The night wind whispered secrets Coker couldn't understand. He sat on the rooftop, knees pulled to his chest, the stars cold above him. Sleep didn't come. How could it?
Ever since that voice spoke from the wall, ever since the fire bloomed in his chest like a second heartbeat, he hadn't felt like himself. He hadn't felt like anyone.
He felt like… something was crawling out of him. Slowly. Patiently.
Something old.
The morning came with gray skies. Rain hadn't fallen, but the air felt heavy with it. The village looked the same — stone houses, crooked fences, kids running barefoot through the dust.
But to Coker, it all looked fake.
Like a painting someone forgot to finish.
He walked with no direction. Just moving.
Every few steps, he'd glance behind him. Not because he was scared someone followed him but because he *felt* followed.
By eyes.
By whispers.
By whatever had opened its eye in the temple wall.
At the edge of the village, where the grass grew long and wild, he saw the old shrine again. No one came here anymore. The elders said it was cursed.
Coker sat on a stone, staring at the cracked wall.
"You still there?" he asked.
No answer.
He waited.
"I didn't ask for this," he muttered. "Whatever this is."
Still silence.
Then—a sound.
Not a word.
Not a voice.
A feeling.
Like the stone itself exhaled.
He felt it in his bones. In the back of his eyes. A vibration, like someone plucked a string deep inside him.
Then a whisper, not in the air—but in his mind.
"You were chosen… not by light… but by need."
Coker stood up, chest rising.
"Chosen for what?" he said.
**"To break what the gods built."**
His mouth went dry. He took a step back. "Why me?"
**"Because you were forgotten."**
The words echoed.
Forgotten.
He thought of his mother, gone. His father, missing. The villagers turning away. The way Mina smiled, even when the world tried to crush her.
"I'm not strong," he said quietly.
**"You will be."**
A flash.
His eyes burned. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head. Visions slammed into him like waves:
* A golden city, falling from the sky.
* A beast with three mouths, chained to a burning star.
* Children screaming as towers turned to ash.
* A throne made of bones.
And on it… him.
Older. Cold. Crowned.
Then it all vanished.
Coker gasped. His fingers were digging into the dirt. His nails had cut the ground. Blood ran down his hands.
The shrine was silent again.
No whispers.
No movement.
But something inside him… had opened further.
---
He didn't go home. Not yet.
He walked to the southern cliffs. The wind was stronger there. The trees leaned away from the edge, as if afraid to fall.
He stood at the edge and looked out at the misty fields beyond.
"What am I becoming?" he whispered.
Behind him, a voice answered.
"You tell me."
He spun.
It was Drell.
Of course.
"You keep popping up like a bad smell," Coker said.
Drell's face was harder today. No jokes. No smirk.
"You scare people," he said.
Coker raised an eyebrow. "Me?"
Drell nodded. "The shrine? That wall? We heard about it. Old man Grell says it was sealed for a reason."
Coker crossed his arms. "You spying on me now?"
"No," Drell said. "I'm warning you."
Coker took a step closer. "Last time you warned me, you threw fire at my face."
Drell didn't move. "That was before the dreams."
Coker blinked. "Dreams?"
Drell's voice dropped. "Cities burning. Chains snapping. A voice calling your name."
Coker's stomach twisted. "You too?"
Drell nodded slowly. "Others too. The gifted. The cursed. The ones close to magic."
Coker stared at him.
Something big was happening.
Not just to him.
To the world.
---
Back in the village, people talked more in hushed tones. They watched Coker from their windows. Some clutched talismans. Others prayed.
Elder Mora called a meeting that evening.
Only adults allowed.
Coker wasn't invited.
But he watched from the roof of the blacksmith's shed. Heard bits of the whispers:
"…his eyes were glowing."
"…it spoke from the wall…"
"…we should exile him…"
"…he's not normal…"
Coker slid down before they could see him. His face was blank.
He walked home slowly.
When he opened the door, Mina was waiting. She ran up and hugged him tightly.
"I don't care what they say," she whispered. "You're still my brother."
He held her close.
He didn't feel like he deserved it.
But he held her all the same.
---
That night, the dreams returned.
But not like before.
He was no longer watching the fire.
He was standing *in* it.
And he wasn't alone.
A woman floated before him. Her skin was made of smoke. Her hair was rivers of flame. Her eyes held galaxies.
"You carry it," she said.
"Carry what?" he asked.
"The hunger."
She reached out and touched his chest. A pulse shot through him, and the stars above *screamed*.
"The world will try to break you," she said. "Because it fears what you might become."
He looked down.
Chains wrapped around his arms.
But they were cracking.
One link…
Two…
Three…
Then a *snap*.
The sound echoed through the dream.
Through the mountain.
Through the bones of sleeping gods.
And far below the world, in the dark place where the first curse was made…
The last seal broke.
A voice rose like thunder:
THE DEVOURER WALKS.