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Arc 1 - Blind Faith
Blind Faith - The Canvas
Written by - Ellien S. Vorein
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The woman blew into her cigarette.The fumes drifted upward, painting thin ghosts across the ceiling before fading into nothing.
She pressed the burning tip into the tray — a sharp hiss breaking the stillness — as a man cupped her face with quiet possession.
"Hey," he asked softly. "I have a question."
She blinked, slow and calm. Her lips curled into a faint, practised smile.
"Do you love me?"
The question hung in the air — light, fragile, almost kind.
She laughed under her breath, as if the answer were obvious.
"Love you? Of—"
But before the words could finish, a memory forced its way in.A boy — silver-haired, bruised, eyes too old for his age.
His voice echoed through her mind:"I couldn't care less if Athena herself loves you."
The cigarette trembled between her fingers.She hid it behind her back, forcing a smile that barely held together.
"Of course I love you," she said sweetly."You are my lord — my everything. Without you, I am absolutely nothing."
He smiled, satisfied.She didn't.
The man rose from his chair and slipped on his golden rings. He smelt rich — like perfume and power.
"I'm going to get some air," he said, buttoning his coat. "Excuse me, I react poorly to smoke."
She bowed her head. "Yes, my lord. I apologise."
***
He descended the marble stairs, surrounded by light — luxury carved into every inch of the house.Brick and metal. No wood anywhere. Nothing that could burn.
Outside, a man brushed past him by accident.The rich man turned, eyes narrowing, and shoved the passer-by to the ground.
The man on the ground scrambled up, muttering an apology. His clothes were torn, his face unshaven. There was no light in his eyes.
The rich one sneered.
"You are filth."
The words came like poison.
"You really think an Abyntian like you belongs in Landros?"He spoke with disgust so sharp it almost sounded like nausea.
"You're nothing more than a curse.""A leech.""Absolute dirt."
- - -
Kairo chewed on a piece of stale bread.The crust cracked between his teeth.
Elyra tilted her head."Do you not want butter?"
He responded quietly,"No."
She looked a bit concerned.
He asked,"Do you want any?"
She didn't say yes or no.She looked closer instead,then used her hand to knock the loaf.
It was hard — like a door.
"You sure you don't want any butter?It doesn't look very tasty," she said.
Kairo, mid-bite, paused.He looked at the bread.
"In Lagos... this was home."
A small laugh escaped him — tired, but real.
"No matter how much I resented the people or the place,I can't abandon the last thing that reminds me of warmth."
He saw it —the wooden hut, the candlelight,his father's voice breaking the quiet.
Two plates between them.The same kind of bread — stale,but shared like it was everything.
Elyra spoke softly."Home… huh."
She thought for a moment,her gaze falling to the floor.
"Kairo, do you think...Do you think I could ever find my home?"
Her tone trembled —not from sadness,but from something deeper.
Emotions she didn't understand welled up inside her.Her eyes shimmered faintly,as if she was about to cry without knowing why.
Kairo tapped his finger lightly against the wooden chair."I'm sure you will."
He tried to lighten the moodby knocking on the loaf —just like she had earlier.
Elyra blinked, then smiled faintly."It's hard like a shell, huh…"
"Yeah," he replied.
She stared at it for a moment,then tilted her head again.
"Do you think weavers would..."She stopped her tongue."Taste good?"
Kairo looked at her — confused, then slightly amused."Weavers?"
She nodded, completely serious."They fly so fast, I always wondered what they'd taste like."
For the first time that night,Kairo let out a quiet laugh —short, surprised, and real.
"Yeah," he said, still smiling faintly."Their claws are also sharp.You could probably use them as skewers —put cooked fish on them."
He almost laughed again as he said it,a small smile breaking through his usual calm.
Elyra's eyes widened.She stood up suddenly, grinning,almost slamming the table in excitement.
"Oh! And I bet their shells would taste far better than that bread with butter!" she said proudly.
Kairo laughed — a real laugh this time.The sound filled the small room,soft and warm against the quiet night.
Kairo stopped mid-motion,his hand still resting on the table.
When was the last time I've spoken to someone like this?
Not orders.Not warnings.Not whispers behind his back.Laughter.Jokes.A meal.
With someone who wasn't his father.
He sat there for a moment,staring at the half-eaten bread in his hand,and realised how foreign it felt —to be treated like a person.
Kairo sat in silence as he noticedthose in the inn staring —not at Elyra,but at him.
Elyra placed her hand gently over his."What's wrong?" she asked.
He jolted slightly."Just was thinking about home... that's all."
The whispers around them grew louder.
"She must be a bull wearing a mask under those clothes.""What's she doing — sharing a meal with an Abynt?"
Kairo's eyes twitched faintly.His hand pressed harder against the table,his black sleeve grinding against the wooden surfacewith a low, rough scrape.
"I'm tired after that battle with the weaver.I'm gonna go for a walk — get my blood flow going."
He stood up, walked away,and opened the door.
Outside, it was pitch black,yet he could hear nature wide awake.
The moonlight reflected against the grass,still fresh from the earlier rainfall.
He gritted his teeth.
A soft, tender hand touched his arm.He turned.
Elyra.Her pink, light hair — shoulder length —almost prettier than the moonlight itself.The illumination caught on her pale skin,on her ice, arctic eyes.
"You're not a good liar," she said.
Kairo gently knocked her hand away —not harshly, just enough to break contact —and stepped forward,turning his back to her.
He couldn't bring himself to look at her.His gaze burned into a tree in the distance.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You…"She stopped her tongue."What's bothering you?"
He sighed."That magic you used — if it wasn't for that,I wouldn't have been able to kill that weaver.Thank—"
"What's bothering you?"
She interrupted softly,gripping his shoulder,slowly turning him to face her.
He resisted slightly —his muscles tense,his breath was unsteady.
"What..."His voice trembled, barely audible."Why do you care."
The question hung in the air —quiet, fragile, and so unlike him.
Elyra blinked,her lips parting as if to speak."Why won't you te—"
"What would that change, huh?"
His tone sharpened — not loud,but heavy enough to silence the night around them.
"You're just gonna do the same thing.""The same shit everyone else does."
She froze,startled by the sudden shift in his voice.
"What?Just like everyone else, you're gonna look at me,be scared of me,run away,treat me like some—"
She cut in softly,"Treat you like what?"
Kairo's jaw tightened.His tongue caught on the words.
"A parasite… a curse."He bit his tongue saying it.
"Kairo…"Her voice was small — sad,fragile like glass."Don't you understand…"
He paused.The air changed.The wind stopped.Nature held its breath.
Voices — faint, overlapping —pushed through the silence.
That boy's cursed.Don't look at him.Keep your children away.He's not human.His mother left for a reason.Abynt.
They layered over each other —hundreds of memories all speaking at once.Laughter. Spit. Doors slamming shut.
Every word he ever swallowedpounding in his skull.
He clutched his head,breathing harder, faster,each inhale louder than the last.
"I'm…"His voice cracked."A—"
A heartbeat of silence.
"An Abynt."
Those words echoed into the night sky.Everything went still.
The birds stopped chirping.The grass stopped moving.Even the moonlight seemed to fade for a moment.
"Kairo…"
"Huh...what's that?"
His eyes widened slowly.His hand began to shake.
"Did you... just say what I thought you said..?"
She tilted her head slightly."What's a... Abynt?"
Kairo dropped to his knees.The sound was soft — almost weightless.
He stared at her face,the moonlight resting on her hair,as she stood before him.
He began to laugh — slowly,almost hysterically.The sound cracked,uneven and hollow.
"What do you mean?" Kairo said,his voice breaking,his breathing sharp and uneven.
He was hyperventilating.
"Don't give me that s—"The words stumbled out again,shaking, desperate.
But before he could finish,he felt it.
A warm embrace.
Her small, tender body pressed against him.Her arms — fragile, yet certain.She smelt like violets.Her skin was soft.She felt warm,yet somehow cold.
Kairo's heart raced.It was a hug that wasn't too tight,yet wasn't too light either.Just enough.
"Kairo," she said quietly."I don't know what that is.Could you... tell me?"
Her voice trembled,but not out of fear.
"I don't know why your heart feels so torn,why you're so mad,why you're shaking."
He couldn't speak.Not a word left his mouth.
She held him a little tighter."It's okay."
As he lightly laid his head on her chest,everything changed.
Elyra's warmth vanished.
The world around him was different.
A broken, country-sized sword towered in the distance —snapped in half, buried deep in the earth.
Rubble stretched for miles.Buildings crumbled into the horizon.People ran, shouted, screamed,but there was no sound.
Everything was black and white.So grey.So empty.
Kairo stood slowly,his breath visible in the still air.
He took a step forward —towards a child crying beneath the shadow of falling debris.
A massive fragment of stone was about to crush them.
He reached out his hand—
—and suddenly, colour returned.
Elyra's warmth came rushing back.Her scent — faint, like violets — filled the air again.
He was still there,his head resting gently against her chest,his hands gripping her waist tightly.
What was that...Have I been there before...
He held her tighter unknowingly.
Her heartbeat —real, human, alive.
Elyra flinched slightly, her cheeks red."It... kinda hurts," she whispered.
The wind remembered how to walk.The night exhaled.