Coker didn't sleep much that night. His body still felt strange,. Like something was moving under his skin, Something waiting to be awaken.
It wasn't just a feeling. It was deeper than that. It was like the world had changed, just a little. Like he was standing in the same place, but nothing around him was quite the same anymore.
He stared at the ceiling of his small, cracked room. The moonlight came through the broken wooden slats. The wind pushed in, cold and sharp.
He heard a whisper.
Or maybe it was just the wind.
When the sun rose, Coker got up, dressed slowly, and climbed out the window. He didn't want to see Mina yet. Not until he figured out what the hell was going on.
He walked through the village like nothing happened.
Same streets. Same cold wind. Same people looking at him like he was dirt under their shoes.
But this time, when they stared at him, he didn't feel small. He didn't feel weak.
He felt, wrong. Off. Like something inside him had changed in the night and was still emerging slowly.
He passed the school. Some of the younger kids were outside, throwing little magic into the air. Training. Laughing. One of them saw him and pointed. "Look! It's the rankless guy!"
The others laughed.
Coker didn't stop. Didn't blink.
But inside, something stirred.
A flicker. Like a match being lit.
Then, gone.
---
At the market, he passed a fruit stand.
A woman selling apples saw him and quickly pulled her basket away.
"No touching," she said. "I don't want my apples to rot."
Coker gave a dry smile. "Don't worry. I can't afford one anyway."
He kept walking.
Behind him, he heard someone mutter, "Waste of space."
He paused.
Just for a second.
A memory hit him.
Last winter. Standing in line for food.
A guard knocked the bowl from his hands.
"Only for real mages," the guard said. "Get lost, rat."
He hadn't eaten that night. Or the next.
The hunger had felt like knives in his belly.
That same hunger burned now.
But not for food.
---
Back at home, Mina was sweeping the floor with a broken broom. Her face lit up when she saw him.
"You left early," she said.
Coker nodded. "Just went for a walk."
She looked at him closely.
"You look different," she said. "Tired. Or… not tired. I don't know."
He sat down. "Maybe I'm becoming a ghost."
She smiled a little, but her eyes didn't.
She went into the kitchen and brought out a small piece of bread. It was hard, but warm.
"Eat," she said.
He took it.
"You don't think I'm cursed?" he asked.
"No," she said, without even blinking. "You're just… something else."
Coker looked at her.
He wanted to believe that.
More than anything.
---
Later that day, as the sky turned pale gold, Coker walked near the edge of the village. The wind was colder here.
The air felt thicker.
He was going to head home… but then it happened.
A sound.
A pull.
He turned down an alley. His feet moved before his brain could stop them.
His heart beat faster.
His hands were shaking.
He didn't know why.
"Boy…"
The voice was soft. But it was there.
Coker froze.
Looked around.
"...you finally heard me."
The voice was low. Like rocks grinding together. Calm. Old. Not human.
Coker turned slowly.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
He stepped forward.
The alley was quiet. Behind the broken temple wall, the stones were cracked and covered in green moss.
Something about the wall felt… alive.
Then one of the stones shifted.
A small black eye opened in the wall.
Coker jumped back, heart racing.
"What the—?"
The eye blinked.
It wasn't round. It had edges. In the center, something moved.
Like a worm swimming in ink.
"You were supposed to die forgotten," the voice said again. "But something inside you said no."
Coker stared at the eye.
His mouth was dry.
"Am I going crazy?" he asked.
"No. You're waking up."
Coker stepped back.
"Waking up to what?"
The voice didn't answer right away.
Then it said:
"The world forgot you. That's when I found you."
"I didn't ask for this," Coker whispered.
"No. But you survived. That was enough."
A pause.
Then:
"I watched you. All these years. Crying behind the barn. Sleeping in the dirt. Starving. And still breathing. That's when I knew… you weren't normal. You weren't meant to stay broken."
Coker's legs felt weak.
He turned and ran.
Didn't look back.
But even as he ran, he heard it.
The voice, soft and calm:
"You're almost ready."
---
That night, he lay in bed with his eyes open.
Mina was asleep in the next room.
The stars outside looked cold. Far away.
His heart wouldn't slow down.
His chest still felt heavy.
Like something inside was pressing out, trying to break free.
He closed his eyes.
And then the dream came.
---
Not a dream.
A vision.
He saw fire.
It swallowed mountains.
The ground cracked open.
The sky split in two.
The stars cried blood.
He saw people running.
Screaming.
Falling.
He saw great beasts made of smoke and bone.
He saw giant hands reaching down from the clouds, pulling people into the sky.
Then, in the middle of it all…
A man stood.
Tall. Silent. Eyes glowing white.
His body burned, but he didn't scream.
He held a weapon made of bones and stars.
Coker stepped closer.
The man turned.
It was him.
But not the boy.
This version of him looked like a god.
Or a monster.
Or both.
His voice shook the world.
"I am not your chosen one," dream-Coker said. "I am your punishment."
The earth broke under his feet.
The sky went black.
---
Coker woke up gasping.
Sweating.
His window was still open.
The night air was cold.
But something had changed.
He felt it in his bones.
In his blood.
The power wasn't sleeping anymore.
---
**Far away**, beneath the Forgotten Mountain…
An ancient seal cracked.
Chains snapped.
A shadow moved.
It opened one eye.
And smiled.
"He's beginning to remember."