I had not completely lost my senses that night. My mind was still working, though fear ran through my veins like fire. Slowly, carefully, I followed her from a distance, my heart pounding like a drum inside my chest. She walked ahead with graceful steps until she disappeared into the darkness of a cave. I hesitated, but curiosity and unease pushed me forward.
The moment I stepped inside, a dreadful atmosphere consumed me. The air was heavy, suffocating, and filled with a strange darkness that made my skin crawl. The walls of the cave seemed to whisper with unseen voices, and an unnatural chill spread through the place.
My eyes widened as I looked around. Countless stone statues stood frozen in silence. They were not ordinary sculptures—they were too detailed, too lifelike. It was as if these people had once been alive. Horror struck me when realization hit: they were indeed villagers, turned to stone.
And then I saw him.
A demon. His towering figure radiated a suffocating aura, thick with dark power. His eyes glowed like embers, his claws sharper than blades. With a single glance, I knew he was the one responsible for the curse. The villagers had fallen prey to his unholy magic, their lives stolen and bodies imprisoned in stone.
I could not understand if this was a nightmare or reality. My head spun. To test myself, I slapped my own cheek as hard as I could. Pain shot through my face, sharp and undeniable. From my mouth escaped a cry of pain—"Ahhh!" The sound echoed in the cave.
The demon's head turned.
He had heard me.
Panic gripped me like a vice. I dove behind a large rock, forcing myself to breathe as quietly as possible. The demon growled something guttural and harsh, a command to his underlings. At once, several armored soldiers marched out to search the area.
I pressed my back against the rock, praying to remain unseen. The soldiers' footsteps echoed closer, but their eyes slid past me. For a moment, I thought I had escaped. Relief trembled inside me—but it lasted only seconds.
A shadow crawled near my feet. I looked down, and terror spiked through me. A massive black spider crept along the stone, its legs twitching. I hated spiders more than anything. My heart hammered in my chest. Fear overcame reason, and I could not stop myself.
"Go away! Run! Get out!" I shouted.
The cavern fell silent. The soldiers froze. My voice had betrayed me. Slowly, they turned, their eyes locking on me. My hiding place was no longer a secret.
With no choice left, I bolted. My legs moved on pure instinct, carrying me away from the cave. Behind me came the clatter of armor, the shouts of the demon's soldiers, and the sound of their weapons striking against stone. They were hunting me.
Branches whipped against my arms as I sprinted into the forest. My lungs burned, but I dared not stop. I ran and ran until the darkness of the cave was far behind me. At last, I dove into the thick bushes, gasping for air. For a while, it seemed I had escaped their gaze.
But fate was cruel. One soldier's piercing eyes spotted me. He snarled and rushed forward, his blade raised high. Fear turned to desperation. I grabbed a sharp stone from the ground and fought back with every ounce of strength I had left. The struggle was fierce but brief. With a final strike, I brought him down. His body collapsed, motionless.
I trembled, staring at the blood on my hands. But there was no time to think. I turned and fled once again, pushing deeper into the forest. Night had fallen completely by then. To avoid discovery, I climbed onto a tall tree and remained there, hidden among the leaves. The night was long, haunted by the demon's roars and the whispers of the forest. Sleep never came to me.
When dawn finally broke, I descended and hurried to find my friend, Shivam. Relief washed over me when I saw him alive. But his expression was grave.
"Where were you all night, brother?" he asked, his voice sharp with worry. Then, with a heavy breath, he revealed what had happened. In the middle of the night, he had been attacked by a strange flying creature—small, but filled with dangerous power. The fight had lasted for hours, but Shivam had emerged victorious. And with his victory, he had absorbed the creature's power. His eyes gleamed as he said, "That strength now belongs to me. Whenever you need me, just call for me, and I will come. But you must tell me—where were you while I was fighting for my life?"
So I told him everything. About the girl's statue that had transformed into a living, breathtaking woman. About following her into the cave. About the demon, the cursed villagers, the soldiers, and the deadly chase. I even told him how I was forced to kill one of the demon's soldiers to survive.
By the time I finished, Shivam's eyes were wide with disbelief. "A demon with such terrible power…" he murmured. Then, slowly, a faint smile appeared on his lips. "At least we both survived. You witnessed the truth, and I gained strength. Brother, maybe destiny has chosen us for something greater."
I nodded, though unease gnawed at me. "Then what should we do now?"
"For now," Shivam said firmly, "we stay here. If we search carefully, perhaps we can uncover even greater powers. But first, we need shelter. Without one, wild beasts will tear us apart before the demon's soldiers even find us."
Together, we began our task. We gathered strong wood and thick bundles of grass. Side by side, we built a small hut, sturdy enough to protect us. Once the frame stood tall, we layered the roof with grass and planted small trees around it to camouflage our hideout. The place we chose was beautiful—surrounded by greenery, with a waterfall nearby that gave us fresh water and fish.
Day by day, we survived. In the mornings, we caught fish from the stream and roasted them over a fire. In the afternoons, we explored the jungle in search of new power. Strange beasts lurked there, some small, others massive. Some we captured, others we fought. Each time, victory gave us their strength. Slowly, we grew sharper, stronger, more dangerous.
The demon still haunted my thoughts, but one thing was certain—Shivam and I were no longer ordinary boys. Fate had drawn us into a battle far greater than ourselves. Our journey had only just begun, and the true war was waiting beyond the shadows.