The flames flickered, but there was no warmth.
Kaivaan sat still on a rocky ledge outside the cave, staring into the horizon as a cold wind brushed past him. The fire he had summoned danced unnaturally—black and red, like it burned with anger instead of heat.
Lately, the Monster's voice had been returning.
Not in whispers, but in memories.
Kaivaan wasn't sure what they were—visions of someone else, standing before the Monster, offering something… and then screaming. He saw eyes—two burning eyes—that stared back at him in his dreams.
They weren't his.
Inside the cave, Oryan meditated, floating slightly above the ground, his long coat moving like shadow around him. Even without his eyes, he always knew when Kaivaan entered.
"You're seeing things, aren't you?" Oryan asked calmly.
Kaivaan didn't reply at first.
Then he said, "They're not mine. The memories."
Oryan exhaled. "The Monster doesn't only take… sometimes, it leaves a stain."
Kaivaan turned toward him, his voice trembling with a question he hadn't dared ask until now.
"What did you give up, Oryan?"
Oryan slowly lowered himself to the ground. For a moment, the air grew heavy, as if gravity itself deepened.
"My eyes," he said simply. "I gave up my sight to see the truths others cannot."
Kaivaan stared. "But you fight better than anyone with perfect vision."
Oryan smiled slightly. "The world is more honest when you stop seeing it with your eyes."
He walked past Kaivaan, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You sacrificed emotion. That is a rare offering. The Monster must have found something… valuable in you."
Kaivaan clenched his fists. "I don't care what it found. I'll kill it. I'll end this cursed system."
Meanwhile, back at the village, Noira stood in front of a mirror, brushing her now-short hair. Light shimmered at her fingertips.
She paused and looked at a folded piece of parchment on the table.
She had been writing a letter—to someone in the capital. About Kaivaan.
A few days later, a messenger arrived.
A royal summons.
One of the King's Magic Knights had attempted to sacrifice his heart for immortality. The power he gained twisted him beyond recognition. He had turned into something no longer human.
The King had called for a gathering—every new and old magic user must report to the Capital.
"Is this the beginning of something worse?" Noira whispered.
Oryan stood silently beside her, his mouth tense. Kaivaan just stared at the message.
He wasn't surprised. He had been dreaming of the Monster more than ever.
That night, as he slept near the dying fire, Kaivaan felt cold fingers wrap around his mind.
He opened his eyes—he was inside the Monster's realm again.
Dark. Silent. Endless.
The Monster stood in front of him, grinning.
"Do you want to know who I was… before I became this?" it asked.
Kaivaan's heart stopped.
The Monster's face shifted, just for a second.
Two burning eyes. A familiar jawline.
Oryan.
Kaivaan screamed himself awake.
But the flames in the fire had already turned black.