Chapter One: Fire in His Eyes

Antony didn’t know how to explain it. The fire that curled in his chest, the way his fists shook before they even touched anything, the burning in his eyes that always came right before someone screamed.

He was only eight, but already feared like a soldier twice his age.

They called him Tony the Terror behind his back. Even the grown-ups whispered it.

That morning at the military academy, no one sat beside him during breakfast. The long metal table held ten seats, but Antony ate alone at the end, stirring his powdered eggs with the back of his spoon. The metal scraped the plate in slow, quiet circles. No one spoke to him. Even the officers just gave orders like he was a machine.

He didn’t care. At least, he told himself he didn’t.

Until Lili walked in.

Small and bright like a matchstick, Lili had wide brown eyes and her hair in two tight braids. Everyone liked her. The girls, the boys, even the cafeteria staff. She said “Good morning” like it was a spell, and it made people smile.

Except Antony.

He glared at her. She noticed, like she always did, and quickly turned away, sitting between two other girls who wrapped their arms around her like they were guarding treasure.

Antony felt his eyes heat up.

He didn’t know why he always picked her. He didn’t want to be mean. But something in him boiled over every time people smiled at her and looked at him like he was dirt.

Everyone said it.

> “That’s the boy whose mom couldn’t wait.” “She got pregnant without a man. Obsessed.” “That poor child’s not right in the head.”

They said it like he wasn’t there, like he couldn’t hear them. But he could. And he remembered.

Every time someone laughed at Lili’s jokes, Antony remembered what they said about his mom. That she was “like that.” That she did something wrong. That he should never have been born.

So he shoved Lili during drills.

Pulled her braid once in the hallway.

Once, he even dumped her tray when she passed by.

And every time he did something, the fire inside him flared. The world shifted to red. His eyes — yellow in the mirror that morning — turned crimson when the anger came.

The instructors had started logging it. They didn’t know why it happened. They ran tests. Blood samples. Eye exams. No answers. But it scared them.

It scared everyone.

That day, after breakfast, drills began in the courtyard. The sky was heavy and gray. Officer Raine barked commands as kids half Antony’s size scrambled across obstacle walls and tire paths.

Antony stood in formation, fists clenched.

Then Lili giggled.

That sound again. Happy. Free.

Antony snapped.

“Why are you always laughing like you’re better than me?” he shouted, storming toward her.

Everyone froze.

The red had returned to his eyes, and the air around him felt like it cracked.

Lili backed away. “I’m not,” she said quietly. “I’m just trying to be kind.”

“You’re lying,” he said, his voice low now, trembling. “You all are.”

Officer Raine stepped in fast. “Cadet Antony! Fall back! Now!”

Antony stood there, red-eyed, breath heavy. He looked at Lili, then at the circle of children who all stared at him like he was a monster.

He didn’t cry.

But he wanted to.

Because deep down, beneath the fire and the yelling, Antony just wanted to be seen — not as the angry boy, not as the child of a “mistake,” but as something good.

That night, in his bunk, staring at the ceiling, Antony made a promise to himself:

> “One day, I’ll be great. Not because of them. In spite of them.”

His eyes finally faded back to yellow.

The fire never left, but for the first time, he began to shape it — like a weapon, or maybe, just maybe… a light.

...

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***