The Death of Riven, The Birth of Levin
"Ah… damn it all… even my dreams aren't mine anymore. That devil is everywhere."
I leaped from my bed, my skin slick with a cold, sickly sweat. The room was oppressive in its silence. I looked toward Darel's usual spot, but he was gone. A sudden, jagged spike of panic pierced my chest. "I feel it… something is wrong. Did something happen while I was lost in that abyss?"
I ran outside, my eyes darting through the morning mist, searching for a sign of life, a sign of him. The training ground was empty, the wooden swords lying like discarded bones. Just as I was about to spiral into a frenzy, a faint, rhythmic sound drifted from the back of the garden.
I moved toward it, my footsteps silent. Darel was there, kneeling in the dirt, his hands fumbling with herbs and old tools.
"Shh! Old man, what are you doing out here in the dark?" I called out, my voice sharp with a mixture of relief and irritation.
Darel startled, his shoulders tensing before he turned with a calm, practiced smile. "Ah, Riven… it's nothing. Just preparing." But as he stood, his smile faded, replaced by a gravity that made my stomach churn. "We need to talk. Truly talk. Come inside."
I followed him, the air between us feeling heavy, charged with the electricity of an approaching storm.
"Sit," Darel instructed. I sank into the chair, the wood creaking under my weight. He took a deep, steadying breath, looking at me not as a teacher, but as a man delivering a sentence.
"Riven, I'll be direct. You must leave this city. Tonight."
I shot up, the chair clattering behind me. "What?! What kind of nonsense is this?! After everything, you're just throwing me away?"
Darel's gaze was an unyielding wall of stone. "You… are cursed, Riven. And this city, these people… they are starting to see the shadow you carry. It's no longer safe. One day, very soon, the authorities will find you. And when they see what lives behind your eye… they will execute you without a second thought."
My hands began to tremble, the fire in my left eye pulsing in sync with my racing heart. "No… this is the only home I have left! I can't just leave you here to face them alone!"
Darel stepped forward, placing a firm, heavy hand on my shoulder. His voice dropped to a whisper, thick with a hidden sorrow. "We will meet again, child. I promise you that. But to survive, you must shed the skin of the boy who died in that village. From this moment on, you are no longer Riven. Your name… your shield… will be Levin."
"Levin…?" The name felt strange on my tongue, like a mask that didn't quite fit.
"Go to Vellan City," Darel continued, his voice resolute. "Search for a guild known as the Nail of Gaçe. Others like you—those marked by fate, the cursed ones—find sanctuary there. You will find your answers among them."
At that moment, a dark, oily echo stirred in the back of my mind. The Demon's voice slithered through my thoughts, dripping with a sickening amusement: "Hah! Even the place he sends you to... how fitting, Levin."
I sank to the floor, my strength deserting me. I held my head in my hands as hot tears finally broke through, streaking down my face. "Fine… I'll go…" I whispered, the words tasting like ash. "Farewell… Darel."
Darel knelt beside me, his hand resting gently on my head, a final gesture of a father who was losing his son for the second time. "May your path be clear, and your heart stay cold… Levin."
The air in the cabin felt charged with silent promises and the crushing weight of destiny. Outside, the wind howled through the garden, but inside, a quiet, fierce determination began to take root in my heart—a fire kindled in the deepest shadows, ready to burn through whatever trials lay ahead in Vellan.