The orange glow of the setting sun started to dip behind the jagged mountain peaks. Vaelen stopped running. He looked at the long, stretching shadows that the trees cast. His heart hammering against his ribs.
In this world, night was not merely a time for sleep. Night was a time filled with warnings. His parents had told him stories since he was small enough to crawl. They spoke of things that crawled out from the cracks in the earth when the sun went away.
Demons and monsters were not just made-up stories meant to scare children into behaving. They were real. Some stories mentioned tall, spindly figures that could snatch a man right off his porch. Others told of beasts that did not just kill.
They took people away to dark places. They tortured them for reasons that no human could ever understand. Some were said to eat the very shadows of their prey before consuming their flesh.
Vaelen looked at the darkening forest. He felt a chill that had nothing to do with the evening breeze. He turned and sprinted the rest of the way to the cottage. His boots thudded against the dirt. He reached the heavy oak door and burst inside.
The smell hit him right away. It was a rich, savory aroma that filled every corner of the room. It was his favorite meal.
His mother was cooking Sun-Root stew with thick slices of salted wild boar. The scent was salty and earthy and sweet all at once. It felt like a warm hug for his nose.
Ann looked up from the bubbling pot. Her red hair was tied back with a simple leather cord. She wiped her hands on her apron and smiled.
It was a bright and genuine smile that made the fear of the night outside disappear.
"There you are," she said softly. "I was about to send your father out to find you. Did you have fun with the others?"
Vaelen grinned. He felt a surge of happiness. "Yes! Jace almost dropped the potato three times. I won the last round."
"That's my boy," a deep voice boomed.
Garrick stepped out from the back room. He had washed the sawdust from his arms. He walked over and scooped Vaelen up into a massive hug.
Vaelen felt the rough fabric of his father's shirt and the strength in his arms. It made him feel like the safest person in the world.
"You're getting heavy, Vaelen," Garrick laughed. He set the boy down but kept a hand on his shoulder. "Tomorrow is a big day. Do you know what tomorrow is?"
Vaelen looked up. His purple hair was a mess. "My birthday?"
"Your ninth birthday," Garrick corrected with a wink. "We are going down to the town in the morning. We need to pick up some supplies for the winter. But I was thinking... maybe we could stop by the merchant's stall. The one with all those dusty old books you like."
Vaelen's eyes lit up. He felt a spark of pure excitement in his chest. "Another book? Really?"
"Really," Garrick said. "You're a smart lad. You need more to read than those three tattered things you've already memorized."
Ann stepped toward them. She placed a hand on both of their backs. "Enough talk of the town for now. Sit down. The stew is ready and the bread is hot. Come and eat before it gets cold."
They sat at the small wooden table. The candlelight flickered. It cast soft shadows on the walls. They talked about the village and the crops. Garrick told a joke that made Ann laugh until she had to wipe her eyes.
Vaelen listened to them. He felt a deep sense of belonging.
When the meal was done, the house grew quiet. The fire in the hearth burned down to glowing embers. Vaelen climbed into his small bed in the corner of the room. He pulled the thick wool blanket up to his chin. It was scratchy but warm.
He stared up at the wooden ceiling. The room was dark, but he could still see them. The particles. They were floating in the air. They drifted like tiny, glowing blue sparks.
They did not seem to care about the dark. They just hummed with a light he could only see with his eyes closed halfway.
'They're so pretty,' Vaelen thought.
He reached out a hand. He tried to grab one, but it slipped through his fingers like smoke. They always followed him. They were like silent guardians that only he knew about.
He watched them dance until his eyelids grew heavy. He drifted off to sleep with a smile. He was thinking about the book he would get tomorrow.
A sharp, piercing sound ripped through the silence.
Vaelen snapped awake. His heart was racing. He did not know what time it was. The room was cold. The fire in the hearth was completely dead. The air felt heavy.
"Aaaagghhh!"
It was a scream. It was high and full of a terror Vaelen had never heard before.
Vaelen scrambled out of bed. His legs felt like lead. He pushed open his door and stepped into the main room. The smell hit him first. It was the smell of old rust and wet copper. It was thick and sickening.
His eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight coming through the window. There was red everywhere. It was splashed across the walls. It was pooled on the floor.
"Mom?" Vaelen whispered. His voice was small. He was shaking so hard he could barely stand.
He walked forward. He saw a shape on the floor near the kitchen table. It was Ann. She was lying on her side. Her bright red hair was matted with something dark. There was a jagged, horrific gap in her stomach.
Vaelen ran to her. He fell to his knees. "Mother! Mother! What happened? Wake up!"
He reached out to touch her face. His hands were covered in the sticky, warm liquid on the floor. He did not understand.
Ann's eyes fluttered. She looked at him. There was no light in her eyes anymore. They were dull. She tried to move her lips. A small, bubbly sound came out of her throat.
"R-run," she choked out. It was barely a whisper. "Run... now..."
"Where is Dad?" Vaelen sobbed. "Mom, please. Where is Dad?"
Before he could finish his sentence, her eyes turned a flat, stony gray. A single tear rolled down her cheek. It left a clean trail through the blood on her face. Her hand went limp.
Vaelen stood up. He was numb. He heard a wet, tearing sound coming from outside. It was coming from the front porch.
He moved toward the door. He did not want to look. Every part of his brain told him to hide. But his feet moved on their own. He pushed the door open.
The moon was bright. It lit up the yard. Vaelen saw his father. Garrick was pinned against the side of the house. He was not moving.
Standing over him was a nightmare. It was a creature of shadow and scales. It was tall, with limbs that were too long for its body. It had three glowing, yellow eyes that pulsed with a sick light. One was in the center of its forehead.
The monster had its long, clawed hand buried deep inside Garrick's chest. It looked at Vaelen. It tilted its head. It let out a low, clicking sound that sounded like breaking bones.
Vaelen stared into those three yellow eyes.