The village council hall was small—little more than wooden beams and a cracked stone floor—but tonight, it felt like a battlefield.
The room pulsed with tension as villagers crowded inside, voices rising like a brewing storm. Torches flickered along the walls, casting frantic shadows that danced like ghosts.
And Kai stood in the center of it all.
Every eye was on him.
Every whisper felt like a dagger aimed at his back.
Elder Seran slammed his cane against the table. "Quiet! All of you!"
The crowd hesitated.
But fear didn't fade—it only simmered beneath the silence.
A woman near the front pointed a trembling hand at Kai.
"We can't keep him here. The Path Council is sending hunters! They'll burn the village to the ground!"
A man stepped beside her. "He should leave—before they arrive."
Others nodded quickly—too quickly.
Lira stepped between them and Kai, fury blazing in her eyes.
"So you'll throw him out because you're scared? He saved us. Are you forgetting that?"
"We didn't ask him to summon a storm," someone muttered.
"He's a danger!"
"He brought this on us!"
"He's cursed!"
Kai felt every word like a punch. His fists clenched, but he kept his head low.
Seran raised his cane again, voice sharp.
"Enough. We owe Kai more than this. His mother entrusted him to us. We cannot abandon him."
A middle-aged villager barked out a bitter laugh.
"Entrusted us with what? A weapon? A demon? The Seventh Path is forbidden for a reason!"
Kai bit his lip until he tasted blood.
He'd known the villagers feared him… but hearing it aloud made something inside him crack.
Lira turned, gripping his arm with both hands. "Kai. Don't listen to them."
But he barely heard her.
All he could hear was the raven's chilling message:
Surrender the Vessel.Two days.
Kai swallowed hard. "Maybe… they're right."
Lira froze. "No. Don't say that."
He looked around the room—at the people he had grown up beside. The people he had helped, laughed with, lived among.
None of them met his eyes now.
Seran's expression softened. "Kai…"
Kai spoke quietly, voice shaking but determined. "If the Council comes here because of me… everyone I care about will be in danger."
"That isn't your fault," Lira snapped.
"Isn't it?" he whispered.
The torches crackled. Outside, thunder rolled across the sky.
Seran exhaled deeply. "There is another option."
The villagers murmured nervously.
Kai looked up. "Another… option?"
Seran nodded.
"You leave the village. Tonight."
Lira's face went pale. "Elder, no—"
He raised a hand. "If Kai runs now, before the Council arrives, their trackers may lose the trail long enough for him to survive."
Kai's heart pounded.
Leave?
Everything he'd ever known?
Seran's voice lowered. "The world is vast. There are places the Council cannot reach. Old allies. Forgotten lands. Hidden sanctuaries."
The villagers exchanged uneasy glances—but none protested.
No one wanted to protect him.
But no one wanted to see him executed either.
After a long moment, Seran stepped closer.
"You must make a choice, Kai. Stay here and risk everyone's lives…""…or flee into a world that has no mercy for what you carry."
Kai felt a hollow ache spread through his chest.
He looked at Lira.
Her eyes glistened. "Kai… I'll go with you."
The room erupted in gasps.
Kai shook his head instantly. "No. I won't drag you into this."
"You're not dragging me anywhere," she insisted. "I'm choosing to go."
Seran frowned. "Lira… you understand the gravity—"
"I do," she said, unflinching. "But he's not facing this alone. Not if I can help it."
Kai stared at her—shocked, grateful, terrified.
Then Seran placed a hand on Kai's shoulder.
"Decide now. The storm is already moving."
Kai closed his eyes.
Lightning hummed faintly beneath his skin—not violent this time, but steady. Like a heartbeat guiding him forward.
When he opened his eyes again… they were calm.
Resolute.
"I'll leave," he said. "Tonight."
The villagers exhaled in collective relief.
Lira reached for his hand, gripping it tightly.
Seran nodded solemnly. "Then may the Six Paths watch over you both… because the Seventh will not allow an easy journey."
Kai didn't answer.
As the torches flickered and the thunder shook the sky…
He stepped toward the door.
Toward the storm.
Toward the life he could no longer escape.