WebNovels

Chapter 8 - Chapter 8 End and Beginning

The morning sky wrapped the world in a pale gray hue,

Thin rain fell upon the northern plain, dripping between weathered stones and wild grass bowing under the wind. The road was silent, marked only by the footsteps of a masked man walking without direction, his cloak fluttering softly like a shadow unwilling to fade.

Dex had been walking for days since leaving Millhaven,

No destination, no plan, He simply followed wherever the wind led him, gazing at a world that felt both foreign and familiar, full of life that kept moving even when everything seemed meaningless.

Sometimes, he stopped by small rivers and saw his reflection in the water,

The cracked mask reflected calm, emotionless black eyes, as though the world around him wasn't important enough to disturb their surface,

Yet deep within, something faintly pulsed, like an undying curiosity, like wind that refused to stop spinning.

---

By afternoon, he arrived at a low plain, where the trees grew crooked and mist hung low among their trunks. There he saw an old man sitting by the roadside, leaning against a broken cart with a shattered wheel. The man held a nearly empty bottle of water, his eyes gazing blankly at the sky.

Dex stopped, staring at him for a few seconds. "Broken cart?"

The old man smiled faintly without turning. "yeah maybe, but I broke first."

Dex said nothing,

Normally, he would've just walked away, But there was something in the man's tone, a strange calmness, like someone who'd long stopped hoping.

"If you sit there any longer," Dex finally said, "you'll rot before the wood does."

The old man chuckled, his cough sounded heavy. "Maybe that's what I want."

Dex didn't respond. He walked toward the cart's wheel, staring at the broken axle.

With one touch, he breathed a small gust of wind, The shattered wood pieces reattached, as if repaired by invisible hands.

The old man fell silent watching him.

"You, a mage?"

Dex merely shrugged. "Just call me a passerby who can't stand seeing ugly things on the road."

"haha funny," murmured the old man. "This world has many ugly things, but only a few bother to fix them."

Dex stood up again. "I didn't fix it, I just hate things that block my way."

They fell silent for a while,

The wind moved slowly, carrying the sound of insects and distant drizzle.

"Young man," the old man's voice was faint. "You walk alone, but your face looks like someone who's lost something."

Dex glanced briefly, but didn't answer.

He hadn't lost anything, because nothing could be lost from someone who owned nothing.

The old man continued, "I was like that once, Thought I could live peacefully by staying away from everything, But this world always pulls you back, no matter how far you walk."

Dex looked at him, his black eyes glimmering faintly behind the mask.

"Sorry old man I'm not staying away from anything, from the start I just walk," he said flatly, "and even if I was, wouldn't I just keep walking away then."

The wind blew, gentle but cold.

The old man only smiled, then looked at the sky turning red. "You'll understand someday, Kid, There are things even the wind can't blow away."

Dex watched him for a long while, then turned away, leaving the cart behind,

But among the sound of his fading footsteps, the man's cough grew heavier, until it stopped completely.

Dex didn't look back. He only whispered softly,

"At least you left with the sky above your head."

---

A few days later, Dex arrived at a small village called Elrow, standing by the edge of a vast lake.

Its water was calm, reflecting the moonlight like liquid glass. Along the village road, children ran with paper lanterns, laughing under the orange glow.

But in the quietest corner of that night market, a little girl sat under a bamboo roof, selling strange things atop a worn mat. In front of her was a wooden board that read:

[Charm Against Sadness,

2 Copper Coins]

Dex stopped, staring at the row of items,

Necklaces made of string, small painted stones, a dried leaf coated in wax, All of them seemed… useless.

"Charm against sadness?" he asked.

The girl nodded, her smile pure. "Yes! If you wear it, your heart won't be sad anymore."

Dex crouched, examining the stones closer. "And you're sure it works?"

The girl looked at him seriously. "I believe it, because my Mother said so. Everyone needs something that can stop them from crying."

The wind blew gently, rustling Dex's hair.

From her swollen, red eyes Dex could tell she cried often. He looked at her for a long while, then said, "And you? Have you stopped crying?"

The girl was silent for a moment. "Not yet, But I'll stop once enough people wear my charms."

Dex sighed softly,

He picked up one small stone and tossed two coins. "Alright, One for me."

The girl grinned widely, her eyes sparkling. "You'll be happy, Mister!"

Dex spun the stone in his fingers.

"Happy, huh?" he whispered. "That word, I haven't truly heard it in a long time."

As he walked away, the girl's voice echoed behind him.

"If your sadness comes back, talk to the ocean! My Mother said, the ocean loves bringing smiles to those who forget how to smile!"

Dex stopped for a moment in the middle of the road, staring at the moon reflected on the lake,

He clenched the small stone, staring at it in silence.

'The ocean that brings smiles, huh?'

a faint smile appeared on his lips.

---

The night grew deeper, The village fell asleep, and only the sound of crickets and the lake's whispering water remained.

Dex sat on the wooden dock, letting the wind softly brush his face.

'Humans,' he thought, 'always have a reason to keep walking, even knowing the end is empty, They create meaning, just so they don't break halfway through.'

He looked at his arm.

"And I," he murmured softly, "don't even have a reason to move, yet still I don't stop."

Moonlight reflected in his eyes, cold yet beautiful.

Rain began to pour hard, rippling the lake, and amid the splashing sound, Dex's voice was barely a whisper.

"This world indeed doesn't change, but maybe, the people within it are still interesting enough to watch."

He stood up, letting his black cloak flutter, then walked away from the lake.

The wind followed his steps, as if calling back a legend that refused to die.

And the next morning, the villagers of Elrow found the worn mat and the remaining charms.

A little girl lay breathless there, curled up cold among the small stones faintly glowing under the morning light, as if the wind that night had taken her away along with her story.

Dex closed his hand, and in an instant, the stone shattered into dust.

"again again"

---

Dex's steps continued north, through forests and mist, while his mind slowly sank back into silence.

He didn't know where he was heading, and perhaps didn't need to. The world was too vast to explain, yet small enough to make anyone lost within it.

But amid that mist, faintly, came the sound of a soft song from afar, a human song about time, regret, and prayers that never reached.

Dex paused for a moment, looking toward the direction of the sound.

He walked toward it, and the wind followed, carrying new whispers into a world that still kept turning.

More Chapters