Nox surfaced slowly from the dark, a dull ache throbbing behind his eyes. His body felt heavy, wrapped in warmth and the faint smell of old wood.
Above him, the ceiling beams loomed, aged, dark, and strangely familiar. For a dazed moment, he thought he knew them. The roof looked so much like the one from the house he grew up in, the same roof he opened his eyes to every morning.
A shaky breath left his lips. It was all a dream then. The fire, the beasts, the red haired man… maybe it was just a nightmare.
He almost let himself believe it. Almost.
Then a clang shattered the illusion.
A bucket hit the wooden floorboards beside him, water spilling cold against his side. Nox jerked at the sound, and the fog in his mind burned away. The memories came back sharp and merciless,the flames, the claws, his mother's silver hair clenched in that bastard's fist.
His chest tightened so hard it hurt. He turned his head.
Juro sat on the floor nearby, shirt torn and chest bandaged, his trembling hands reaching for the spilled bucket. His face was pale, streaked with soot and dried blood, eyes wide and glassy.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Then Nox rasped, voice raw and cracking,
"It… it wasn't a dream."
Juro's lips trembled. "No."
The weight of it hit them both at once. The fire. The screams. The people they loved, gone.
They broke.
Nox curled on his side, clutching his ribs, and Juro leaned against the wall. Their sobs filled the small wooden room, ragged and unrestrained. No words. Just grief spilling out until it left them shaking and empty.
A sound cut through the quiet, low, deliberate.
Someone cleared their throat from the hallway.
The boys froze, lifting their tear swollen eyes toward the doorway. A tall shadow stood there, framed in the dim lantern light.
The figure stepped forward. His boots creaked against the floor boards, and as the light caught him, Nox saw the face of a man with storm grey hair and eyes that seemed to carry the weight of thunderclouds.
Nox tensed, breath catching. "Who… who are you?"
Before the man could answer, Juro's hand found Nox's arm. His voice was hoarse, but steady.
"This is Raizen," he said. "The man who saved us."
Juro wiped the dry tears from his eyes and pushed himself up to face the man. It took some effort, his ribs ached with every movement. The stranger stepped further into the room, and the lantern light fell partly across his face, leaving the other half shadowed.
His hair wasn't long, but it draped around his neck and caught the light in striking silver-grey strands. He didn't look old,perhaps forty five at most, yet the color seemed almost deliberate, refined, like it belonged there.
Nox stared at him again. "Is he really the person who saved us?"
"Yes," Juro said. His eyes, though swollen, burned fiercely as he turned to Raizen. "He's awake now. So, I need you tell us what really happened? Why did everyone we ever knew have to die? "
Raizen's lips parted, but no words came. Instead, he exhaled a long, heavy sigh. He took a few steps back, leaning against the wall closest to the door, then slid down slowly until he sat on the floor.
The boys exchanged a confused glance, they didn't understand what he was doing.
Finally, Raizen spoke, his voice low and weighted. "Before I came to save you from your burning village, I was already fighting the leader of the beasts. The horned beast that attacked your home." He looked down briefly, jaw tightening. "I'm sorry I couldn't have done more, there are only three survivors."
Nox's head snapped up. "Three?"
Juro nodded faintly, but his eyes stayed fixed on Raizen.
"Yes," Raizen confirmed quietly. "You, Juro, and d your mother. I'm sorry I couldn't save anyone else.… I'm sorry I arrived too late."
Nox sagged back against the wall. His fists clenched until his knuckles whitened,his head bowed towards them. And hot tears slid down his cheeks.
"Why… why didn't you choose her instead of me?" his voice broke, ragged. "You should have saved her. I'm useless, I couldn't even save my mother. I just let that filthy bastard put his hands all over her…"
The room went quiet except for Nox's shaking breaths.
Raizen's voice cut through the silence like a blade. "To kill the horned beasts, you need to kill their leader."
Both boys looked up, startled.
"Their leader?" Juro asked. "How does that work?"
Raizen's storm grey eyes locked on them. "They're called Dreknars, so far we've identified sixteen species. Each time one is defeated, another eventually appears. Where they come from, we don't know. What we do know is that each new species is stronger than the last."
He leaned forward, his tone steady and grim. "Each species has only one true member, the multiplier. That one creates the rest. If you're able to Kill the multiplier, the others will die too.But the leader always hides so well, and if found the the others guard it fiercely."
"But at every full moon, their power multiplies greatly. It's also the only time they can heal injuries they've sustained before. The one that destroyed your village is still hiding in the forest near here. I expect at the next full moon, it will reveal itself."
He stood, the dim light gleaming faintly off his silver grey hair. "But before then, I can make you strong. Strong enough to face it. And fortunately, both of you possess the power of Iora, just like me."
The words hung in the air.
"So, at the next full moon… what do you say? Will you join me, in hunting down the beast?"
Nox's fists trembled. His voice burned with raw fury. "So you're saying I have to wait sixteen days to put my hands on those bastards? A chance at revenge? Refusing should be out the question."
Juro exhaled sharply and corrected him, "It's actually ten days."
Nox blinked. "I've been sleeping for ten days? What the hell?"
Juro sighed again,but this time in a disappointing tone."no it's been five days.
Nox scratched his head. Looking more confused.
Juro just rolled his eyes and massaged his head with his left hand while taking a deep breath.
For a brief moment, it almost felt normal their first almost casual exchange since Nox had woken.
Raizen shook his head with a faint sigh, pushing himself fully upright. "Well, since you've resolved yourselves ," he said, "training starts tomorrow."