The silence of the Palace of Shadows was heavy—unlike any other silence in Darkol. A silence that weighed on the air, slowed heartbeats, and forced you to bow… even if you didn't mean to.
Raen stood before the inner gate of the "Palace of Silence," where servants were forbidden from even breathing loudly. The guards didn't raise their heads to see him—not out of respect, but out of fear… fear of the one waiting inside.
⸻
He entered and found the Emperor sitting alone in the circular hall. A single flame burned behind him, yet it lit the entire room. He was not seated on a throne, but on a black rock, surrounded by a spectral line that scorched the air whenever anyone approached.
"Come closer, Raen."
The voice was low—but it made bones shudder. Raen approached, slowly and deliberately.
"You survived Manako. Many returned… but only one of them lost nothing."
Raen said nothing.
"Fear is no flaw," said the Emperor. "It is a tool. But one who feels no fear is either a fool… or a shadow."
He then reached toward a goblet on the table—and let it fall without touching it. The goblet didn't crash to the ground. It hovered midair, swaying in an unseen orbit.
"This is my magic, Raen… gravity magic. I make things fall, then stop them from crashing. I drop trust… and keep it suspended."
⸻
Raen was given a mission.
His target: a thief named Milk, a teenager with advanced stealth magic, who had stolen a royal incantation and vanished in the city of Zolim.
"You will not kill him," said the Emperor, "You will bring him back… alive, and with memory intact."
⸻
Raen was accompanied by four others:
Lios: A serious man who carried a device that drew tracking circles using gravity dust.
Valsa: A water-bonded mage, able to sense vibrations in the air the way the heart senses fear.
Garmon: A man with a body as heavy as clay, who tracked by detecting tremors in the ground.
Aiden: Young and clearly in awe of Raen.
Lios said,"The problem is, Milk doesn't just disappear… he gets erased from memory—even of those who saw him."
⸻
They began tracing the anomalies.
Valsa said,"The humidity here isn't moving normally… it's like something's making a void in the air."
Garmon pressed his hand to the earth:"He stepped here… thirty seconds ago."
But they couldn't catch him.
Raen thought differently. He looked at the people around them… and realized Milk hadn't vanished from the world—but from consciousness.
He entered the mind of a passerby, then another, then a group of guards… and in one of their memories, he found a gap.
"There he is."
⸻
In a blink, Raen pierced the air with his magic—planting a feeling of safety in Milk's awareness.
And in the next moment… Milk exited his stealth on his own, unaware he'd done it.
Valsa snared him in whips of water. Garmon locked the ground under him. Aiden jumped in joy.
But Raen… was bleeding from his right eye.
⸻
On the way back, the shadow behind him trembled suddenly.
A whispering voice said:"You shouldn't do this often… you are weakening."
Raen replied:"I'm not weakening. I'm testing the limits."
⸻
When he returned to the palace, he found the Emperor standing this time.
"How was the hunt?"
"I caught the idea… and the body followed."
The Emperor smiled. There was no warmth—only weight.
"The shadow is beginning to grasp the light… Good."
⸻
In his chamber, Raen sat before a mirror.
He felt he wasn't just seeing himself… but something else, behind him, within him.
He asked in a low voice:
"If I can make others forget who they are…When will I forget who I am?"