Morning came gray and cold, filtering through the cracks in the cabin walls. Hikari awoke with a dull ache behind his eyes, his body heavy from the visions. He sat up slowly, glancing around. The fire was out. A hush had settled over the clearing outside, as if the forest itself held its breath.
Eldran stood by the door, staring into the trees. When he turned, something in his expression made Hikari's chest tighten.
"Gramps?" Hikari asked, voice hoarse. "What…what happened to me?"
Eldran came to sit across from him. He drew a long, ragged breath, and in that moment, he looked older than Hikari had ever seen him.
"There is something I must tell you," he began. "About your mother…and your father."
Hikari's heart lurched. "You're really going to tell me?"
"I should have told you long ago," Eldran said quietly. "But I was afraid. Afraid you would hate me. Afraid you would not be ready. Perhaps I was only waiting until you were strong enough to hear it."
He looked down at his weathered hands.
"Your mother was…a goddess. A being of peace and gifts. Loved by many, envied by more. Your father…" His eyes darkened. "…was the Emperor of the Demons."
Hikari sucked in a breath, but Eldran raised a hand to stop his questions.
"When you were born, your existence was a crime in the eyes of gods and demons alike. Your father tried to protect you…but he was betrayed and killed. Your mother—she suffered more than any soul should ever suffer. She burned from within, a punishment she bore without a sound, until her last breath."
Eldran's voice broke, but he continued.
"When she could no longer hold on, she begged the God of Creation to save you. That god…he agreed. And so you were sent here."
Hikari's hands trembled. "Then…you knew all this time?"
"I knew," Eldran said. "Because I was there the night you came into this world."
He closed his eyes, as if steeling himself. The air around him began to shimmer, like heat rising off a distant road.
"I was not always this old man hiding in the woods. Long ago, I was a commander. A soldier sworn to my king. I led an army into a war that should never have been fought. We were losing…badly. My own men—those I called brothers—betrayed me. Some joined the enemy. Some fled. I was left alone, surrounded."
Hikari watched, wide-eyed, as faint motes of light began drifting from Eldran's skin.
"I fought until I could no longer stand. On my last breath, the God of Creation came to me. He offered me a choice: die there, nameless and forgotten…or take up a duty in exchange for power enough to win. The duty was to raise you."
Hikari swallowed hard. "You…you made a deal."
"I did." The old man's voice grew softer. "I accepted without hesitation. And with that power, I crushed every traitor who had defiled my king's trust. Then I vanished. I could not return—if the world knew I had lived, they would have called me a demon. All I tried to protect would have been lost."
The shimmering grew brighter. Hikari's throat tightened. "Gramps…your skin…it's—"
Eldran looked down at the light climbing his arms. "I have been living on borrowed time," he whispered. "The deal was never meant to last forever."
"Why now?" Hikari's voice broke. "Why are you disappearing?"
"Because…" Eldran met his gaze. "…you are ready. Ready to survive. And because I am tired, boy. I have been waiting to fade until I knew you could stand on your own."
Tears welled in Hikari's eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry for killing you."
"Quit that crying," Eldran said, managing a smile. "I was ready to go a long time ago."
"But…I wanted to explore the world with you."
Eldran's face softened, and a little of the old warmth returned to his voice. "And you will. You'll see wonders I never dreamed of. But you must do it for both of us."
He hesitated. "I am scared, you know. Scared to die. But I can't keep lying to you. You deserve the truth."
Hikari's shoulders shook. "Who did this to you? Who cursed you to fade?"
Eldran looked past him, as though seeing something far away. "It doesn't matter. What matters is this: you must go west. There is a small town waiting there. If anyone questions you, tell them you are Eldran's son. That name will open doors."
He drew a shaking breath. "It will take you a year and four months to reach it on foot. If you meet travelers, ask them for help."
Light began to cover him entirely. Only his voice remained.
"Hikari…no matter what happens, remember you are loved."
The light flared once—brighter than sunrise—and Eldran was gone.
Hikari fell to his knees in the stillness, clutching the empty air. The last of the motes drifted down like dying fireflies.
He didn't know how long he stayed there. Hours, perhaps. The cabin felt too large, too hollow without Eldran's presence.
When he could finally stand, he moved as if in a dream. He gathered Eldran's things—a worn knife, the old leather book, the crooked spirit chaser stick—and set them gently on the hearth. He lit a candle and placed it beside them, though he knew it was a feeble monument.
That first night alone, he tried to sleep. But whenever he closed his eyes, he saw the moment Eldran vanished, and he would bolt upright again, shaking.
The days blurred. He packed methodically, moving like an automaton. He chopped more firewood than he needed, as if part of him still believed Eldran might return to scold him. Only on the fifth dawn did he finally sling the bag over his shoulder and step beyond the clearing that had been his entire life.
By the fifth day of travel, he was deep into the ancient woods, where the trees grew so tall they swallowed the light. Hikari made a small camp in a hollow between mossy roots. The cold was biting, but he barely felt it. He sat cross-legged, chewing a strip of dried meat, trying not to remember.
That was when he heard the first branch snap.
He didn't look up. He was too tired, too hollow. Another crack. A gust of damp air brushed his cheek.
Probably just some animal, he thought, sighing. I wish I was hungry. I'd have gone for this meat.
"Shoosh," he mumbled without glancing up, waving a hand dismissively. "Go away."
From the shadows, a monstrous figure halted, puzzled. Two burning amber eyes blinked. The creature was vast, its hide plated in black chitin. Its claws could shear through iron. All who dwelled in the forest knew its name—Vorakar, the apex predator of these lands.
Does this child not fear his own demise? Vorakar thought, stunned.
Hikari set aside his bag and rummaged inside for another strip of dried meat. "Maybe you're hungry," he said absently, not bothering to meet the creature's gaze. "Hold on."
Vorakar's pupils contracted to slits. No one had ever spoken to him so carelessly. With a snarl, he surged forward, claws outstretched.
Hikari turned his head, frowning at the sudden noise.
From Vorakar's perspective, it was as though another set of eyes opened behind the boy's—vast, cold, ancient. For a single heartbeat, Vorakar glimpsed countless ways his life could end: torn apart, burned to ash, crushed in an unseen fist.
He stumbled back with a strangled cry, skidding across the leaves. His claws shook.
"Forgive me!" Vorakar gasped. "Spare me, young lord! I—I did not recognize—!"
Hikari blinked. "Huh?" He tilted his head. "Wait…you can talk?"
Vorakar dropped his massive head low to the ground, not daring to meet Hikari's eyes. "Please…I…I mean no harm. Allow me to leave in peace."
Hikari looked utterly bewildered. "Um…sure. Shoosh, then."
Vorakar let out a shaky exhale and vanished into the darkness, crashing through the underbrush as though chased by devils.
Hikari chewed his snack thoughtfully. "Weird… Maybe the big ones can talk."
He stretched out by the fire, oblivious to the whispers spreading through the forest.
The child of unending presence walks these woods, Vorakar would later tell the others. Pray you never meet his gaze.
«End of Chapter Two»