---
The village of Duskmoor crouched beneath the cliffs like a secret — grey roofs hunched low, the trees pressing in as if to hide it from the world. Cold mist clung to the paths like memory, and no one spoke names too loudly.
That made it perfect.
For fugitives, for runaways… and for a boy who should have died.
Kael and Elenore lived in a half-collapsed shack on the northern edge — a forgotten place for forgotten people. The roof leaked. The wind slipped through the planks. But it was hidden, and it was safe.
For a time.
---
Kael did what he could to live simply. He carried wood. Hauled water. Fixed whatever the old villagers brought to him. He didn't speak much, and they didn't ask.
And every night, when the cold settled in, he sat by the small fire and tried to understand Ashuru — the being inside him.
> "You knew they were coming, didn't you?" he asked one night, staring into the flame.
Silence.
> "You haven't told me anything. Not where you came from. Not why you're here."
Ashuru's voice was distant, like thunder across mountains.
> "I was summoned. That is all that matters."
> "By me?"
> "By something weaker than you."
Kael didn't know what that meant.
And Ashuru never explained.
---
Elenore moved through Duskmoor like a ghost. She worked, traded, listened — always alert, always quiet. She never strayed far, and she never left Kael unguarded. He knew she slept with one eye open. He'd seen her sharpen the same dagger every morning, fingers steady.
One evening, Kael returned from the stream and found her holding something.
A small necklace. Leather cord. A smooth wooden bead at its center.
> "What's that?" he asked.
> "Something I made long ago," she said, standing. "Didn't think it had a purpose. Not until now."
She stepped close and tied it around his neck.
> "It's not enchanted. Not special. But I want you to wear it."
> "Why?"
She hesitated. Then looked him in the eye.
> "Because when I'm gone, I want you to remember… someone believed in you."
Kael didn't know what to say.
So he said nothing.
But he wore it every day after.
---
The trouble came in whispers.
Elenore returned one dawn with blood on her sleeve.
> "Three bounty hunters," she said flatly. "Camped near the southern ridge."
Kael stood. "Do they know we're here?"
> "No. But they're hunting someone."
He didn't ask who.
That night, she didn't sleep.
Neither did he.
---
The first assassin came just before midnight.
Kael woke to the crash of wood and a flicker of flame outside.
He burst from the shack — too late.
One body already lay in the dirt, throat cut. Elenore stood over it, blood on her blade, chest heaving.
> "They came for you," she said. "I killed one."
Then the second attacker lunged from the trees.
Elenore blocked — but she was slower. Weakened. The blade slipped under her ribs.
Kael screamed and rushed forward, but she collapsed.
> "No… no—Elenore—!"
She forced the dagger into his hands, her fingers stained red.
> "Don't run," she whispered. "Fight."
Her breath hitched. Her grip loosened.
And then she was gone.
---
Kael rose slowly, the dagger in his fist.
The remaining two assassins stood at the edge of the clearing, blood still dripping from their weapons.
They didn't see a threat.
Just a grieving boy.
But the boy was already gone.
> [Emotion Threshold Exceeded…]
[System Lock Removed.]
[Nexis Core Recognized.]
[Initiating Merge Sequence…]
[Ashen Sigil — Second Stage Unsealed.]
[Ashen Eye Active.]
[Ability 1: Nexis Perception | Ability 2: Foresight Instinct (Predictive Tracking)]
Kael's eyes snapped open — glowing with silver fire.
No sigil flared behind him. But the light in his gaze — the Ashen Sigil — burned with truth and fury.
The world around him slowed.
He could see their breathing patterns. Read the twitch in their knuckles before they moved. The moment one assassin lunged, Kael stepped into the attack, dodging by inches — guided not by reflex but by sight.
He drove Elenore's dagger into the man's ribs.
Twisted.
The body fell.
The last assassin backed away in horror. "What are you?"
Kael said nothing.
He moved again — faster, sharper. He feinted left, then swept low. The assassin blocked — but it didn't matter.
Kael had already seen it coming.
He struck cleanly — blade into throat, and the forest fell silent.
The system pulsed.
> [Combat Complete.]
[Two High-Rank Targets Eliminated.]
[System Integration: 93%]
[Nexis Armor – Onyx Variant Unlocked.]
[Item Stored in Inventory.]
[Ashen Sigil Eye — Stage Two Fully Stabilized.]
Kael stood alone.
Breathing hard.
Eyes burning.
Ashuru's voice curled into his mind again — distant, almost reverent.
> "So this… is your beginning."
Kael didn't answer.
He turned and walked back to Elenore's body.
He knelt beside her, placed the dagger in her hand, and untied the necklace from his neck.
He wrapped it around her fingers.
> "You saved me."
> "And I failed you."
> "But I swear… I'll never let fate decide for me again."
The trees whispered.
The wind fell still.
And in the glow of his eyes, something new was born — not vengeance.
But resolve.
---