* * *
The first light of dawn was just starting to chase the mist from the trees. It was 5:30 AM, and the world was quiet—too quiet. Rex stood in front of the house where he'd last found shelter, his eyes fixed on the weathered wooden door. Morning chill clung to him, though he didn't feel the cold.
He'd been out here for almost an hour, just... thinking. About everything. About nothing. About the way his hands had glowed yesterday and how wrong it all felt.
Then came the sound of footsteps from inside.
He tensed. Shit. I'm still in armor.
The golden glow of his divine form shimmered faintly beneath his clothes. With a sharp breath, he pulled it back, willing his power to vanish before anyone saw. The energy fought him for a moment, like it didn't want to be hidden, before finally receding.
The door opened.
A woman stood there, and Rex felt his stomach drop. She looked to be in her 40s, with kind eyes and graying hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. There was something about her that reminded him of every mom who'd ever made him feel welcome—which made facing her after what he'd done so much worse.
She blinked at him, clearly surprised. Then recognition dawned on her face, followed by relief, then what looked like motherly concern mixed with exasperation.
"You're awake," she said, and there was genuine warmth in her voice. "And you're... standing."
"Yeah." Rex scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Hi. I'm... I'm Rex."
"I know." A small smile tugged at her lips. "I'm Marella. We found you, remember? Well, my daughter and I did." Her expression grew more serious. "You were in pretty bad shape. We weren't sure you were going to make it."
Rex felt heat creep up his neck. "About that... I'm really sorry. I woke up in the middle of the night and I just... I needed some air. Some time to think. I should've left a note or something. I didn't mean to worry you."
"Worry me?" Marella crossed her arms, but her tone was more concerned than angry. "Honey, you were unconscious for almost two days. We found you collapsed in the woods, covered in blood that wasn't yours, and you looked like you'd been through hell. Then you disappear in the middle of the night without a word?" She shook her head. "I thought maybe you'd wandered off in a delirium or something worse had found you."
Two days. Rex's chest tightened. He'd been out for two days after the fight with the archdemon. And these people—complete strangers—had taken care of him.
"I'm sorry," he said again, meaning it. "I didn't think... I mean, I didn't realize how long I'd been out. Thank you. For helping me."
Marella's expression softened. She stepped aside, gesturing him in. "Well, you're here now, and you're clearly feeling better. Come in before someone sees you standing out there. We still don't know what brought you to our neck of the woods in the first place."
"Sorry," he said again, following her inside.
The house smelled like chamomile tea and something else—maybe lavender? It was warm and lived-in, with books stacked everywhere and mismatched furniture that somehow worked together. Rex found himself relaxing despite everything.
"Elira's up too," the woman said, leading him toward the living room. "Couldn't sleep either, apparently. We've both been a little on edge since..." She trailed off.
"Since I showed up?"
"Since a lot of things."
They walked into the living room, and Rex saw her for the first time. A girl, maybe eighteen or nineteen, curled up in an oversized armchair by the window. She had her knees pulled up, bare feet tucked under her, holding a steaming mug between her hands. Her dark hair was messy from sleep, but her eyes were sharp and alert.
When she saw him, she straightened up slightly, studying him with undisguised curiosity.
"So you're the mystery man," she said, and there was something almost teasing in her voice. "Mom's been fussing over you for two days straight. I was starting to think you were never going to wake up."
"Elira," Marella said with a gentle warning tone.
"What? It's true." The girl—Elira—grinned. "She kept checking on you every hour, making sure you were still breathing, changing your bandages. I told her she was being ridiculous, but she insisted."
Rex felt his face flush. "You... you took care of me?"
"Well, we couldn't exactly leave you bleeding out in the forest," Marella said, settling into another chair. "Though I have to say, for someone who looked half-dead when we found you, you healed remarkably fast. Almost unnaturally fast."
There was a question in her voice, but she didn't push it. Rex appreciated that.
"I heal quick," he said lamely, taking a seat on the couch. "Always have."
Elira snorted softly. "Quick is one thing. You had cuts that should have needed stitches, and by yesterday morning they were barely scratches. That's not normal quick."
Rex shifted uncomfortably. These people had saved his life, and here he was lying to them. But what was he supposed to say? That he was some kind of divine warrior who'd just finished killing an archdemon?
"I'm grateful," he said instead. "Really. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't found me."
"You would have died," Elira said matter-of-factly. "You were pretty messed up. What happened to you out there?"
Rex met her eyes, seeing genuine concern beneath the curiosity. "I... it's complicated. I was fighting something. Something bad. But it's over now."
"Fighting what?" Marella asked gently.
Rex hesitated, unsure how to explain without sounding insane. But before he could figure out what to say, Elira spoke up.
"You mean the archdemon," she said quietly. "The one that attacked Hollowvale three nights ago."
Rex's eyes widened. "You... you saw?"
"We all saw," Marella said, her voice filled with something between awe and disbelief. "The whole settlement did. This massive, terrible thing came out of nowhere, and we thought... we thought we were all going to die." She paused, studying his face. "And then you appeared."
Rex felt his stomach drop. "You saw me fighting it?"
"Fighting it?" Elira let out a shaky laugh. "You were glowing like the sun. There was light pouring off you like you were made of it. We've never seen anything like that before."
"The entire battle," Marella added softly. "We watched you fight that monster with powers that... well, that looked divine. Like something out of the old stories."
Rex ran a hand through his hair, feeling exposed in a way that had nothing to do with his missing armor. "So you know. About what I... what I can do."
"We know you saved all of us," Marella said firmly. "That thing would have killed everyone in Hollowvale if you hadn't shown up. Whatever you are, whatever those powers mean—you used them to protect people who couldn't protect themselves."
"But we don't understand," Elira added, leaning forward in her chair. "I mean, we're grateful—God, we're so grateful—but who are you? What are you? People don't just... glow like that. People don't fight archdemons and win."
Rex was quiet for a long moment, staring at his hands. Normal hands now, no trace of the divine light that had coursed through them during the battle. These were the only people who knew his true identity—not as some mysterious divine warrior, but as Rex, a human who'd stumbled into power he was still learning to understand.
"I wasn't always like this," he said finally. "The power... it's not something I was born with. I found it. Or maybe it found me."
"What do you mean?" Marella asked gently.
Rex hesitated. He'd never told anyone this story before. But these people had risked everything to save him, had seen him at his most vulnerable. If anyone deserved the truth, it was them.
"I was exploring some ancient ruins a few months ago," he began slowly. "This temple complex, deep in the mountains. The walls were covered in these incredible carvings—scenes of battles between gods and demons that looked like they'd been carved thousands of years ago."
Elira leaned forward, fascinated despite herself. "What kind of battles?"
"Epic ones. Gods with weapons of pure light fighting demons that looked... well, that looked a lot like the archdemon I fought three nights ago." Rex ran his fingers through his hair. "I thought they were just mythology, you know? Ancient stories carved in stone."
"But they weren't," Marella said quietly.
"No. They weren't." Rex's voice grew distant with memory. "I found a hidden chamber deep in the temple. There was this pool of water, crystal clear, and growing up through the center was this tree. Ancient. Massive. Its roots went down into the water and they were... glowing. This soft, golden light."
"You touched it," Elira said. It wasn't a question.
Rex nodded. "I couldn't help myself. The moment my fingers made contact with those roots..." He shook his head. "It was like lightning and warmth and every sunrise I'd ever seen all at once. The power of the ancient gods, somehow preserved in that tree, waiting."
"And it chose you," Marella said softly.
"I guess it did. Though some days I wonder if I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Like during the fight," Marella said gently.
"Yeah. Like during the fight." Rex looked up at them. "I saw that thing attacking your settlement, and something in me just... snapped. I couldn't let it hurt innocent people."
"You were incredible," Elira said quietly. "Terrifying, but incredible. When you lifted that sword of light..." She shook her head. "I've never seen anything like it."
The kindness in her voice made Rex's chest tighten. He'd expected fear, suspicion, maybe even demands for answers. Instead, these people who'd witnessed him channel the power of ancient gods were treating him with genuine warmth.
"You're not afraid of me?" he asked. "I mean, knowing what I can become?"
Marella smiled sadly. "Rex, after what we've been through, after what we've seen in this world—someone blessed by the old gods to fight demons is the answer to our prayers, not something to fear."
"Besides," Elira added with a slight grin, "divine powers or not, you still passed out in our forest and needed two days of Mom's chicken soup to recover. Kind of hard to be intimidated by someone who mumbles in his sleep."
Despite everything, Rex felt his lips twitch upward. "I don't mumble in my sleep."
"Oh, you absolutely do," Elira said. "You kept talking about ancient trees and golden light. And something about 'the burden of the chosen.' Very dramatic stuff."
Rex's almost-smile faded. The burden of the chosen. He remembered now—the voice that had spoken to him when he'd first touched those glowing roots. The weight of responsibility that had settled on his shoulders like a mantle.
"I remember that," he said quietly. "When the power first came to me, there was this voice. Ancient. It told me that the gods' time was ending, but their fight against the darkness would continue through those they deemed worthy."
"And they deemed you worthy," Marella said gently.
"Apparently." Rex looked down at his hands again. "Though some days I wonder if they made a mistake."
Something cold settled in Rex's stomach. "I... what do you mean?"
Marella stood up, walked to the window. She was quiet for so long that Rex wondered if she'd changed her mind about telling him. When she finally spoke, her voice was distant.
"It was three years ago. Started like any other Tuesday morning but in dark. I remember because I'd just finished doing laundry, and Elira was complaining about having to help me hang it out on the line." She smiled slightly at the memory. "Such a normal thing to argue about."
Elira shifted in her chair. "I was being a brat about it too. Dad kept telling us to hurry up because there were more storm clouds coming in than usual."
"But they weren't storm clouds," Marella continued. "Not like any we'd ever seen. They were... wrong. Darker. Thicker. And they moved in ways that clouds shouldn't move."
"What happened then?"
"The sun just... disappeared," Elira said quietly. "And then we saw them."
"Saw what?"
"Holes," Marella whispered. "Tornado-shaped tears in the sky."
Rex's hands clenched involuntarily. Something about this felt familiar, but he couldn't place it.
"And then they started falling," Elira continued. "The demons. Dropping out of those holes like rain. Some of them looked almost human, others..." She shuddered. "Others didn't look like anything that should exist."
Marella came back to her chair, but didn't sit down. "The air itself changed. Became thick, poisonous. People started collapsing in the streets, couldn't breathe. Birds fell out of the sky mid-flight. It was like the world was dying all at once."
"How long did it last?" Rex asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"Hours," Elira said. "But it felt like days. Everyone was running, screaming, trying to find shelter. But nowhere was safe. The demons were everywhere."
Marella's voice broke slightly. "That's when we saw our first Reaper."
Rex felt ice in his veins. "Reaper?"
"Tall. Hooded. Carried a scythe that looked like it was made of shadow," Elira said, her voice flat now. "They moved differently than the other demons. More... purposeful. Like they knew exactly what they were looking for."
"What were they looking for?"
Marella finally sat down, her hands shaking slightly. "Souls. They were harvesting souls."
The room fell silent except for the ticking clock. Rex realized he was holding his breath.
"We barricaded ourselves in the house," Marella continued after a moment. "Elira's father—my husband Tom—he thought maybe we could wait it out. Maybe whatever was happening would pass."
Her voice got smaller. "We were so naive."