Two days had passed since Erik stepped into the Stone Circle.
Since then, the voice he heard there — the one that wasn't the soul — haunted him like a splinter in his mind.
"You live…?"
He hadn't told anyone. But the soul inside him had grown... sharper.
Quieter, but heavier — like a storm waiting behind the clouds.
"You were not meant to hear them yet,"it had whispered that night."But it seems this world is waking faster than I thought."
🌾 Back in Elderwyn…
Erik stood in the fields beside his father, the sun warm on their backs. Garrick held a worn hoe, showing him how to break the soil gently.
"Like this," he said. "You don't force the land. You work with it."
Erik mimicked the motion, failing twice before getting it right.
His hands blistered fast, but he didn't complain.
"You've got a strong grip," Garrick smiled. "You'll be a good farmer someday."
Erik didn't answer.
Because deep inside, a quiet truth echoed:
"I am not meant to grow wheat. I am meant to destroy worlds."
But he didn't want to believe that.
He liked his father's smile. He liked the wind. He liked Lia's laughter.
Why couldn't he stay here forever?
🏡 That evening…
Lia was chasing a butterfly outside the cottage, giggling barefoot through the grass. Mira sat near the door, mending Erik's torn sleeve from earlier.
He watched them with a strange ache in his chest. Something felt… fragile. As if peace was stretching too thin.
Then a knock came.
A tall man stood at their gate — robes of gray, eyes like stormclouds. The village's elder seer: Elandir.
Mira stood quickly. "Elder Elandir? Is everything alright?"
"I was called here," he said softly. "Not by words. But by the air itself."
Erik flinched.
"He feels me," the soul warned.
Elandir knelt before Erik, examining him without touching.
"You've seen something recently," he said. "You walked where silence lives."
Erik stayed quiet.
The seer nodded. "That place… it doesn't just echo voices. It awakens watchers."
Mira looked alarmed. "He's just a child, Elder. He's done nothing wrong."
Elandir's gaze softened. "No child chooses the soul they carry."
His hand brushed over Erik's shoulder. For a brief moment, his fingers froze mid-air — sensing something. Something ancient.
Then he stood.
"Be wary of the shadows, Mira. Especially those that stand in sunlight."
And with that cryptic warning, he left.
🌙 Night fell
Erik sat by the fireplace, staring at the flames. Lia had fallen asleep in his lap. Her tiny hands curled like flower petals.
"Why me?"he asked inwardly.
"Because your body could hold me. Your spirit did not break."
"But I don't want to fight gods."
"Neither did I. But they gave me no choice."
Silence stretched between soul and boy — an understanding growing like roots beneath still soil.
Then — a crash.
Wood splintered outside.
Mira screamed.
Erik shot up, gently lowering Lia and rushing out.
Near the goat shed, something moved — low to the ground, fast, and snarling. A wild forest hound, likely pushed from deeper woods by storms and hunger.
And it was heading straight for Lia.
Time slowed.
His breath caught. His vision narrowed.
And the soul within him… stepped forward.
"Move."
Erik didn't think.Didn't hesitate.Didn't feel fear.
He simply ran — faster than his legs should've allowed.
He reached Lia just as the beast lunged.He threw himself forward — arms wrapping around her — and spun mid-air, landing hard on his back.
Pain shot through him.
But the hound missed.
It growled, preparing again.
Erik turned to face it.
And then… it stopped.
Its snarl choked halfway.
It stared at Erik's eyes — which glowed faintly… gold. Just for a moment.
The beast whimpered… and ran.
Mira rushed out, grabbing both children, trembling.
Erik clutched Lia tightly, his heart still pounding.
She looked up at him, confused. "B-big dog?"
He smiled, even though his back ached.
"No, Lia. Just a loud puppy."
Later that night, when things had calmed, and everyone slept, Erik sat awake.
The soul spoke again — this time not as a whisper… but as a companion.
"You protected life instead of taking it."
"That's rare... even for heroes."
Erik didn't answer.
He didn't feel like a hero.He felt like a boy… whose peace was slipping through his fingers.
But in that quiet night, a seed of resolve was planted.