The wind carries the scent of burnt earth. I pass by a village that seems to have been deprived of sunlight for years. The wooden roofs are broken, the walls are covered in mud, and the people's eyes reflect not light, but shadow. I slow my steps. A sound rises from the central square. A crowd has gathered around a fire, and children peer out from behind the arms of their elders. The sounds of screams, laughter, and fear are intertwined. My curiosity blooms. I move closer without anyone noticing me.
It's a play. A man with a painted face shouts:
"They say that before the world knew light or darkness, it only knew the scent of blood. Every corner of the earth was filled with pain, filled with death. And all of them only sought one thing: dominion. Everyone wanted the world beneath their feet, and so war, blood, and famine followed. It reached the point where even the earth had nothing left to give. The people, tired of all the suffering... prayed. They gazed at the sky with all their might and begged the gods for salvation."
He pauses. The flames dance in the eyes of the audience.
"And at that moment... God, or whatever lies above, heard their prayer.
From the light, a child was born.
Zohar. The child of light. The savior.
But darkness was not idle. It waited in the shadows, hid itself... and came to earth with Zohar."
The man's voice rises.
"Axis! The embodiment of darkness! An enemy that no one could defeat. The war began again. But not between humans. It was a battle between two powers no one could stand against.
A fierce battle took place between them, but in the end, Zohar emerged victorious... or perhaps he thought he had won.
He could not kill Axis. He defeated her, but he couldn't destroy her. He couldn't kill one who was created just like him.
But that was his first and greatest mistake.
At that moment, Axis opened her vile mouth and, using her demonic power, cursed Zohar.
A curse that continues to this day...
And then she disappeared.
No one knows whether she is dead or alive. Some say she is an ugly old woman living in the mountains, while others say she is a young woman, as beautiful as the moon, with eyes that no sunlight ever touches, and she survives by feeding on the blood of men.
The truth is, only God knows whether that sorceress's mortal body could last a thousand years or not..."
Children scream. A young woman, cloaked in black, leaps into the center of the scene:
"A sorceress was born from the darkness!
A woman with dark eyes and a heart of cruelty!"
The actor responds:
"But there is still hope! The child of light will return!
He will destroy the sorceress!"
The audience applauds. I stand alone at the edge of the crowd, my hands gripping the reins of my horse.
In silence, I watch the performance.
There is no light in the face of the man playing the child of light.
And the woman with the black cloak spinning in the middle... she's far too small to truly be dangerous.
But the crowd believes.
They want to believe that the one responsible for all this suffering is gone.
A laugh wells up inside me, but I hold it back.
I wish it were just a legend.
I wish she were truly dead.
But I know she's still alive.
She breathes. More dangerous than anything seen in this play.
And I...
I'm going to find her.
And when I do...
I will not hesitate to drive the knife into her heart.
The night is cold, and the silence heavier than ever. The mist devours the path. I sit on my black horse, the only sound breaking the silence is the pounding of its hooves. Each step is like the beat of my heart... determined.
There's nothing left in me but will; a will for vengeance.
My eyes search the darkness for a familiar face. A face I must destroy with my own hands. The horse gallops, relentlessly, just like me.
The wind plays with my cloak. The horse is restless, its breaths growing heavy. But I am not hesitant.
I know nothing of her; not her name, not her face, not whether she's human or a monster. I only know that I must stop her. She is a threat. To my land, to everything that remains.
My chest is full of something dark, a mixture of rage and fear. But I will not let it consume me. I must continue. I must... finish it.
I grip the reins tighter. And at that moment, the horse rears.
The world spins. My body is thrown from the saddle. The earth swallows me whole.
A brutal impact. A bone in my right leg breaks. Breath catches in my chest. The only sound I hear is the irregular beat of my heart.
I cannot move. Blood, hot and thick, flows from my thigh. My mind becomes hazy.
"No... it's not supposed to end like this..."
The voices fade. The shadows stretch. And my eyes close... maybe this time, forever.