Today I learned many words.Aida puts more and more effort into teaching me the language. I suppose that's good, but her always calm face unsettles me.How can they live like this, with those demons out there?
Every day Lyra comes closer.I think she's someone overly creative. She tries to provoke a reaction in me. I don't understand what she hopes to find, but she spends more time with me than Aida does.
That man… Thained.He watches me even when he isn't there. Sometimes I feel his cold eyes on me.
These past few days, the ground has been shaking a lot. Aida says it's normal in this part of the forest, but…it doesn't sound normal.It feels like the weight of something walking.The air is strange. Dense. As if it were charged with electricity… or with something I don't know how to name.
I no longer think about how to return.I had to accept my reality in this forest.
I still haven't left the property. There's a town down there—I can see it from certain points—but every time I try to explore, Aida stops me."You wouldn't want to see the lord angry," she says.Always with the same calmness.That calm is what frightens me the most.
I keep writing because I no longer know what else to do.I have limited myself to obeying.
"Hey, Lyra…" he said without looking at her. "When… I can… go out… town?"
The sentence came out broken, incomplete.The moment he finished saying it, he already knew it was wrong.
Lyra didn't answer right away.
She observed him calmly, resting her elbow on the table, as if she were evaluating more than just his words.
"Why do you want to go there?" she asked first. Then, without changing her tone, "And you say: 'When will I be able to go to the town?'"
She pronounced each word with precision, slowly, but without exaggerating. As if she expected him to correct it in his head.
Fares swallowed.
"When… will I be able… to go… to the town…?" he repeated, adjusting the sentence as he lowered his gaze.
His eyes drifted toward the table.Pages. Many of them. Repeated sentences. Crossed-out corrections. Words written over and over until they lost their shape.
Lyra approached without him noticing.
She took a blank sheet and wrote the correct sentence in clean strokes. Then, beneath it, she began separating the words one by one, marking their order.
"This isn't the same as what you said," she explained gently. "Here you're asking for permission. Before, you were just asking for something."
She pointed to each word as she spoke, without looking at him.
"This one indicates time.This one intention.This one respect."
Fares nodded in silence, memorizing not only the words but the rhythm, the exact way to say them.
Lyra set the pen aside.
"Try again," she said.
It wasn't a suggestion.It was an expectation.
The boy looked at her and tried again.
"When will I be able to go to the town?" he said slowly, glancing at her, hoping he had said it right this time.
Lyra smiled.
She didn't answer.
Instead, she reached out and ruffled his hair naturally, almost affectionately.
"Very good," she said, laughing softly. "Much better."
The question hung in the air, ignored.
Fares opened his eyes in surprise, then with genuine joy. He nodded several times, satisfied, repeating the correct sentence in his mind, memorizing each word as if it were a personal achievement.
"Keep it up," Lyra added. "You'll learn quickly."
At that moment, the door opened.
Aida entered with calm steps, carrying several sheets under her arm. When she saw Lyra, she inclined her head slightly.
"Good afternoon, Miss Lyra. You may rest now," she said in her usual serene tone. "I'll take care of the rest."
Lyra withdrew her hand from Fares's hair and stood up unhurriedly, as if the scene had already fulfilled its purpose.
Fares didn't notice.
He kept repeating the sentence in his mind.He had spoken correctly.
And that was enough.
The girl walked through the wooden hallways with a relaxed smile, very different from the one she showed in front of others. The place was familiar to her; there was no need for caution.
She stopped when she saw the room.
"Well…" she murmured. "Have you come to visit us so early?"
She entered without haste and leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms.
"Now that's new."
Thained raised his gaze when he heard her.
"You took a while to arrive," he said, with his usual seriousness. "You've really focused on fulfilling your duties."
Lyra let out a brief laugh.
"Of course," she replied. "You know how committed I am."
She stepped away from the frame and took a couple of steps inside, closing the distance between them.
"Though I admit seeing you this early is strange," she added, tilting her head. "What got into you this time?"
Thained watched her for a few seconds before answering.
There were things that could only be said between them.And others that didn't need to be said at all.
Aida set the pen aside and spoke in her usual tone, soft, almost didactic.
"And that's how passive sentences are used. I hope you start using them more often."
Fares nodded without looking up and continued writing.His hand moved carefully, but his mind was far away, always circling the same point: what he wasn't allowed to do.
Aida observed the page for a few seconds.
"You really need penmanship," she commented without reproach.
The boy looked up, confused.
"Penmanship…?"
"It's to write more neatly," she replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Fares lowered his gaze again, a little embarrassed.He hesitated.
The pen stopped.
"Aida…" he murmured without looking at her. "Why can't I go to the town?"
The silence wasn't immediate.It was measured.
Aida didn't answer right away. Not because she didn't know what to say, but because there was no rush.
She stood up slowly, walked around the table, and stopped at his side. From there, she looked out the window, toward the forest that descended into the valley.
"Not yet," she finally said.
She didn't explain further.
Fares frowned.
"But I already…" he stopped. "I can walk. I can talk a little. I wouldn't do anything bad."
Aida looked at him again.Her expression remained calm.
"That's not what it's about."
"Then… what is it?" he asked, his voice lower.
Aida tilted her head slightly.
"You wouldn't want to see the lord angry."
She said it without threat.Without emphasis.
Like a fact.
Fares felt a slight chill.Not because of the words, but because of the calm with which they were spoken.
"I understand…" he murmured.
He wasn't sure it was true.
Aida smiled gently and returned to the table, pointing at the sheet.
"Let's continue. You were doing well."
Fares picked up the pen again.
He obeyed.
The door opened without warning.
Aida was the first to react. She turned immediately and spoke with impeccable precision.
"Welcome, Lord Thained. It's a pleasure to see you again."
Thained entered without replying.
His gaze rested on her for only an instant. Aida smiled.
He looked away and directed his attention to the boy.
"Go outside, Fares."
It wasn't a raised command or a shout.Nor was it a question.
It was a verdict.
Fares's body reacted before his mind. He stood up at once, stiff, and began walking toward the door. He avoided looking at the man, but still felt his presence nailed to his back.
Just before leaving, the voice reached him again.
"Boy. Go to the place where we fought for the first time."
Fares didn't respond.
He nodded once and quickened his pace, disappearing down the wooden hallway.
The door closed.
Silence hung between them.
Thained looked back at Aida.
"You've done a good job," he finally said.
Aida inclined her head slightly, without losing her smile.
"Your word is law."
It didn't sound like obedience.It sounded like conviction.
"Present yourself tonight. I want to know everything," he dictated, holding her gaze.
The girl bowed in silence.
There was nothing more to clarify.
Thained turned calmly and began walking toward the place where he had sent Fares.
Fares was there, observing the landscape, while memories of the past ran through his mind.Time had passed, but he still couldn't fully erase those he had left behind.
His gaze traveled down the terrain, and unwillingly he remembered the moment Thained had defeated him without effort.
When he looked up toward the exit doors of the residence, a chill ran down his spine.
Something was watching him.
He straightened immediately and turned around.
There was the man, standing in front of the house, staring at him.
He said nothing.
He advanced slowly, eyes attentive, evaluative.
Fares felt the weight of that presence before he understood it.
"You felt it…" Thained murmured after a brief pause. "Perfect."
Fares didn't fully understand his words.The sound of his voice was enough to cut off any attempt at analysis.
"From now on, I will begin your training," he stated, looking directly into his eyes.
It wasn't a promise.It was an obligation.
The young man nodded in silence and looked away, unable to hold those unsettling eyes.
"We won't train only the body," he continued. "Our priority will be the Zau. Sit."
Fares obeyed without questioning. He sat down on the green grass.
The atmosphere tightened.
The air felt heavier, as if something invisible had stopped to observe them.
Thained didn't avert his gaze.
A doubt immediately arose in the boy's mind, inevitable:
What is Zau?
Fares looked up, curious, into Thained's eyes.
The man raised one hand.
It wasn't a rough gesture. It was precise.
The air changed.
A dense gas, similar to vapor, began to envelop Thained's hand. It didn't rise—it crawled, like contained fire.
Fares felt the heat before understanding what he was seeing.
His breathing quickened. His skin burned slightly, as if the sun were too close.
The vapor spread along the arm, then across the torso, surrounding the man's body with unsettling naturalness.
Thained didn't seem to exert any effort.
Fares opened his mouth. No sound came out.
"This is Zau," Thained stated.
The boy swallowed, unable to look away.
"Does this… exist?" he finally whispered.
His jaw tightened. He tried to calm himself, but his body didn't obey.
This is dangerous.
The gas continued to move around Thained's body, slow, controlled.It didn't seem dangerous.It seemed tamed.
"Starting today," he said, "you will begin to learn it."
Fares swallowed.
He didn't understand what it was.He didn't know how he could even touch it.
But something in Thained's voice left no room for doubt.
It wasn't a threat.
It was a direction.
Fares remained seated.
Without knowing why, he had the feeling that this moment wasn't only about surviving…but about something greater,something he still couldn't see.
END OF CHAPTER