Ronin's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Ronin returned to his uncle Garran’s farm after Marisol rejected him. Garran mocked him for believing he could become a Legioneer, just as he had mocked Ronin throughout his childhood. Ronin had never truly been his nephew. He had been abandoned as a baby outside Morningstead’s chapel, wrapped in a fine cloak bearing a silver crown, and Garran had raised him only because the farm needed another pair of hands. The next morning, Ronin finally declared that he was leaving to join the Legioneers. Garran laughed, calling him a fat, stupid pig boy who would be sent home before reaching the gate. For once, Ronin refused to endure it quietly. He stormed outside as a strange pressure built inside his chest. Pale-blue light spread beneath his skin before exploding outward in a powerful shockwave. Fences shattered, animals scattered, and Ronin collapsed among the wreckage. A burning pain tore through his arm. Glowing lines appeared beneath his skin, slowly forming the unmistakable shape of a crown. When Garran saw the mark, all his cruelty vanished. For the first time in Ronin’s life, the old man looked afraid. “No,” Garran whispered. “That’s not possible.”