Spoiler Alert: This synopsis reveals major plot points.






Cevver is twenty-three years old, failing his physics degree, living with his parents, and spending most of his days scrolling through bad news on his phone while his friend Ibrahim tries to drag him to the billiards hall. He is not a hero. He is not a genius. He is not even particularly interesting. He is just tired — the kind of tired that sits behind the sternum and does not go away after sleep.

One evening, he forgets a pot of water on the stove, lights a cigarette, and the gas ignites. That is the end of him.

Or so he thinks.

Before he dies, he meets something. Two blue lights. A voice. Polite. Strange. Ancient. It says: "Rise and shine, my dear." Then it says: "Wake up. And smell the ashes."

Cevver does not remember this. He wakes up as a newborn in the arms of a woman named Charlotte Freeman, in a world that is not his own. His new name is Hector. His new family is the Freemans. His new home is the village of Marivan, in the country of Yazna Polivina — one of the three great human nations left in a world that has turned against them.

This world has magic. It has elves, beastfolk, spirits, and ancient creatures that walk the earth. But humans cannot use magic. Only one race of humans can — the Hazens, who believe they are chosen by God (whom they call Zaan). They are not good people. They use their blessings to dominate. To control. To claim that the world belongs to them.

Humanity used to be united. Then, over a century ago, something happened. A Hazen hero — immortal, blessed with every miracle — was killed. By a mysterious human whose identity was never discovered. No one knew who did it, but everyone blamed each other. War broke out. The human nations shattered. and the hazens emerged as the victorious 

Now, thT humanity is divided. The other races have taken back their lands. Many humans live in hardship, trapped in occupied cities, dreaming of a freedom that feels impossible.

Hector grows up in this world. He learns to walk. To talk. To shoot. He makes a friend — a baby Kramatosk named Mutt. He learns to love his new parents, even though they can never replace the ones he lost. He carries the guilt of the fire. The weight of his old life. The hum of depression that followed him across worlds.

And somewhere, watching him, is the blue-eyed man. The one who said: "Rise and shine." The one who gave him a second chance he never asked for.

Hector does not know why he is here. He does not know what the blue-eyed man wants. He does not know why he keeps dreaming of ashes.

But the world is breaking. The Hazens are rising. The other races are pushing back. Humanity is losing someone will open the way. will Someone free them? 

Some may call it the Freeman. The Opener of the Way. The one who will destroy the divine connections of the hazens and the other races  that have held humanity down for a century 

But Hector is not a hero. He is just a man who was given a second chance and has no idea how to use it.

but Will this Freeman open the way for humanity again? Or will he carry the weight of two worlds on his shoulders until he breaks?

I'm really sorry this is so late I've been incredibly busy with real life, and now that war has broken out again in the Middle East, it might take me a while before I can post the next two chapters next week My sincere apologies


Chapter 5 - announcement