I was born in flames.
In a world where survival was earned through fists, blood, hunts, and death, childhood was nothing more than a weakness that disappeared with time. I was thirteen when I learned that running could only save you for so long.
My feet tore through the dry grass as I raced down the narrow path, every breath scraping against my throat while my heart hammered against my ribs. Behind me, footsteps followed, slow and steady, as though whoever was chasing me had all the time in the world. She wasn't even trying to catch me quickly, and that frightened me more than anything.
"Little Li." Her voice drifted through the trees, calm and almost playful.
I didn't look back.
"Running again?" she called, and I could hear the faint amusement in her voice.
I clenched my teeth and pushed myself harder, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing me slow down. The woman behind me laughed softly. "You've always been troublesome."
I hated that voice. More than that, I hated the way she spoke as though she already owned me, as though no matter how far I ran, I would eventually end up back in her hands.
Then the path ahead split into two, and I chose the left.
Bad choice, my mind screamed at me almost immediately.
The grass grew thicker, catching against my legs and slowing me down. My breathing became heavier as I forced myself through it, and behind me, her footsteps grew louder. I glanced around desperately, searching for somewhere to hide, but there was nothing. Then I saw it: a broken piece of wood lying beside the path, half-buried in the dry grass.
I stopped and reached for it.
Behind me, the footsteps stopped too, and silence settled over the path. I crouched behind the tall grass and held my breath, gripping the wood tightly enough for its rough edges to dig into my palm. For the first time since I started running, I wasn't thinking about escape. I was thinking about fighting.
Her shadow appeared between the grass.
"Little Li?"
She stepped closer, one slow step after another, completely unaware of what I was waiting for. I tightened my grip as she approached, watching her come closer until I could no longer afford to wait. Then I sprang from the grass and swung with everything I had.
THUD!
The wood struck her hard, and she stumbled backward with a sharp gasp of surprise. I didn't wait to see if she had fallen. I turned and ran, forcing my aching legs to move even as my lungs burned. For a few precious seconds, I actually believed I had escaped.
Then I heard her behind me.
"Interesting."
A laugh rang through the trees, but her voice had changed. The playfulness was gone, replaced by something colder, something that sent a chill through me.
"You've finally learned to bite. I will savor you very well."
My blood went cold. I looked back and saw her standing again, slowly licking her lips as her intense gaze remained fixed on me. This time, she was running.
Her footsteps thundered behind me, each one bringing her closer. I pushed myself harder, even though my legs were already going numb, refusing to stop because I knew exactly what would happen if she caught me.
Then something struck my back, sending my body flying forward until I slammed into the ground.
Before I could even crawl away, a hand seized the back of my shirt and lifted me from the ground. I kicked wildly, twisting my body in a desperate attempt to break free.
"Let me go!"
The woman sighed as though my struggling was nothing more than an inconvenience. "You really are troublesome."
I twisted around and tried to bite her hand, but she moved before my teeth could reach her. Then—
BANG!
Pain exploded across the side of my head. The world tilted around me, and the trees blurred together as my strength disappeared. Through the ringing in my ears, I heard her voice one last time.
"You should have stayed home, Little Li."
She laughed, and then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, there was nothing but darkness. My head throbbed, and for several seconds, I couldn't remember where I was or how I had gotten there. Then I tried to move.
Clink. Clink!
Something pulled against my wrist, and I froze. Looking down, I saw the metal cuffs wrapped around my wrists, with chains stretching from my hands to the wall behind me.
Panic rushed through my chest. I pulled once, then again, harder this time, but the chain didn't move.
"Damn it..."
My voice sounded small in the darkness. I looked around the room, where a single oil lamp burned on a wooden table several steps away, its weak flame barely reaching the corners. The room smelled of dust, old wood, and something bitter that I couldn't quite place.
Medicine.
I swallowed, and then I remembered my father, his face, and the day everything changed.
It had been my birthday, and I had been waiting for him to come home. He never did. Instead, his closest friend arrived and told me that my father had been killed.
My father had been working with the Ghostwanderers Mercenaries when another mercenary group ambushed them. Most of them died, and my father was one of them. His closest friend survived.
At first, I thought he had come to help me. I thought there was at least one person left who cared about what happened to me, but I was wrong.
He took control of my father's business and then decided what would happen to me. He called it a beneficial arrangement, saying that I couldn't take care of the merchandise on my own and that I should marry his sister, a woman much older than me.
But I knew he wasn't a Buddha. I had seen the desire in his eyes whenever he looked toward my father's treasure vaults. He didn't want to help me. He wanted everything my father had left behind.
So I ran.
The night before everything was supposed to be finalized, I escaped. For a moment, I thought I was finally free, but I wasn't.
A soft laugh came from the doorway, and my breathing stopped as a tall, slender woman stepped into the dim light. She wasn't smiling anymore. She walked toward me slowly, and I recognized her immediately. She was the same woman who had chased me through the forest and caught me when I thought I had escaped.
She crouched in front of me. "Awake already?" she asked with a smirk.
I stared at her without answering, and she tilted her head slightly. "You look angry."
"Let me go," I said, though even I knew there wasn't much hope behind the words.
She smiled. "No."
I pulled against the chains again, making the metal scrape against the wall. "Why?" I asked, my voice breaking despite my attempt to keep it steady.
"Because if I let you go, you'll run," she answered without blinking.
"I'll run anyway."
That made her laugh. "That's exactly why I can't let you go."
She stood and began humming a strange, childish tune, almost as though we weren't standing in a dark room with me chained to the wall. "I caught the little rabbit..." She looked down at me before continuing, "...and locked it in its cage."
I glared at her as she sang. "I'm not a rabbit."
"No?" She leaned closer, studying me with a faint smile. "Then what are you?"
I said nothing, and her smile slowly disappeared.
"Your father's son."
She spoke the words slowly, making sure each one reached me. My chest tightened, but I refused to tear up. I couldn't. She knew exactly which words would hurt, and she had chosen them deliberately.
After a moment, she turned toward the door. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Little Li."
I watched her leave without saying anything. The door closed with a click, and the sound of the lock echoed through the room. I stared at the chains, then at the door, before slowly letting my eyes wander across the room. If there was a way out, it had to be somewhere here.