I don't know why I walk here. My feet just drag me. The river's ahead. Fine. Whatever. Too quiet—like it's pitying me, and that only irritates me more. I crouch because my legs feel stupidly weak, and the water looks… clearer than anything I deserve. My reflection is worse than I expect. Good. No wonder everyone looks at me like I'm cursed.
Maybe they're not wrong. Maybe I ruin things just by existing.
Something falls—oh, it's me. Tears. Great. I drink anyway because my throat burns, and the cold helps my head for a second. When I dump the rest, something glints. A tiny flash between the stones.
A necklace? Why is it here? The chain's a mess. The stone looks… wrong. Black, swallowing light, speckled like a night sky. I shouldn't touch it, but my hand moves first.
My chest folds inward.
No warning. No sound. It just disappears.
I can't breathe. My fingers lock. My jaw clamps. The world flips—no, cracks—like the ground is yanked out from under me.
Then it stops.
Like nothing happened.
My hand burns. The stone lies on the ground as if it didn't just try to kill me. I'm shaking so hard it's pathetic. Magic? A curse? Whatever.
Relic shop. Yeah. Stupid idea, but the only place that might know. The bell detonates in my ears when I enter, and I hate how hard I flinch. I put the necklace on the counter.
The old man looks at me like I'm already guilty. I look down. My fingers twitch nonstop.
"Where did you steal this, boy?"
Of course. That's the first thing he says.
"I didn't steal it."
He hits me before my brain finishes forming a sentence. My ears ring. I don't even fight back. Why bother?
"Did you steal it?"
His breath is rotten.
"No."
He wants a different answer. He wants an excuse to throw me harder.
"I SAID I FOUND IT!" I snap without thinking. My stomach growls loudly right after—perfect timing. Embarrassing twice in a row.
He grabs my collar like I'm a stray mutt and screams me out of the shop. Fine. I'm already walking before his last "GET OUT!" stops echoing.
I climb the village hill. Same wind, same sea, same annoying trees. I sit. I wait. For what, I don't know. Hunger bites, but I've had worse.
I must fall asleep because the ground slams me awake.
An explosion. Smoke. Fire rising from—no way. The relic shop?
The place collapses in minutes. Charred wood, sparks, heat—then something glints in the ash.
The crystal.
I don't think. I tie it around my neck. I leave. I grab my cloak on the hill and go. No one is going to call my name anyway. It feels like I don't even have one. Anymore.
Night shows up fast. Hunger faster. The water tastes strange but I drink because I'm too tired to choose. My body folds in on itself again. Pain everywhere.
I'm probably going to pass out. Again.
Something touches me. Wet? Soft? Sniffing? Great. I'm dying and some animal's checking if I'm worth eating.
I open my eyes. A small cat? Seriously? It looks at me like I'm boring, then walks to the river. Tail up. Hunting mode.
I make a pathetic noise as it dives in and comes back with a fish.
It sits and eats, ignoring that I might die right next to it. I reach out—instinct or desperation—
It snorts without looking at me.
Fine. Message received.
I sit up. Something shifts inside me. A thought—weak but there. I can do it too. Maybe. Somehow. I grab a stick. A knife.
A spear. Ugly. Doesn't matter.
I step into the river. Cold. Knees shaking. The cat watches now, like it knows I'm going to fail.
Whatever. Just one fish.
The current goes quiet. Or my mind does. My vision… stretches? Bends? I can see around the bend of the river what's coming. The shadow of a fish twisting in water I'm not supposed to see through.
What—why—how—
They're close.
Hold.
Hold.
Now—
I drive the spear down.