Chapter 20 – Ashes in the Water
The town was silent. Too silent.
The river that once shimmered with life had turned murky, the faint stench of decay rising from its surface. Women who had drawn water that morning lay lifeless in the streets, their bowls overturned, the soil soaking up what their bodies could no longer hold. Men groaned on the ground, clutching their stomachs, spitting blood. Children cried for parents who could no longer answer.
But not all were gone.
From the edge of the marketplace, a boy staggered forward, barely twelve. His skin was pale, lips cracked, but his eyes burned with something stronger than death — sheer will. He had drunk from the poisoned water like the others, yet he lived, coughing, trembling, his body refusing to surrender.
He stumbled through the streets, past the corpses of neighbors, past the cries of dying elders. His small voice cracked as he shouted into the emptiness:
"Why?! Why did this happen?!"
His scream carried through the ruined town, but no one answered. Only the crows circling above gave reply.
The boy fell to his knees beside his mother's still body. His hands trembled as he shook her shoulder, begging her to wake.
But she didn't.
Tears blurred his vision, streaking down his dirt-stained cheeks. He clenched his fists, raising them to the sky, his voice breaking with fury:
"Whoever did this… whoever poisoned us… I swear… I will not forgive you! I will not forgive you!"
The boy's voice echoed through the hollow streets — words of grief, words of survival, words that planted seeds of vengeance.
Somewhere far away, Min stood silently on a hill, overlooking the dying town. His eyes narrowed, crimson glowing against the dusk. He had felt it, smelled it, the spreading stench of poison. And he knew the hand behind it.
But what caught his gaze wasn't the bodies… it was the boy.
That one spark. That one survivor.
A fragile life against the tide of death.
For a fleeting second, Min's jaw tightened. He knew this child's pain would carve scars deeper than steel. Whether those scars would turn him into a savior… or another Patrick… only time would tell.