And if I told you that gods exist? Beings so absurdly powerful that a single blink could erase entire galaxies into nothing.
I knew about them from old leather-bound books hidden on my mother’s shelf. How she got those relics, I never knew.
She never told me.
Every time I asked, she would dodge the question, her gaze drifting toward the window with a deep, silent sadness, as if those pages carried ghosts only she could see.
That only fueled my curiosity to witness a god with my own eyes.
My name is Suki. I live in a village called Safe Place, on planet HM-267, and I’m thirteen years old. In our calendar, the year is ZI 8,491.
That day started like any other, and I remember every detail.
I always had a bad habit of fighting the sun.
That morning, my mother had to knock on my door three times before finally pulling my blankets away.
I was already too old for that, but laziness always won the first round.
What truly woke me up was the smell of breakfast.
My mother always knew exactly what to make, and she made it perfectly.
That morning she had fried bacon from a flying pig, probably bought from Sergio, the butcher and farmer of our village. And of course, there were eggs from a Struthio kandis, a kind of ostrich.
It was my favorite meal.
When I sat at the worn wooden table, I noticed my mother was still waiting for my father to come back so we could eat together.
“Mom, you don’t have to always wait for Dad,” I said, already about to start eating.
She smiled, wiping her hands on her apron, and messed up my messy hair.
“That’s a sign of respect, Suki. Learn that, okay? Elders always deserve respect, especially when that someone is your father.”
She tapped my nose.
After that, I never ate before the elders again.
Then my father arrived. He greeted my mother with a kiss and gave me one on the forehead.
Even that early, he already smelled like sweat and wood dust.
He sat beside me, wiped his rough hands on a stained cloth, gave my shoulder a heavy pat, and looked at me with unusual seriousness.
“Suki, you’re growing up. It’s time you start learning my real work,” he said, his voice deep but proud.
“I want you to take over the smithing one day.”
I just nodded and rolled my eyes, pretending it was boring, but inside my chest swelled.
I loved knowing he trusted me.
My father was a professional locksmith and metalworker, probably the most well-known in the village. Sometimes I helped him, and those were the days I came home both exhausted and happy.
After breakfast, I washed my hands in a well, splashed water on my face, and said goodbye to my parents. I had work and studies, but also days to play.
I ran to the main courtyard of the village, where our neighbor Roberto the blacksmith had his workshop.
But that place wasn’t just a courtyard with a forge. It was our battlefield.
Roberto gave us wooden weapons, and in our imagination, we became giants.
Our favorite game was called “Stop the God.”
Susen, as fierce and violent as always, was the god of the day.
And frankly, she was unstoppable.
She struck fast with her wooden sword, laughing as she defeated everyone one by one.
Me, Henrique, Fernando, and Carina were all losing badly, laughing through pain and exhaustion.
But I was relentless.
“I’m your opponent!” I shouted.
Even Roberto paused his hammering on glowing steel when he heard me.
“There he goes again,” he said, watching.
When I felt Roberto’s silent support and saw my friends cheering me on, I felt like a general.
I charged.
Susen charged too.
Wood clashed against wood. The impact echoed.
Roberto smiled in surprise.
“Go on, kid!”
With one final push, I disarmed her. Her wooden sword flew away and hit the ground.
My friends cheered.
Susen had been the “god” of our game for two weeks straight.
I extended my hand to her.
“You’re incredible,” I said.
She replied:
“And you’re even better. Where did that strength come from?”
We all laughed.
That victory would hurt later in bruises—but in that moment, I was the god of the village.
The afternoons passed like that: sweaty, happy, safe.
Until the air trembled.
A massive explosion tore through the sky. The sound was so loud my teeth vibrated.
At first, adults thought the quarry had collapsed.
But it wasn’t stone.
Later I would learn: it was an atmosphere rupture. Something entering the planet at impossible speed.
When I helped Susen up and we looked at the sky—
A creature from my mother’s books appeared.
A red dragon.
It spread its wings and blocked the sun. A cold, unnatural shadow fell over Safe Place.
It landed on a nearby mountain, crushing trees beneath its weight.
No one moved.
Susen’s hand trembled in mine.
Then its jaws opened.
Hot vapor leaked between its teeth.
And then hell arrived.
Fire swallowed everything.
The last thing I saw was Roberto shielding us with his body.
Screams filled the air. Then silence. Then ash.
I woke up choking, lungs burning with black smoke.
Roberto was gone.
I vomited.
I cried.
The ground trembled.
The dragon was still there.
Then it hit me.
My parents.
I ran.
Through burning streets. Through collapsing houses. Through people I once knew now reduced to shapes in ash.
My throat burned like broken glass.
My house was gone.
“Mom… Dad…”
I dug through rubble with bleeding hands, screaming until my voice broke.
Nothing.
Then something inside me snapped.
Not sadness.
Something heavier.
Anger.
“I’LL KILL THAT THING!”
I ran back to the forge, grabbed a real steel sword and a shield.
Too heavy. Too big. Too real.
I climbed the Bell Mountain.
The sacred place.
I reached the top, grabbed the rope, and rang it with everything I had.
BONG.
BONG.
BONG.
The dragon stopped.
It turned.
Its eyes locked onto me.
I pointed the sword.
“I’M STILL ALIVE!”
A low laugh echoed through the smoke.
“How curious… a survivor dares to challenge me.”
It leaned closer.
I froze.
The sword slipped from my hand.
Death came down like a falling star.
And then—
A man appeared in front of me.
Calm. Unshaken.
“...A real dragon,” he said softly. “How rare.”
A luminous barrier exploded outward.
Everything vanished in an instant.
The world collapsed into silence and erased land.
When I opened my eyes again, the entire valley was gone.
Gone.
“What… happened to the dragon?”
The man lowered his hand.
“Don’t worry, child. I let it go.”
“You WHAT?!” I shouted.
“If you’re that strong, why didn’t you kill it?!”
“I thought you were the one who wanted to kill it.”
Silence hit me.
He stepped forward.
“My name is Silver.”
The name echoed somewhere deep in my memory.
Then everything faded.
Darkness took me.
And I fell.