"One must be monstrous to survive a monstrous world."
— From the banned scriptures of Goddess Moria
Five years later...
The Forest of Withered Light was said to be haunted — cursed by the goddess who once wept for a thousand years and drowned her enemies in her sorrow.
It was also the place where no demon dared to enter, no beastfolk dared to hunt, and no priest of Arios ever stepped foot into.
But inside the forest, under a waterfall shaped like the spine of a dragon, lived a boy named Li Yuan.
Once the cursed child, now a shadow among leaves.
He was no longer the weak, trembling boy that Moria had found. His body had grown lean and lithe from climbing trees and hunting with crude blades. His skin bore the sun's golden kiss, but it was his eyes — still ember-red like a dying fire — that held something deeper.
Not hatred.
Not hope.
But hunger.
For understanding. For strength. For a place in a world that never wanted him.
And today, he was hunting.
He crouched low in the mist-draped grass, eyes fixed on a three-horned fawn that had wandered too far from its herd. The beast flicked its ears nervously, sensing danger. Li Yuan didn't breathe. He waited for the wind to shift — just like she had taught him.
Then — swift as thunder — he launched his spear.
The fawn yelped and collapsed, the shaft buried in its throat.
The boy moved to retrieve it when a sharp, amused voice interrupted him.
"Took you long enough."
He turned, scowling. "I was waiting for the wind."
From the shadows stepped a woman draped in layers of red silk, her face half-covered by a sheer veil. Long silver hair spilled like starlight down her back, and nine white fox tails curled lazily behind her. Her eyes — golden and ancient — glittered with amusement.
She still called herself Tian.
But Li Yuan, now eleven, was no fool.
"You were watching again."
"I always watch," she said, kneeling beside the fawn. "It's entertaining."
"Is that what I am to you? Entertainment?"
She smiled behind the veil. "Among other things."
He didn't press further. He had learned early on that Tian was not to be questioned too much. She was kind — mostly. She fed him, clothed him, taught him. But there were days when her mood shifted like the clouds, and shadows danced in her voice. On those days, even the wind seemed to fear her.
"Tian," he said quietly, "Why don't we leave the forest?"
She raised a brow. "And go where?"
"Anywhere. I want to see the Flame Mountains. Or the Floating Lakes. You said the gods made those places."
"The gods made many things," she said, standing up. "Most of them are broken now."
He didn't reply.
She turned, gaze softening just a little. "You're not ready yet, little fox. Outside this forest, your blood is a crime."
"But I'm stronger now—"
"Strength won't save you from laws written in fire and stone."
A gust of wind rolled through the trees then, scattering petals and dead leaves alike.
Tian narrowed her eyes.
"Someone's coming."
Li Yuan stood alert. "What do you mean?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she vanished.
He blinked, startled — though not surprised. It was her way. One moment she was there, the next, gone like smoke.
Boom.
The sound came from the south ridge. A tree cracking? No — something heavier.
Li Yuan grabbed his spear and sprinted through the trees.
As he reached the clearing, he saw it: a burning airship had crash-landed in the valley, smoke spiraling into the clouds. Scattered around the wreck were bodies — some beastfolk, some demon soldiers in black armor. Blood soaked the grass.
One figure stumbled out of the flames, coughing violently.
A man.
No — not quite.
Fox ears. Crimson hair. And eyes burning like twin suns.
Li Yuan stared, stunned. The stranger was tall, cloaked in black, with a silver chain wrapped around one hand. His face bore the regal sharpness of nobility, but there was something wilder in the way he moved. Something broken.
The man looked up.
Their eyes met.
And for a moment — a single heartbeat — it was as if the air itself held its breath.
Then, Li Yuan's voice rang out.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled, blood trickling from his lip.
"The last of a forgotten throne."
And then he collapsed.
—
Later, beneath the moonlight, Tian stared down at the stranger's unconscious form, her expression unreadable.
Li Yuan leaned against a tree, still gripping his spear.
"Who is he?" he asked.
Tian's lips curled.
"His name is Jiang Wuhen," she said. "Once a prince. Now… a ghost."
"Why was he being hunted?"
"For the same reason you were born in hiding."
"Because he's different?"
"Because he's dangerous."
Li Yuan frowned. "Are we all just threats to this world?"
Tian looked at him, her eyes older than the stars.
"No, little fox. You are not a threat."
"You are a storm waiting to rise."
—