming wasn't an option. As the years went by, training was all that life could offer me. There was no other source of happiness. The people that I wanted to liberate were only ropes holding me back, tying me down, telling me only of impossibilities. I wouldn't hear them, wouldn't heed their words, they were all nonsense. I let my flame grow stronger, burning the bonds that kept me grounded. When I became the One they would see that I was right and that they would come to their senses once they lived in my new world. When the fight to the top first started I lost. But every loss was only fuel to the fire inside and out. With every fight memories and hate and anger and shame, all roused my flame into an uncontrollable blaze. I left the higher rankers in a pile, near the deep hole of death, so they could all finally feel what I had been feeling all the long years of living below them. I was eventually declared a threat, and they sent the One to put me down. They were scared, and that was exactly how I wanted them to feel. I wanted them to feel how all of us had felt the past decades. This was it, the final battle, where I could finally prove myself. I looked around at the faces of the onlookers satisfied with the number of people that were going to witness the defeat of the best and the crowning of a new king. My eyes lingered on two familiar figures, and as they slowly came into focus I recognized them as the people who raised me but that was all they were. As they looked at me I saw sadness, and was that.......betrayal? I couldn't understand and hurt, racing down the final thread of connection between us, pierced my heart. I was doing it all for them, so why would they not be happy for me, for the world I was creating? I realized then that they were indoctrinated, they were fed lies and they had come to believe them as true. I told myself that it didn't matter anymore until the feelings of hurt slowly melted away along with the last tie holding me back. I didn't need them anymore, I had myself and that was enough. I was going to be their savior they just didn't understand it yet. I turned back to my opponent as I finally let go, I didn't need them, I didn't need anyone. I had me. With that, my fire turned my vision crimson. Screams and then the gushing of blood, then smell of roasted death. Then came the sweet cry for mercy that I devoured and denied, wanting more. More came till I was crowned king and my dream came true. I smiled with glee, I had finally done it. I was now the One, the strongest of them all. I had risen, and I would never be put down ever again. I was in control, and anyone who dared defy my new world order would be burned, till the safe-haven for all would be created, and my vision for equality was realized. This was the way.