The crimson moon hung low in the sky, casting its sinister glow across the jagged plains. From a distance, the ruined temple behind Rey looked like a grave marker in a forgotten land—its secrets buried, its silence unbroken.
But something inside Rey had awakened.
The whisper had not returned, but its presence still lingered—coiled in the back of his mind like a serpent waiting to strike.
He tightened his grip on the jagged tooth-blade. The makeshift weapon still bore dried blood from the half-human monster he had killed days ago. Its edge was crude, but sharp, and Rey had started to understand how to use it—not as a sword, but as an extension of his survival.
Each swing, each parry—it wasn't just fighting.
It was instinct.
---
Rey crouched beneath a rocky outcrop, watching from afar. A herd of hulking, reptilian beasts lumbered through a valley below, their thick, spiked hides dragging across the dead earth. But they weren't his target.
He had seen something else. Something faster. Smarter.
A shadow.
It darted between the monsters, cloaked in pitch-black skin and elongated limbs. It had no eyes, but it moved like it could see everything.
Rey knew it was stalking.
Not prey.
Him.
---
He didn't run.
He stood up.
And waited.
Seconds passed.
Then it came.
The creature lunged from the left, slicing through the air with clawed arms. Rey ducked, rolled, and slashed upward. The blade struck flesh, but it wasn't enough to kill.
The monster hissed, a guttural sound like metal grinding on bone.
Rey grinned.
> "Let's end this."
---
The battle wasn't clean. It wasn't glorious.
It was raw.
Desperate.
Rey bled. His arms burned. The creature's claws tore into his side.
But in the end, he stood over its body, chest heaving, covered in blood—his and the beast's.
And as he looked down at the body, something caught his eye.
A metal shard embedded in its chest.
He pulled it free.
It wasn't metal.
It was bone—polished, curved like a fang, and carved with symbols far older than language.
Something deep within the ruin had already branded Rey with questions he couldn't answer.
This… felt like the first piece of an answer.
---
That night, he shaped the tooth into a spear tip.
Using remnants of hide and bone, he reinforced the shaft with bindings. He sharpened the blade with broken stones, working by moonlight until the edge shimmered faintly red.
When it was done, he stood silently, holding the weapon in both hands.
> "This world gave me nothing."
> "So I'll take everything."
---
At dawn, Rey walked toward the horizon.
The temple faded behind him.
The next ruin loomed ahead, its shape like a claw gripping the land.
Rey's journey had changed.
He wasn't just surviving anymore.
He was evolving.
---