Scene 1 – The Alley
Darkness.
A scream tore through the silence like a jagged knife.
Kael's eyes snapped open.
His body surged forward, driven by something instinctive — something mechanical. His breath came shallow, and his hands glowed with a strange, pulsing light. Warm, soft, unnatural.
He didn't recognize the glow.
He didn't recognize the alley.
He didn't even recognize himself.
Across the narrow passage, a woman was being dragged into the shadows by shapes that defied logic. Twisted figures, tall and shivering, their limbs more suggestion than bone. Their mouths opened without sound. Their claws passed through her skin like mist, yet she screamed, writhing as though something deep inside her was being torn away.
They weren't attacking her body.
They were stealing something worse.
Kael's body moved again — not by choice. His arms raised. The glow in his palms surged forward in a flash of white.
The Devourers shrieked.
The creatures twisted in pain and vanished into the walls like fog chased by wind. The woman collapsed, sobbing and coughing as if her lungs had forgotten how to work.
Kael just stared.
The glow on his hands faded, leaving no trace.
His chest rose and fell steadily.
No panic.
No confusion.
Just... stillness.
> Why did I do that?
How did I do that?
He didn't know.
The woman looked up at him, shaking. "W-What was that? Are you… some kind of mage?"
Kael blinked, his gaze unfocused. "I don't know. I don't remember anything."
She hesitated, still on the ground. "Your eyes… they look like they've forgotten how to care."
He didn't respond.
He turned and walked away, the alley still echoing with the memory of screams.
Like none of it had ever happened.