The adrenaline that had been numbing Rany's senses began to evaporate like mist under a harsh sun. As the Ogre's massive corpse grew cold and the stench of its blood filled the clearing, the silence of the forest felt like a heavy blanket pressing down on her small, trembling shoulders.
Valia, now in her human form, stepped forward with hesitant steps. Her silver hair shimmered like moonlight even under the thick canopy. She looked at the tiny girl—this strange, ruby-eyed savior—with a mixture of profound awe and chilling confusion.
"Little one," Valia's voice was a soft rasp, strained from her own near-death experience.
"Where did you come from? Which clan taught you to move like a ghost and strike with the precision of a master?"
Rany opened her mouth to speak. She wanted to explain, to tell this woman about the suffocating office, the screeching tires of the truck, and the world of steel and glass she had left behind. But as she tried to form the first word, a sudden, searing heat erupted in her chest, radiating through her limbs like liquid fire.
Error, her programmer's mind flashed a frantic warning. Hardware incompatibility. System overload.
It wasn't just exhaustion. It was as if her very veins were being filled with molten lead. The Murim techniques she had instinctively deployed were designed for the sturdy, hardened meridians of a grown man—a body forged through years of grueling practice. Her current vessel, a delicate five-year-old girl, was screaming under the sheer pressure of the energy she had forced through it.
"I... I am..." Rany whispered, but the world began to tilt.
The giant trees seemed to melt into the darkening sky, spinning in dizzying circles. Her knees buckled. Just before her face hit the cold dirt, a pair of warm, strong arms caught her.
The Warmth of the Silver Wolf
Valia gasped as she cradled the small girl. Rany was burning up, her skin flushed a deep, unhealthy crimson. As a guardian of the forest, Valia had witnessed many strange things, but she had never seen a child's body react like this.
She gently peeled back the tattered sleeve of Rany's strange white garment—the remains of a programmer's shirt. Her eyes widened in horror. Beneath the pale, soft skin, tiny blue and purple lines were blooming like dark, poisonous flowers.
Internal ruptures, Valia realized, her heart sinking with guilt. She forced a power so immense into her small frame that her very blood vessels began to shatter. Who are you, little Rany? What kind of monster did you have to become to save me?
Knowing every second was precious, Valia shifted Rany into a more comfortable position, hugging her tightly against her chest. Despite her own lingering wounds, the silver-haired woman began to run. She leaped over fallen logs and navigated the dense undergrowth with the primal grace of the wolf she truly was, heading toward the hidden sanctuary of her pack.
In the midst of the jolting movement, Rany's eyelids fluttered open for a fleeting, hazy moment. Her vision was blurred, but the world she saw was beautiful beyond any dream.
High above, the canopy of the forest seemed to breathe with a soft, bioluminescent glow. Giant flowers, the size of dinner plates, hung from ancient vines, shedding petals that sparkled like falling stars in the twilight. The air didn't smell of exhaust fumes or the stale, bitter coffee of the office; it was thick with the scent of crushed mint, damp earth, and blooming jasmine.
She felt a rhythmic thumping against her ear—Valia's heartbeat. It was steady, fierce, and protective. For a man who had lived and died in a lonely apartment, the warmth of Valia's embrace felt like a forgotten sanctuary.
So warm... Rany thought, her tiny, bruised fingers instinctively clutching a handful of Valia's silver fur cloak. Is this... what a mother feels like? Is this home?
A soft, bittersweet smile touched her pale lips before the darkness claimed her once more, sinking her into a deep, healing slumber.
The Hidden Valley
Deep within a hidden valley, where the trees grew so thick they formed a natural fortress of wood and thorn, stood a sturdy cabin made of ancient timber and river stone.
As Valia burst through the clearing, a small figure darted out from the shadows of the porch. It was a young girl, perhaps a few years older than Rany, with the same shimmering silver hair and tufted ears as Valia.
"Mother! You're hurt!" the girl cried out, her eyes welled with tears as she saw the blood on Valia's clothes. "What happened? And... who is that you're carrying?"
"Not now, Vany!" Valia commanded, her voice urgent as she kicked the heavy wooden door open. "She saved my life, but her own is fading. She is a broken vessel, Vany. Her power is a flame too bright for her body to hold."
Vany stood frozen for a second, staring at the unconscious girl laid upon the bed of soft furs. Rany looked so fragile, so small, yet there was an aura about her—a lingering scent of ozone and sharp, cold steel.
"Quickly! The blue elixir from the Elder's cabinet! And fetch the moss-root bandages!" Valia shouted.
Vany scrambled, her small feet thumping urgently against the floorboards. She returned moments later, clutching a vial of glowing liquid. With trembling but steady hands, Valia opened Rany's mouth and poured the healing essence tetes by tetes.
Suddenly, an extraordinary phenomenon occurred. As the liquid touched Rany's throat, her tiny body began to emit a soft, golden radiance. The light raced beneath her skin, chasing the purple lines of ruptured vessels and erasing them in an instant. Her internal wounds seemed to be stitched back together by invisible threads of light.
The glow slowly faded, leaving Rany's skin smooth and healthy once more, though she remained deathly pale.
"Is she a human, Mother?" Vany whispered, her curiosity momentarily overcoming her fear as she watched Rany's breathing become steady and calm.
"I don't know for sure what she is," Valia replied, wiping the sweat from Rany's forehead. "But from this day on, she is one of us. Vany, watch over her. Her body is mended, but her soul requires a long, deep rest."
Vany nodded firmly, sitting by the bedside and pulling a fur blanket over Rany's small frame. As she watched the sleeping girl's peaceful face, Vany whispered softly,
"Rest now, little savior. I will be here when you wake up."