Coker walked slowly through the forest, past the trees that looked like giants, with their roots twisting like old bones and their leaves whispering secrets to the wind. His breath came out in soft clouds. His fingers were still stiff from the cold river. His chest burned faintly, the mark beneath his shirt glowing now and then like an ember refusing to die.
But he kept walking.
He had to.
Every step felt like walking through a dream. Memories—old and strange—rose in his head like mist. They weren't his memories. Not fully. But they felt real.
He saw a black mountain swallowing the sun.
A woman with silver eyes holding a blade made of pure light.
A voice whispering, *"He will break the wheel of fate."*
He shook his head.
He needed answers.
---
Back in the town of Mirden, the rumors were growing faster than fire in dry grass.
"I swear he came through the forest with no scratch," said one man, waving his arms at the tavern.
"Lies. No one passes through that place and lives."
"I heard the temple collapsed. Something inside fought him."
"No aura… No magic rank… yet he walked out alive?"
People glanced around nervously. The word they didn't want to say finally slipped from someone's lips:
"Devourer."
The room went quiet.
An old hunter crossed himself. "That name should never be spoken."
---
Coker followed the river's curve until it reached the base of an ancient hill. There, hidden behind vines and snow, he found the mouth of the cave. Something pulled at his chest again—like an invisible string.
He lit a torch using a flint stone he carried in his belt.
The flame flickered, weak and scared, but it gave light.
He stepped into the cave.
The air inside was bitterly cold, like it hadn't been touched by warmth in a thousand years. The walls were marked with faded runes. Symbols like wings. Eyes. Chains.
Coker walked deeper.
His footsteps echoed.
His breath grew shaky.
Then he found the chamber.
It wasn't big, but it felt wide. The air was still. In the middle, there was a pedestal made of black stone. And floating above it… a mirror.
Not a normal mirror.
It shimmered like it was made of quicksilver, always moving, never still. It didn't reflect light—it ate it.
Coker stepped closer.
He reached out his hand.
As soon as he touched it, his mind was ripped open.
---
He stood in a battlefield. Fire and shadows. Thousands of soldiers wearing glowing armor bowed to him.
"High Lord of Ruin!" they cried.
Then—he stood in a quiet garden. He was holding someone's hand. A girl. Her face hidden in light. She laughed, and the world seemed peaceful.
Then—he knelt before a throne of thorns.
"Forgive me," he whispered.
Then—
He screamed.
Darkness.
Silence.
Then the mirror spoke.
**"You are not ready."**
Coker stumbled back. Gasping. Cold sweat on his face.
He looked up at the mirror.
One word appeared on its surface:
**"Remember."**
The mark on his chest burned hotter now.
---
Far across the lands, in the Tower of White Flame, the Oracle's hands trembled as she dropped a silver bowl.
"The Mirror has awakened," she whispered.
Knights around her grew tense.
"Should we send the Sealed Ones?"
She shook her head. "If we stop him now, we lose the chance to control the future."
"But if he remembers too much—"
"We're already too late," she said.
---
Coker left the cave as snow began to fall softly over the forest. Everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
But he wasn't the same boy who entered that place.
Now, the voices in his head weren't whispers.
They were loud.
Clear.
He walked past trees like he'd walked those paths before.
He didn't know how, but he *knew* the way.
A part of him was waking up.
---
In a dark realm beyond the stars, a man sat on a throne made of bones and fire. His wings were blacker than night. His eyes opened slowly.
"He touched the Mirror," he said. His voice shook the hall.
The courtiers around him knelt.
A pale woman with silver chains on her arms smiled. "Do we go to him?"
The man stood. His wings spread wide.
"Not yet. Let him gather the pieces. The more he remembers… the more broken he becomes."
Then he looked into the dark sky.
"Come home, Devourer," he said again. "The world is waiting to fall."