The wind was blowing strange that evening. Not strong, just… strange. Like it didn't know which way it want to go. Left, then right. Forward, then back. It make the trees shiver softly, and it made Sera pull her coat tighter around her arms. She was still holding the black feather. It didn't feel like a bird feather. It felt colder. Thinner. Like it came from something that wasn't meant to fly at all.
Coker kept walking like he didn't care. But he cared. Inside him, the curse was stirring. It always moved when danger was near. It always warned him before his own heart did. And right now, it was whispering loud.
They walked into the woods again. The path was not clear anymore. Grass grew tall and wild. The trees was thicker, darker, not friendly like the ones before. They didn't talk, didn't dance in the wind. They just stood, like soldiers that hate you.
"Coker," Sera said, voice quiet, "where are we going now?"
"I don't know," he said.
"You don't know?"
"No one know. That's the thing about running. You don't plan. You just keep going until something catch you or you find something worth staying for."
She didn't like that answer. But she didn't say more.
For a long time, they didn't speak. The only sound was their feet crunching leaves and sticks. And behind that, always, the soft rustling in the trees. Like something was watching. Maybe the Watcher. Maybe more than one.
The sun was going down slow now. The sky turn orange and pink, like a painting someone was wiping away too fast. Coker stopped walking.
"We sleep here tonight," he said.
"But… it's not safe," Sera said, looking around.
"It's never safe."
They sit under a low tree. Coker didn't make fire. Fire brings light. Light brings eyes. So they sat in cold, in quiet, and eat the last of the bread the old woman gave them.
Sera rested her head against the tree, looking tired. But her eyes stay open.
"Do you think the feather… it came from one of those things?" she asked.
Coker nodded. "Yes. I feel it."
"Then why it fall near us?"
He looked at her. "Maybe it didn't fall. Maybe it followed."
She held the feather out in front of her face, staring at it. Then she threw it far away.
Coker didn't stop her. But he watched where it landed. And in his mind, he thought, It'll come back.
The night crawled slow. The moon didn't rise. The stars stayed hidden behind clouds. It was the kind of night that don't want to be seen.
Sera finally closed her eyes. Sleep took her fast. She was strong, but not cursed. Cursed ones don't sleep easily.
Coker sat there. His hand on the ground. Feeling it. The earth was breathing strange. The trees was talking, but not in words. Just in feeling. A feeling that something was near.
He closed his eyes. Not to sleep. But to see better.
Inside him, the curse showed its color. Black and red, like burning ash. He let it stretch a little. Just a little. It burned his veins. It made the air around him colder. But it helped him listen.
Far. Very far. Steps. Not human. Not heavy. But there.
He opened his eyes.
They was coming.
He touched Sera's arm. She woke fast.
"Get up."
She blinked. "What is it?"
"Run."
She didn't ask. She trusted him now. That was the difference between them and others. People always ask too many things. Sera just ran.
They moved through the trees like shadows. Quick. No words. No sounds. Only the sound of leaves breaking and the low wind chasing them.
Behind them, something moved. A shape. Tall. Too tall. No arms. No legs. Just floating. Just following.
Sera looked back once and screamed.
"Don't look," Coker shouted.
But it was too late.
The Watcher saw her.
Its eyes lit up like white fire. Not real fire. Cold fire. Fire that don't burn skin, only soul.
Coker felt it. The curse inside him screamed.
He stopped running.
"Keep going!" he yelled at Sera.
"No!"
"Go!"
She froze.
So he turned.
The Watcher was floating toward him. No face. No mouth. Just those two burning-white holes.
Coker took a step forward.
The curse moved in his blood now. Like a monster finally set free. His hands shook. His bones felt like cracking from inside.
The Watcher raised one long arm — or maybe just shadow — and pointed at him.
Then it spoke. Not with mouth. But inside his head.
"You are the one who loves," it said.
Coker frowned. "What?"
"The curse is meant to destroy. But you love. It's wrong."
His eyes burned. His body ached. But he smiled.
"I don't care what it's meant for."
The curse exploded.
For a moment, the woods filled with red light. Fire spun from his chest, wrapping around him. Not normal fire. Black fire with red inside. It didn't burn the trees. It burned the air.
The Watcher screamed. Its body shook and twisted.
Coker stepped forward. Every footstep cracked the earth.
"You followed me," he said. "Now watch."
He raised his hand. The fire leapt.
The Watcher was caught in it. It didn't burn. It shattered. Like glass hit by sound. It broke into a million black feathers that fell like rain.
When it was gone, Coker fell to one knee. His breath heavy. The fire died. The trees around him was quiet again.
Sera ran to him.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah."
She helped him up.
They walked a bit more before stopping near a stone wall deep in the forest.
"What did it say to you?" she asked.
Coker looked at the sky. The stars was out now. Just a few.
"It said the curse was made to destroy," he said.
"And?"
He looked at her. His voice was soft.
"But I still choose love."