The Air Sprites

Long ago, the Ash Goblins ruled the eastern ridge from the Crown of Embers. They discovered ember ore, a black stone that burned endlessly with red heat, and used it to forge powerful weapons, armor, and war machines. Their furnaces filled the sky with smoke and damaged the surrounding forest. When the Ash Goblin king ordered his miners to dig deeper beneath the mountain, they discovered the Ember Heart, a living sphere of ancient fire. The king claimed its power and became nearly immune to weapons and flames. His armies marched westward, destroying forest villages and settlements, until the elves of Wood Drow united with forest creatures to resist them. Wrens, squirrels, stags, and the ancestors of the Air Sprites joined the battle, with the Air Sprites serving as scouts and messengers for the forest alliance. After four seasons of war, the guardians decided that the Ember Heart had to be sealed. Seven root singers entered the mountain with the help of elves and Air Sprites, defeated the goblin king, and created seven magical seals to imprison the Heart’s power. The seals were divided, and their fragments were hidden across distant lands. One fragment was buried beneath the roots of a great oak in the eastern forest. Generations later, Air Sprites built their peaceful village within the enormous tree, unaware of what lay below. Then, one spring morning, miners reopened an ancient tunnel beneath the eastern ridge. The Ember Heart awakened, the roots of the great oak trembled, and Tara Littleton smelled smoke and iron as the forest’s oldest enemy began to return.