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Chapter 5: A Flicker in the Dark
The stars stretched wide across the night sky, scattered like broken glass above the wilderness. Trees rustled with the faint murmur of wind, and moonlight filtered through their branches like pale silver veins. Kael's footsteps were heavy but steady, the soft crunch of leaves beneath his boots the only sound anchoring him to the world.
Behind him, Elenore moved with silent grace, eyes constantly sweeping the woods, senses on edge. She was tired—he could tell—but refused to rest.
They'd been walking for what felt like hours. Kael didn't know exactly where they were heading, only that they had to keep moving—away from the House of Ardyn, away from the city that saw him as a failure, and from the blades that had nearly ended his life.
"Do you even know where we're going?" Kael asked, breaking the silence.
Elenore didn't respond right away. She held her gaze on the path ahead, her voice calm despite her fatigue. "There's a village hidden in Glenreach Hollow. It was once a place where outcasts gathered—those abandoned by noble houses, forgotten by the mana clans."
Kael's brow furrowed. "You think they'll help us?"
"They might not help," she said flatly. "But they'll let us exist. That's enough for now."
Kael let out a slow breath, watching it fade into the night. He didn't belong anywhere, not even in the place of his birth. His name was poison in Ardyn. A boy born without a Mana Core. A waste. A mistake.
He clenched his fists.
Deep inside him, something stirred.
A growl.
A presence.
Ashuru.
The nine-tailed fox wasn't sleeping. He was watching.
Kael didn't need words to know that. Ever since that night—the massacre, the fire, the blood—Ashuru had been lurking beneath his skin like fire under ice. Proud. Silent. Dangerous.
Kael remembered the voice that had echoed in his mind during the assassination.
> "You reek of fear, little human. Yet you called to me. You bled for me."
He hadn't meant to summon anything. He had screamed for help as death loomed. And something had answered.
"Why now?" Kael whispered under his breath.
No reply came. But in the corner of his vision, just behind the veil of the physical, a pair of crimson eyes glinted with amusement. Watching. Judging.
He shoved the thought aside and followed Elenore deeper into the forest.
---
Hours passed. The terrain shifted. Trees gave way to mist, and the ground turned soft underfoot. A veil of fog hugged the earth like a burial shroud.
They reached the edge of a cliff, where a narrow trail led down between jagged stones and moss-covered paths. Below, flickers of firelight dotted a hollow carved into the base of the hills.
The village.
Kael blinked. It didn't look like much—just a gathering of wooden huts, woven fences, and smoke curling from crude chimneys. But to him, it was salvation.
Elenore motioned for silence and moved ahead. As they reached the slope's base, a whispering wind pushed against them, and Kael felt Ashuru's aura pulse faintly.
Something was watching them.
Not Ashuru. Something else.
Elenore drew a dagger from her sleeve as two figures stepped from behind the trees. Mud-covered boots. Patchy armor. Masks fashioned from beast skulls.
"Who goes there?" one of them barked. His voice was coarse, filled with distrust.
"We seek refuge," Elenore said, keeping her tone steady. "We carry no sigils, no banners. We just want to pass through the Hollow."
"Lies are common in these woods," the second figure said. His hand hovered near his axe.
Kael stepped forward. "We're not your enemies. We've run from our own."
The men looked at each other, silent, calculating.
Then the first one spoke again, "No one comes to Glenreach Hollow unless they're desperate... or cursed."
Kael said nothing.
The man finally nodded and jerked his head toward the village. "Follow the torch path. Don't stray. You'll meet Elder Haran. He'll decide what to do with you."
---
They entered the village under cautious eyes. Dirty faces peered out from shacks and tents. Children whispered. Men gripped weapons. There was no warmth here—only wariness.
Kael could feel the same question written on every face: What are you doing here?
The torch path led to a larger hut built into the hollowed side of a cliff. A single lantern flickered beside its entrance. Inside sat a man whose presence pressed against Kael like gravity.
Elder Haran.
He was old, but not fragile. His skin was lined like carved bark, his eyes sharp as flint. A long scar crossed from his right brow to his jaw, and he wore no armor—only a thick fur mantle and a bone-carved staff.
Elenore bowed her head. "Elder. We come in peace."
Haran studied them in silence for a moment, then nodded toward Kael. "You carry something... unnatural."
Kael tensed. "I don't have mana. If that's what you mean."
"I didn't say mana," Haran replied. "There's s a sinister energy side you. Dormant, but loud."
Kael looked away. "I didn't ask for it."
"Most power isn't asked for," the elder said. "But it still comes."
A long pause followed.
"You can stay," Haran said at last. "But only if you work. The Hollow doesn't feed mouths for free."
Kael nodded.
So did Elenore.
---
The days that followed were slow but strangely grounding.
Kael helped reinforce wooden walls, gathered herbs, and carried buckets of water from the creek. He slept on straw and ate roots boiled in broth. It wasn't much, but it was better than running.
Elenore remained watchful. She spoke little, always scanning the woods. Once a maid, now a protector. Her hands never strayed far from her daggers.
Ashuru remained silent—but not absent.
Kael could feel his presence when he closed his eyes. At night, in his dreams, he stood before the fox's towering form in a burning plain of black sand and red skies.
Ashuru looked down at him with contempt and curiosity.
> "You fear what you've touched," the beast said one night. "But the world will fear you once it awakens."
Kael woke with a start, breath ragged, heart pounding.
He didn't want power. He only wanted peace.
But deep down... a part of him craved more.
Not revenge.
Purpose.
---
One evening, as the sun dipped low and the fire pits flickered to life, Kael sat near the village edge. The wind carried a distant howl across the trees.
Elenore approached quietly.
"They'll come for us eventually," she said, staring into the twilight. "The Ardyns don't forget shame."
Kael said nothing.
"You're not weak," she added. "They were wrong about you."
Kael turned to her, the fire reflecting in his eyes. "Maybe. But I have no Core. No future. Just a beast in my chest and a name no one wants."
Elenore's voice was soft but firm. That energy saved you. And you didn't run from it. That means something."
He looked away.
> "The world will fear you once it awakens."
Maybe Ashuru was right. Maybe there was something inside him—greater than mana, deeper than bloodlines.
The wind shifted again.
And in the far distance... something growled back.