Zein had never felt this hungry before.
His stomach growled like a wild animal, twisting and turning inside him. His lips were dry. His legs were shaking. Each step felt harder than the last. His feet were bare and sore. The ground beneath him was full of rocks, sticks, and cold mud.
He had no food. No water.
Just pain… and silence.
The Cursed Woods weren't like the forests in the stories.
They were worse.
The trees were tall and black, their branches like claws. The sky was hidden behind their thick leaves. The wind didn't blow the same way in here. It whispered.
Not like real wind.
But like voices. Faint. Cold. Echoing.
Sometimes Zein thought he heard his name.
> "Zeeeiin…"
He'd spin around.
No one there.
The woods were playing with him.
The night finally calm, cold and heart chilling.
Zein sat under a crooked tree, hugging his knees. His body trembled from the cold. He tried to close his eyes, but every time he did, he saw faces.
Kale.
His father.
Taro.
Their voices echoed in his head.
> "You are nothing."
"You embarrass me."
"You're just a curse."
"You bring shame."
He pressed his hands to his ears and shook his head. "Stop… stop… just stop."
But the voices didn't stop. They only got louder.
He opened his eyes and screamed. "I SAID STOP!"
The woods answered with a whisper.
> "We hear you…"
The next day came, slowly as the cold breeze.
The sun never fully came out.
The light that did come through the leaves was dull and gray. Everything looked the same. Zein walked in circles. The trees all looked like each other. No path. No trail.
He tried to find food—berries, roots, anything.
But the only plants he saw were strange. Some had thorns shaped like teeth. Others dripped black liquid from their leaves.
One time, he reached for a fruit that looked red and shiny.
> "Don't eat it," a whisper said.
Zein froze.
He turned. No one there.
But he dropped the fruit.
By the third day, Zein couldn't feel his legs.
He limped now, dragging his right foot, stepping slowly, carefully. His lips were cracked. His tongue was dry. His stomach didn't growl anymore. It had given up.
And the voices…
They weren't just whispers anymore.
They were people.
Shapes.
Shadows in the trees.
He saw a boy run past him, laughing.
"Wait!" Zein called, stepping forward.
But when he reached the tree, there was no one there.
He saw a woman with white hair kneeling by a river.
"Mother?" he whispered.
She turned—but her face was gone. Just darkness.
Zein screamed and fell to his knees.
> "Sleep, Zein…"
"Rest…"
"Give up…"
"No one's coming…"
He covered his ears again. "You're not real. You're not real!"
But they felt real.
He saw his best friend, Taro, standing just ahead.
"Taro… please…" Zein stumbled toward him.
But Taro didn't move. His face was blank. His eyes were black. When Zein reached for him—
—Taro vanished into smoke.
Zein cried out, tears mixing with dirt on his face.
He dropped to the ground, body shaking.
> "This is where you die…"
"Just like the others…"
"The woods are your coffin…"
"No…" he whispered. "I won't die here… I can't…"
But his body didn't care what he wanted.
His knees gave out. His hands hit the earth.
He tried to push himself up, but fell again.
The world spun. His eyes blurred.
Through half-lidded eyes, Zein saw something ahead.
Not trees. Not shadows.
But stones.
Big, tall, ancient stones, standing in a circle like old guards.
They glowed faintly, like soft blue fire from deep underground.
Zein blinked.
He didn't know if it was real.
But he crawled.
His arms pulled him forward, one inch at a time. His fingers dug into the dirt. He coughed. His lips bled.
But he crawled.
And crawled.
Until his head touched one of the stones.
And then—his body collapsed.
Face-down in the circle.
He didn't know how long he lay there.
Minutes?
Hours?
A day?
Everything was black. Cold. Still.
Then… warmth.
It started in his chest, like a soft candle flickering to life. He opened his eyes—but he wasn't in the forest anymore.
He was standing.
The sky was dark, full of stars. The ground was covered in silver mist. And before him stood a door made of light, with strange runes glowing all over it.
He looked down.
His body didn't feel weak anymore.
He stepped forward, slowly, toward the door.
When he touched it, it spoke.
> "Name…"
Zein blinked. "What?"
> "Speak your name…"
He swallowed. "Zein."
> "Blood?"
"Human," he said, unsure.
> "Pain?"
He hesitated. "Yes."
> "Purpose?"
He looked up at the glowing door.
His hands curled into fists.
"I want to be strong," he whispered. "Stronger than anyone. Stronger than the ones who threw me away. I want them to look at me… and see what they lost."
> "You seek power born of pain…"
> "You seek the Void."
The door swung open.
Black light spilled out, swallowing everything.
Zein screamed.
Back in the Woods
His body jerked awake.
He gasped, sitting up.
His head ached. His heart pounded. But… something was different.
His fingers glowed faintly.
A strange mark had appeared on his right arm—black lines forming shapes that looked like letters, but none he had ever seen.
A whisper echoed in his head.
> "You have been chosen…"
Zein looked around.
The stone circle still glowed.
He was still alive.
And the voices…
…were quiet.
Zein stood slowly, his legs shaky but working.
He didn't know what had happened.
He didn't know what was inside him now.
But he knew one thing—
He didn't feel weak anymore.
The fear, the cold, the pain… they were still there.
But underneath it all… was fire.
Something had changed.
And for the first time since being thrown into this cursed place—
He smiled.
"I'm not nothing," he whispered.
Then, with the mark on his arm glowing faintly, he took his first step toward something bigger than he could ever imagine.