Kael followed the girl through the crowded street, his wooden stick tapping lightly with every step. She kept looking back as if checking he was really still there. Her breaths were sharp, uneven, drenched in fear.
Her name was Alison.
She yanked him around a corner into a shadow-choked alley. A man lay there, cornered by four muscular thugs who stank of alcohol and power. Their boots were stained with arrogance. The merchant's fine coat was torn and his chin bled down his collar.
"Last chance, old man," a thug snarled. "Pay what you owe or say goodbye to your pretty little life."
"Nobody in this city messes with us," another hissed, proud of his dominance.
Alison grabbed Kael's cloak sleeve tighter. "Please," she whispered.
Kael stepped forward.
"Stop hurting him."
The thugs paused... and then laughed.
"A kid? You think we'll listen to a kid?"
One grabbed Kael's cloak. That was his mistake.
Kael slammed the stick forward, crushing the thug's nose with a crack that echoed across stone. The man collapsed, screaming.
The remaining three rushed him. Too slow.
Kael ducked beneath a swing, struck ribs, pivoted, cracked a knee, jabbed throats. He was a storm with a simple stick, his movements smooth and fast enough to whisper danger. The thugs hit the ground one after another, wheezing, confused how a teenager dismantled them effortlessly.
The merchant stared wide-eyed.
"You saved my life," he breathed.
He placed a hand on Kael's shoulder.
"Young man… what is your name?"
"Kael," he replied.
The merchant smiled through the blood. "Kael, if you are not busy, please come home with us. Let us thank you properly."
Kael tried to refuse. "I have work to do."
"Just one night," Alison urged, hope flickering in her voice.
Kael gave in. "Alright."
Inside the merchant's home, warmth exploded. Servants hurried. A noblewoman gasped and hugged her husband. The merchant introduced Kael proudly, and the room's judgment melted into admiration. Alison's cheeks slowly pinked whenever Kael met her gaze.
At lunch, the old grandmother asked gently, "What about your family, dear?"
Kael paused. Erik's face flashed in his mind.
"They were killed by thugs… during a raid."
The table fell quiet.
Sympathy filled the air like smoke.
The merchant broke the silence with a clap.
"What business were you on, Kael?"
Kael knew he could not reveal his divine mission.
"I was planning to head east… by sea. To earn my place in the world."
The merchant's eyes widened with approval.
"A bold and wise choice. The east is full of fortune!"
Later, Alison invited Kael to the lakeside garden behind the house. The moon's reflection rippled on the water like scattered silver coins. She spoke softly, asking about hobbies.
"Horseriding," Kael lied without thinking.
Her eyes lit up. "You love horses too? We should ride them tomorrow!"
Kael awkwardly nodded, not knowing the difference between reins and saddles.
When she asked about the stick he carried, Kael said gently, "It was my father's. I keep it close so I never forget him."
Reality: the stick was a disguised divine spear.
She talked about her favorite flowers, her dreams. Kael listened, an unfamiliar warmth pressing into his chest. He noticed a lone blue blossom growing between rocks.
He plucked it and handed it to her.
"A beautiful flower for a beautiful soul."
Alison blushed, eyes shimmering.
"You're sweet, Kael."
She asked his age.
"Eighteen," he said.
She smiled wider. "Nineteen. Just one year difference."
Kael tilted his head. "What did you say?"
"Nothing," she whispered, smiling at the lake.
That night at dinner, the merchant chuckled: "You two look perfect together."
Alison nearly dropped her spoon. Kael simply smiled politely, not understanding love's language yet.
He slept in a guest room, staring at the ceiling, thinking of Erik… his only family. Thinking of the mask fragment waiting for him. Thinking of Alison's eyes.
Morning sunlight slipped through curtains. After breakfast:
"Uncle, may I leave now?" Kael asked quietly.
The merchant sighed but nodded. "If you must."
Alison ran after him into the street.
"Kael!"
He stopped.
She stood beside the lake again, this time trembling.
"You're leaving me? You came into my life like hope… and now you'll vanish?"
Tears filled her eyes.
Kael gently wiped one away with his thumb.
"People come and go. Nothing is permanent."
"But… please not you."
Her voice cracked like breaking glass.
Kael stepped closer.
"I'll come back. After my task is done."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
She leaned forward and kissed him. A soft, trembling kiss full of fear and devotion.
"I'll wait until my last breath," she whispered.
Kael turned away before his heart made him lie.
"Goodbye, Alison."
Her voice followed him:
"You're in my mind forever."
Kael walked until the city disappeared behind hills. His spear turned back into its true golden form as the path narrowed into mountains again.
Soon, a massive shape blocked his way.
A Golem.
Tall as three men stacked. Metals layered like ancient armor. Moss clung to it like old memories.
Its voice rumbled:
"So you are the one."
Kael tightened his grip. "Where is the Forest of Mystery?"
"You seek it? Then earn the path."
A beam of divine light struck the Golem, transforming it into a mechanical beast: four metal arms, glowing laser eyes.
"Defeat me and pass."
The battle erupted.
The Golem swung fists heavy enough to crush boulders. Kael dodged left, rolled right. One hit slammed him into the ground. Dirt filled his lungs as he gasped.
Kael's staff was too weak.
He whispered the divine word.
The wood flared with golden light, reshaping into a spear.
Now Kael became lightning.
He slashed a metal arm clean off, but a blast from the Golem's laser eyes scorched the earth, flinging Kael back.
He spotted a sparking mechanism on the Golem's back.
The weakness.
Kael sprinted, leaped, grabbed the monster's horned head for traction, and drove the spear into the device with a roar.
The Golem collapsed and shattered like a fallen monument.
The earth trembled.
The barren valley behind it surged with life, exploding into trees, vines, and vibrant mist.
The Forest of Mystery had appeared.
Kael stepped inside.
Something was watching him.
Roots slithered, branches curled, eyes peeked from bark.
One ancient tree attacked first. Roots bound his arms, branches stole his spear. Kael struggled, trapped like prey.
Minutes crawled by. Rage ignited.
Kael ripped apart the vines with divine strength. His spear flew back into his grasp as if alive.
He fought through monstrous trees and shadow-creatures born from the soil. Until finally… the ancient tree appeared. Hollow. Dead. But a golden glimmer pulsed inside the trunk.
The mask fragment.
Kael reached.
A ghostly figure emerged, formed from mist and sorrow.
"Know this, Kael Valeryan. Power comes with pain."
The spirit leaned close, whisper cold truths in his ears.
"Erik did not die naturally. He was murdered.
Killed by thugs."
Kael's heart twisted into knives.
Thugs.
The same type he had just spared yesterday.
Hatred burned without mercy now.
The spirit receded.
And the fragment floated into Kael's palm:
a golden piece shaped like the mask's nose.
Two fragments united.
One left eye.
Now the nose.
His destiny was assembling itself… piece by piece.
Kael stepped out of the forest, spear at his side, rage in his eyes, and a promise in his heart.
He whispered into the wind:
"I'll return, Alison."
And under his breath, darker words formed:
"And I'll make every thug bleed for Erik."