The wind atop the northern ridge was colder than Hiroto expected. It bit through his clothes as if winter had arrived early, sending shivers up his spine. Beside him, Yui clung to his sleeve, her small body trembling from fear, exhaustion, and the chill rolling down the mountainside.
Behind them, the village still burned though now it was nothing more than a distant glow. The flames had dimmed, leaving behind black smoke that curled into the sky like a funeral banner. Every so often, a roof collapsed with a distant crash, carried faintly by the wind.
Hiroto had stopped looking back. Each glance made his stomach twist harder. Goro, the strange ronin who'd saved them, walked ahead with the same relaxed stride he'd shown while fighting. He was humming. Actually humming. As if they were on a casual midnight stroll instead of running from demon-eyed soldiers.
"Hey," Goro called without turning around, "if you two walk any slower, we'll be caught before sunrise."
Hiroto stiffened. "We're trying. My sister is"
"Scared? Tired? Hungry? Yes. All of that." Goro waved a hand dismissively. "But fear won't keep those shadows off your neck. Move your feet."
Yui squeezed Hiroto's hand. "I'm sorry, brother… I'm slowing you down."
Hiroto shook his head immediately. "No. Stick with me. Always."
Goro snorted. "Cute. But cute doesn't keep you alive."
"Do you ever stop talking?" Hiroto muttered.
"Nope. I've found it keeps me from going insane," Goro said. Then he tapped the side of his head. "When you've got memories as broken as mine, silence is dangerous."
Hiroto didn't know what that meant, but Goro didn't explain further. He strode forward until he reached a crooked pine tree that leaned over the path like an old man bowing.
"Rest," Goro said abruptly.
Hiroto blinked. "But you just said"
"I said walk faster," Goro corrected. "And you did. Barely. So now rest. Five minutes."
Yui practically collapsed at the base of the tree. Hiroto helped her sit and unwrapped his thin outer coat to drape around her shoulders.
She curled into him. "Hiroto… I'm scared."
"I know," he whispered, brushing her hair gently. "But I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you."
Her breathing steadied a little.
Goro leaned his back against a boulder, arms crossed. His sword rested across his legs, blade still chipped from countless battles but radiating a dangerous aura.
The first moment of silence since their escape fell across the ridge. And that was when Hiroto's hands began to tremble. It started as a soft shake. Then his fingers twitched. Then his whole arm. He pressed his palm against his chest, trying to steady himself but the trembling only grew worse.
Goro noticed immediately.
"Shadowforge symptoms," he muttered. "Thought so."
Hiroto looked up sharply. "Symptoms?"
"Your power just awakened," Goro said. "Sudden awakening tears at the spirit. You used a shadow blade without training, didn't you?"
"I… I didn't mean to. It just happened."
"Exactly," Goro said flatly. "Shadows awakened in panic are the most dangerous. They feed on fear. They act without control. Wouldn't surprise me if you blacked out for a moment."
Hiroto did remember a moment just a moment where everything went dark and he felt nothing but rage and heat.
A shiver crawled down his spine.
"What… what is the Shadowforge?" Hiroto asked quietly. "Everyone acts like it's dangerous. Like I'm dangerous."
Goro scratched his chin. "Dangerous? Sure. But so is fire. So is a sword. So is a storm. Shadowforge just happens to be… rarer than all of those."
"So what am I?" Hiroto whispered.
Goro's eyes met his sharp, suddenly sober.
"You're someone the entire country has a reason to fear."
Hiroto felt the air leave his lungs.
Goro continued, voice calm but firm. "The Shadowforge was a power from the old era older than the shogunate, older than the clans that rule now. Only a handful of people ever awakened it. And almost all of them were hunted down."
"Why?" Hiroto asked.
"Because the Shadowforge breaks balance," Goro said. "It bends the natural world. It creates weapons from a void humans aren't meant to touch. When one awakens, wars follow."
Hiroto swallowed hard. "So… I'm a curse?"
Goro frowned. "No. You're a disaster waiting to happen."
"That's worse!"
Goro chuckled. "Relax. Disasters can be controlled if you have the right teacher."
Hiroto blinked. "And who would teach me? You?", Goro stretched, cracking his shoulders lazily. "Sure. Why not?"
"You?" Hiroto repeated loudly. "But you just punch things! And drink! And"
"And I know more about the Shadowforge than you think." Goro tapped the side of his head. "Been fighting its users for years. Until they all disappeared."
Hiroto stiffened.
"Disappeared?"
Goro's gaze drifted toward the burning village.
"Same way your village did."
Silence washed over them again heavy, suffocating. Yui shifted, still half-asleep. "Hiroto… are we going somewhere safe?", Hiroto hugged her tighter. "Yes. Goro is taking us somewhere." Goro grinned. "Am I? Interesting. Guess I am."
"Where?" Hiroto asked.
"North," Goro said simply. "To the old mountains. To someone who might know why your power woke up."
Hiroto hesitated. "Can… can I trust this person?"
"No." Goro shrugged. "But you don't have much choice." The honesty was unsettling.
Goro suddenly stood up, stretching with a loud groan. "All right. Five minutes is up. Let's go." Yui whimpered softly but nodded. Hiroto helped her stand, and the three continued up the ridge. The forest thickened again as they passed through tangled brush and uneven ground.
Only the moon stared down through the branches, pale and distant. As they walked, the voice returned.
Soft. Whispering. Cold.
"You shouldn't trust him, Hiroto…"
Hiroto's foot froze mid-step. That voice again, From inside him, From the shadow blade.
"He will betray you. They always do."
"No," Hiroto breathed quietly. "Stay out of my head…"
Yui looked up at him. "Brother?"
"Nothing. I'm fine," he lied.
Goro shot him a side glance. "Talking to yourself already? Good. Means your shadow is waking properly."
"You can hear?"
"Kid, when you've fought as many shadow users as I have, you learn to see the signs."
Goro suddenly stopped walking. His expression stiffened.
"Hold it."
Hiroto froze instantly. "What is it?"
Goro lifted a finger to his lips. "Listen."
The forest was silent, Too silent.
No birds, No wind, No insects.Then Crunch.
A twig snapped deeper in the woods.
Hiroto grabbed Yui's hand. Goro's hand drifted to his sword hilt. "Don't breathe too loudly", The underbrush rustled violently.
Then a man burst through the bushes, collapsing onto the path. His clothes were torn, his body covered in blood. He gasped desperately, crawling on hands and knees.
"Help… me…"
Hiroto gasped. "He's injured!"
Goro didn't move.
The man looked up, eyes wide with terror. "Please hide me, They…they're coming!", Hiroto took a step forward, but Goro extended an arm, blocking him without turning.
"Don't touch him."
"What? He's hurt!"
Goro's eyes narrowed. "Look closer."
Hiroto did.
The man's shadow… wasn't following his movements. It jerked in a different direction, as if pulled by invisible strings.
"Shadow possession," Goro muttered. "They're tracking him."
The man screamed suddenly high, desperate and collapsed. His mouth foamed. Dark tendrils crept from his shadow, crawling up his chest like serpents. Yui clung to Hiroto in terror. "Brother… what's happening to him?", Before Hiroto could answer, Goro unsheathed his sword a few inches.
"Get behind me. Now."
Hiroto pulled Yui behind him.
A moment later, the man's body jerked upright like a puppet on strings and a distorted voice echoed from his mouth:
"Return the Shadowforge boy." Hiroto's blood ran cold.
Goro exhaled slowly. "Tch. Looks like the Black Daimyo's sorcerers are already close." The possessed man twisted unnaturally and lunged at them. Goro stepped forward.
What followed wasn't a fight; it was execution.
One flick of Goro's blade precise, clean, merciful and the man collapsed, the shadow tendrils melting like smoke. Hiroto stared in horror.
"He… he was being controlled…"
Goro wiped the blade on his sleeve. "Better him than you."
"Did he, did he feel that?" Hiroto whispered shakily.
"Probably," Goro said honestly. "Shadow-possession isn't gentle."
Hiroto felt sick.
Yui's tears dripped onto his arm.
Goro sheathed his sword, then faced them with uncharacteristic seriousness.
"Listen carefully," he said. "This is the last time I'll say it."
Hiroto swallowed, meeting Goro's gaze.
"You two aren't running from soldiers," Goro continued. "You're running from an army that can see through shadows themselves. Stopping means dying. Hesitating means dying. Trusting the wrong person"
He looked down at the dead man.
"Means dying."
Hiroto tightened his grip on Yui.
Goro pointed north. "We move now. No more rests. We reach the mountain shrine by dawn", Hiroto nodded fiercely.
"What's at the shrine?" he asked.
Goro smirked faintly. "Answers. Maybe even safety. But don't get too hopeful", He began walking again. The forest swallowed the path ahead, shadows stretching long and thin beneath the moonlight almost alive, as if watching them. Hiroto took a deep breath, Then followed Goro into the darkness.