The wolf-beasts circled him, their growls vibrating in his chest. Their bodies were lean but twisted, muscles twitching unnaturally, fur patchy like they had crawled from a fire. Their eyes burned crimson in the smoke.
Kaito backed away, heart pounding. His breaths came sharp and shallow. I don't even have a weapon...
The Asterion-Eye pulsed again. The world flickered into two paths, one where he stood frozen and beasts tore him down, another where he sprinted toward a fallen branch lying half-buried in ash.
He didn't hesitate. His legs moved before fear could stop him. Kaito lunged for the branch, yanking it free. It was heavy and rough, but it was something. The wolves snarled and leaped again.
This time Kaito swung. The branch cracked against the nearest beast's muzzle. It yelped, snapping its jaws inches from his arm. Another lunged from the side, Kaito eye flared again, showing him the path of its stike. He ducked just in time, rolling through the dirt, the future he'd seen guiding every desperate move.
But twenty seconds was nothing. A heart beat, a breath, a blink. In his continued dodging, Kaito followed a future he had seen that led him to an open clearing. As he continued to dodging, the air split as a spear stabbed through one of the beasts killing it.
Before a second passed another stabbed the another killing it also. As Kaito was watching this, even thought he had seen it, it left him in awe. Footsteps sounded as a women came into view. She walked up to Kaito and offered a hand.
Kaito hesitated, his gaze flicking between the woman's outstretched hand and the empty smoke-filled forest. His chest was still heaving, his muscles aching from the endless dodging. He wanted to refuse to demand answers but he had non of his own.
Slowly, he reached 9ut and took her hand.
Her grip was surprisingly strong, steadying him as she pulled him to his feet. The branch he held clattered uselessly to the ground.
"Good," she said " Standing in the open is asking for death. Keep close stranger. "
Kaito stumbled after her as she moved swiftly between the burnt trees. She moved with the ease of someone who had lived in danger for a long time, her steps silent, her bow ready at her side.
"My name is Lyra," she said without looking back. "Hunter of the Verdant Guild. And you are?"
"Kaito," he answered quietly. The name felt out of place hear, heavy on his tongue.
Lyra gave no sign of recognition. Instead she asked,"Where are you from Kaito? You are dressed strangely and you fight like some who has never held steel in his life."
Kaito's mind rased. Do I tell her the truth? That I died inanother world and woke up hear? That my eye ...He clenched his jaw. "Far away," he said finally, "Too far to matter."
She gave him a sharp look, but didn't press further.
As they walked the forest began to thin,the burnt tree giving way to patches of green untouched by fire. In the distance, torchlight flickered, small, steady points of civilization. Kaito's chest tightened with relief t the sight.
Lyra finally stopped, turning to face him. "Listen carefully, I don't know why the Asterion-Eye chose you but it is not something you can hide. Word spreads, fast in these lands. Kings covet it, cults worship it, assassins hunt it. And those beasts earlier were drawn to it. They can smell destinies on you.
Kaito swallowed hard," You're saying...I'm a target?"
"You were the moment that eye opened."
Silence stretched between them. Kaito right eye throbbed faintly, as if to remind him of its presence.
Finally Lyra sighed,"You look like a lost child. But if you can truly wield the Asterion-Eye..then maybe fate hadn't cursed me after all."
"Why do you say that," Kaito asked.
She adjusted the bow on her back, her silver hair catching the faint torchlight. "Because my Guild has been waiting for someone like you. The Legends call the eye brearer the harbinger of change. Wether that change saves us or destroy us dependents on the choices you make."
Her eyes locked onto his, sharp and unyielding. "So, tell me Kaito, are you willing to survive long enough to find out which one you'll be?"
Kaito opened his mouth, then closed it. A thousand doubts screamed in his mind but Depp beneath them a single thought pushed forward.
He had died once already. He had nothing to lose , except this strange second life he had been given.
"I'll survive, " he said quietly, clenching his fists," And I'll decide my own fate."
For the first time, Lyra, allowed herself a faint smile.
"Good. The welcome to the Ashen Wilds, Eye bearer. Your story begins hear."