For a moment, the stag stopped scraping the earth and raised its majestic head.
Its large, dark eyes, seemingly holding all the secrets of the forest, locked directly onto Kourosh's gaze. There was no fear in the creature's eyes, only a profound curiosity and perhaps a trace of ancient recognition.
Kourosh stood perfectly still, his breath caught in his chest. He felt that this encounter was no ordinary coincidence. The blue markings across the stag's body were strangely connected to that same vague feeling he sometimes experienced whenever he looked at the sky.
For what felt like an entire lifetime, the two simply stared at each other.
The silence of the forest was heavy, thick with anticipation.
Then, the stag slowly raised its muzzle toward the sky and drew in a deep, audible breath. With a graceful, almost regal movement, it turned and quietly disappeared into the depths of the forest.
It didn't startle or flee. It was as though it had simply delivered a message and was now going about its business.
Kourosh remained frozen behind the bushes for several moments. The image of the stag, with its celestial markings, was still vivid in his mind.
Was this another part of his dreams? Or did the forest truly conceal such extraordinary creatures?
He finally stirred and stepped out from behind the bushes.
The stag was gone. Only its hoofprints remained in the damp earth.
Despite the strange encounter, he hadn't forgotten his original purpose.
The cave from his dreams was still calling to him.
He glanced around, trying to recall the approximate path he'd seen in his dreams. The trees in this part of the forest seemed thicker and older, and the ground sloped gently upward.
As he cautiously pressed forward, weaving between the enormous tree trunks, he noticed another change in his surroundings.
The air had grown heavier, and a faint, sulfur-like smell lingered in the air.
The scent was unfamiliar and slightly unsettling.
The birds had fallen silent, too.
The silence had grown denser, more ominous than before, settling over the forest like a shadow.
After another half hour of walking, with the sun now fully risen above the mountains and its golden rays struggling to pierce the dense canopy, he finally saw it.
A dark, gaping entrance concealed within an enormous rock face, covered in wild vines and ancient moss.
Exactly as he had seen it in his dreams.
Kourosh's heart began to pound.
A mixture of fear and excitement washed over him.
Even from where he stood, the cave's entrance looked immense and terrifying. It was so dark that he couldn't see anything inside, as though it led into another world.
That same sulfur-like smell had grown stronger, more distinct, and an unpleasant chill seeped out from within the cave.
He hesitated for a moment.
His father's voice echoed in his mind, along with his warnings about being too curious.
But something stronger than fear was pushing him forward.
This cave, this hidden mystery at the heart of the forest, was calling to him.
He had to find out what lay in that darkness.
Tightening his grip on his walking stick, he drew a deep breath and approached the entrance with slow but determined steps.
The closer he got, the more noticeable the cold air became, and the pungent smell of sulfur grew increasingly unbearable.
He stopped.
The cave's entrance loomed before him like the gaping maw of a sleeping dragon, dark, deep, and silent.
The silence coming from within was heavier than the silence of the forest, a silence that seemed to have endured for thousands of years.
Kourosh glanced at the rocks surrounding the entrance.
Massive boulders were covered in layers of dark moss and strange creeping plants that seemed to have grown straight out of the stone, twisting around one another.
There were no signs of life or movement nearby.
Only the occasional drip of water from the cave's damp ceiling broke the eerie silence.
Despite the unease clawing at his heart, his curiosity overcame his fear.
He slowly extended the tip of his walking stick into the darkness.
Taking a few more steps, he found himself standing at the threshold.
The air inside was cold and stagnant, with a dampness that settled against his skin. His eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, but he still couldn't make out anything beyond the impenetrable blackness.
Suddenly, something caught his attention just a few steps farther inside.
A dark, glossy patch on the cave's stone floor, glimmering faintly in the little light struggling to reach it from outside.
It looked like a thick liquid that had been spilled only recently.
Kourosh cautiously approached.
A mixture of iron and sulfur rose from the strange substance.
He bent down for a closer look.
The liquid seemed strangely alive.
Its surface was smooth, almost mirror-like, yet something appeared to be moving beneath it, like streaks of darkness writhing against one another.
Without thinking, Kourosh reached out to touch it.
But just as his fingertips were about to make contact with the strange liquid, something unbelievable happened.
The black patch seemed to come alive.
Like a living creature, it rapidly changed shape before lunging toward Kourosh with lightning speed.
It was no longer an inert stain, but a mass of thick, black liquid that shot forward and seized his leg.
Kourosh let out a faint cry of terror and instinctively leaped backward.
But the black blood—because he was now certain that this substance was blood, something strange and unknown—was faster.
Like a slick black serpent, it coiled around his lower leg and began crawling upward with unbelievable force.
A deadly cold spread from the point of contact, seeping through his skin and into his entire body. His legs were rapidly going numb.
Terror consumed Kourosh.
He swung his walking stick down hard against the mass, but the blow felt as though it had landed on water.
The black blood splattered apart for an instant, only to immediately reform, clinging to him with even greater fury.
It had already reached his knees and was climbing higher with every passing moment.
"Help..." he whispered.
But he knew no one would hear him this deep in the forest.
He had to find a way out of this nightmare himself.
With all his strength, he struggled to spread his legs apart and break free from the blood's grasp. But the more he fought, the tighter the black, sticky mass wrapped around him.
At the height of his desperation, his feverish gaze swept across the cave.
Then he spotted a sharp piece of stone jutting out from the wall.
With the last of his strength, he dragged himself toward it.
The pressure of the black blood against his legs was unbearable. Every cell in his body seemed to scream with terror and revulsion, yet his will to survive still flickered deep within him like a dying ember.
The black blood had now swallowed him up to his waist.
Its deadly cold crept closer and closer to his heart, and breathing had become an agonizing ordeal.
He felt as though his flesh was being torn away from his bones, as if the hungry, viscous liquid were consuming and digesting him piece by piece.
His vision darkened from the pain, but he refused to surrender.
He wouldn't end like this, trapped in the clutches of some nameless creature, in the darkness of a forgotten cave.
With a sudden, desperate movement, he stretched his right hand toward the sharp stone.
As though sensing his intentions, the black blood tightened its grip, trying to engulf his hands as well.
But Kourosh was faster.
Summoning every last bit of strength left in his arms, he tore the sharp stone from the wall.
Its jagged edges scraped across his palm, and his warm blood mingled with the cold, black blood of the creature.
But instead of freeing him, that contact brought about an even greater catastrophe.
The black blood attacked Kourosh's right hand with unimaginable savagery, the very hand clutching the stone.
The pain was beyond description.
With eyes wide in horror, Kourosh watched as the cursed liquid tore through the flesh of his hand and crushed his bones.
The sound of his wrist and forearm breaking was swallowed by his agonized screams.
The sharp stone slipped from his limp, bloodied fingers and struck the cave floor with a dull thud.
His right hand...
It was gone.
The black blood had devoured it up to his elbow, and now, with insatiable hunger, it was advancing toward his shoulder.
Terror and despair crashed over him like a violent wave.
He no longer had the strength to resist.
The black blood mercilessly enveloped his entire body, from his toes, which he could no longer feel, to his neck, which he could barely turn beneath the pressure of that cold, slimy mass.
Only his head remained above the surface, a witness to his own slow and horrifying consumption.
In the absolute darkness, in that endless cold, memories came to him like wandering ghosts.
His mother's gentle face, smiling as she baked fresh bread for him...
His father's calloused hands, proudly leading the sheep to pasture...
His childhood laughter across the vast plains...
And then, the nightmare of that night. Red blood against white snow. A sword stained with the death that had now come to claim him.
Loneliness.
He had always been alone.
Even amid laughter, there had always been a feeling of estrangement, of separation, that had made its home deep within him.
Was this the end of his loneliness?
To be swallowed by a darkness deeper than any night?
Death...
It was so close.
He could feel its cold breath against his face.
There was no escape.
No hope.
No light.
"Light..."
Suddenly, in the depths of his utter despair, a warm and radiant image came alive in his mind.
A memory from several years ago.
A cold, starry winter night.
He had been sitting beside a small fire inside their black nomadic tent. His mother had just brewed tea, and the scent of freshly baked bread from the saj had filled the air.
Kourosh, then an even more curious and perhaps slightly more timid little boy, had been staring at the boundless, star-filled sky.
"Dad..." His voice had been soft and childish. "Why are nights so dark? What if the stars don't come out one night? What if the moon gets angry and hides away? What happens then? Does everything turn completely black?"
Mehrdad, sitting beside him and watching the dancing flames, smiled.
He ran a hand through his son's hair.
"Don't worry, son. Even on the darkest nights, there's always some light to be found. The stars might grow dim, and the moon might hide behind the clouds, but darkness is never truly absolute."
Kourosh looked at his father with curious eyes.
"But how? If there's no light coming from outside, how can you see anything?"
Mehrdad fell silent for a moment, as though searching for the right words.
Then he looked into Kourosh's eyes, his gaze deep and full of meaning.
"My dear Kourosh, sometimes light doesn't come from outside. Sometimes, when everything is dark, when there are no stars to guide your way, you have to look for light somewhere else."
"Where, Dad?"
Mehrdad gently tapped his index finger against Kourosh's chest.
"Right here, son. If you can't find any light around you, look within yourself. Look into your heart. Into your soul. Maybe you're the light. Maybe there's so much light inside you that you can illuminate not only your own path, but the paths of others, too. Remember, even the smallest firefly carries its own light in the heart of darkness. It doesn't borrow it from anyone."
The image faded, but the warmth of that memory, those hopeful words from his father, remained within Kourosh's frozen soul.
Look within myself... I... am the light...
The thought, that tiny spark in an ocean of darkness, was miraculously powerful.
Was there truly a light inside him? A light capable of pushing back this blackness?
In those final moments, at the thin boundary between existence and oblivion, Kourosh clung to that thought with everything he had.
All his willpower, his desperate desire to live, his hatred of this imprisonment, all of it converged into a single point.
Suddenly, a brilliant white light erupted from within him.
With an immense surge, it engulfed the entire cave.
The black blood could no longer resist.
Its massive body recoiled, spreading across the cave's stone floor. Parts of it vanished upon contact with the light, while others, like a wounded creature, retreated into the cracks between the rocks.
Amid that radiance, Kourosh collapsed onto the ground.
His breathing was heavy and ragged.
His entire body trembled with pain, but nothing was wrapped around him anymore.
The light gradually faded.
Silence returned.
With great difficulty, Kourosh opened his eyes.
He still couldn't think clearly.
His gaze fell upon his right hand.
It was there.
His hand was still attached.
He moved his fingers slightly.
He felt a dull ache, but his hand was intact.
He blinked several times.
How was that possible?
Only moments ago, he hadn't even had the slightest hope of surviving.
That black creature had been devouring his entire existence, and now there was no trace of it on his body, not even a wound to show what had happened.
Kourosh struggled to sit up.
"What the hell was that?"
His voice echoed through the cave.
He looked around.
The black blood had retreated into the cave's dark corners, but there was no longer any movement coming from it.
Only dark stains remained on the stone floor.
Kourosh placed a hand against his chest.
He could feel his heartbeat.
He was alive.
But at that very moment, something in front of him began to change.
The air a few steps away started to tremble.
At first, it resembled an invisible wave passing over the rocks.
Then, thin lines began to appear in the space before him.
The lines connected, gradually forming the outline of a massive frame.
Kourosh stared in astonishment.
A gate.
A tall, dark gate was taking shape in the middle of the cave, unsupported by any wall or pillar.
Its surface was anything but smooth.
Something resembling black smoke swirled within its frame, and streaks of gray light occasionally appeared across it before fading away.
Kourosh took several steps backward.
"No... No, what now?"
The gate opened with a deep, drawn-out rumble.
A powerful gust of wind burst out from within.
But this wind carried neither the scent of the forest nor that of the earth.
It brought with it the smell of something strange and ancient, reminding Kourosh of wet stones and abandoned chambers.
He tried to reach the cave wall.
He couldn't.
An invisible force was pulling him toward the gate.
At first, only his clothes fluttered.
Then his body began sliding across the ground.
Kourosh jammed his walking stick between the rocks.
"Let me go!"
The stick snapped under the strain.
The boy grabbed at a crack in the stone, but his fingers slipped.
The harder he resisted, the stronger the pull became.
The gate was now directly in front of him.
Kourosh screamed.
"Dad!"
His voice echoed through the cave, vanishing into the roar of the wind.
In the final moment, he felt something being torn from within his chest.
Not like pain, but like a piece of himself being pulled away, something he hadn't even known he possessed until that instant.
And then, the gate swallowed him whole.
---
Kourosh was falling through the void.
There was no ground, no sky, no up or down for him to distinguish.
His body hung suspended in an endless expanse.
There was no wind, yet he felt himself falling.
There was no sound, yet the silence itself didn't feel like silence.
It was as though every sound in the world had been kept away from this place.
He kept his eyes open, but there was nothing to see.
"Where am I?"
No sound came out.
Or perhaps it did, but he couldn't hear it.
In that nameless space, a voice suddenly echoed in his ears.
Emotionless, calm, and clear.
[You have successfully devoured a fragment of an Ominous Word.]
Kourosh remained motionless.
The voice continued.
[To survive, complete the trial.]
[Devour all fragments of the Ominous Word.]
Kourosh tried to speak.
"What? What trial? Where am I?"
There was no answer.
A few moments later, he heard another voice.
This one was fainter, as though it came from an immense distance.
[Transfer commencing.]
Suddenly, the void began to move.
Something passed beneath his feet, something that didn't exist, yet he could feel it.
His body was pulled forward, and for one brief moment, thousands of indistinct images flashed before his eyes.
Enormous walls.
A shattered tower.
A sunless sky.
And bones so colossal that he couldn't begin to comprehend their size.
Then everything went dark.
---
Kourosh opened his eyes with a dry cough.
His face was pressed against a cold, rough surface.
It took him several moments to realize that he was lying on the ground.
He slipped a hand beneath himself and struggled to rise.
His head was spinning.
"Ugh..."
He rubbed his forehead.
It felt as though he had been asleep for hours, yet his body was still exhausted from what had happened in the cave.
Then he looked around.
And found himself unable to speak.
He was lying in the courtyard of an abandoned castle.
The ground beneath him was made of cracked, gray stones. Pale grass grew between the fissures, as though it hadn't seen the color of true green in years.
Tall, crumbling walls surrounded him.
Some of the towers had broken halfway up, their remaining windows staring into the empty space like black hollows.
Faded carvings covered parts of the walls, nearly erased beneath layers of dust and the passage of time.
Kourosh slowly turned around.
A massive gate stood at the opposite end of the courtyard.
Its two iron doors had been torn from their hinges and lay on the ground. Rusted chains hung from the walls, and withered trees had grown beside the entrance passage.
But what caught his attention more than anything else was the sky.
The sky was gray.
Not the pale gray of an overcast day, but a dead, uniform shade, as though someone had stripped every color from the world.
Heavy clouds drifted at some unknown height, neither releasing rain nor allowing a single ray of light to pass through.
Kourosh raised his head.
For a moment, that same feeling of disgust returned.
But this time, there was nothing in the sky he could point to.
The sky here was simply empty.
Empty and endless.
He lowered his gaze.
Beyond the broken walls, enormous bones jutted out of the earth.
At first, he thought they were the white, dried trunks of trees.
But when he looked more closely, he realized his mistake.
They were bones.
A colossal spine stretched across the distant ground. Its vertebrae were larger than boulders.
Several gigantic ribs rose from among the ruins, extending toward the castle walls.
Kourosh took a few steps forward.
He looked up.
Part of an enormous skull was visible behind a shattered tower.
It was so unnaturally large that his mind couldn't compare it to any living creature he had ever known.
It was as though some colossal being had died here.
A creature whose death, even after all these years, still seemed unfinished.
Kourosh muttered under his breath,
"Where the hell am I?"
His voice echoed across the courtyard.
No answer came.
A cold wind passed between the broken pillars, stirring gray dust across the ground.
Somewhere deep within the castle, the sound of metal striking metal rang out.
Kourosh turned around.
A dark corridor lay at the far end of the courtyard.
Its ceiling had collapsed in several places, and broken stones narrowed the passage.
Beyond it stood the castle's main building, a towering structure with cracked walls and empty windows.
Kourosh tried to remember what had happened.
The cave.
The black blood.
The gate.
And the voice that had told him to devour all the fragments of an Ominous Word.
He p