Kael stood in the darkness of his hideout and stared at the bundle at his feet. A torn shirt. A threadbare blanket. A rusted knife. And half a loaf of bread wrapped in dirty cloth.
That was all.
Seventeen years of his life reduced to four objects that fit into a scrap of fabric.
He should have laughed. Or cried. Instead, he felt only emptiness, mixed with something he could not quite name. Something that felt like excitement, but also like fear.
What the hell was he doing?
He did not know this woman. Sira. He knew nothing about her, nothing about this academy, nothing about Wielders or Anima or whatever she had been talking about. For all he knew, it could be a trap. She could be planning to sell him into slavery. Or worse.
But then he remembered her eyes. The way she had looked at him. Not with pity. Not with disgust. With something else.
With belief.
And that was more than anyone had ever given him.
Kael picked up the bundle, slung it over his shoulder, and climbed through the broken window one last time. The night was cold, and the wind whipped through the empty alleys, carrying the smell of smoke and decay.
He looked back at the building, at the hole in the wall he had called home, and waited to feel something. Sadness. Nostalgia. Anything.
There was nothing.
Only relief.
He turned and began to walk, and with every step, the weight on his shoulders felt a little lighter.
Sira was waiting exactly where she had said she would be, at the eastern edge of the lower district where the city gave way to wilderness. She leaned against a crumbling stone archway, arms crossed. When Kael approached, she pushed herself off the wall and gave him a small nod.
"You came," she said.
"You did not make it sound like a question."
"It was not."
Kael snorted. Sira allowed herself a faint smile, then turned and started walking. Kael followed.
The city quickly fell away behind them, swallowed by the morning mist. Soon they were surrounded by trees, tall and twisted, their branches stretching into the sky like skeletal fingers. The ground was soft beneath Kael's feet, covered in moss and rotting leaves, and the air smelled different out here. Fresher. Cleaner.
They walked in silence. Kael did not know whether he should say anything, so he kept quiet. But the questions in his mind piled up, pressing against his teeth until he could not hold them back any longer.
"What is a Wielder?" he finally asked.
Sira did not look back, but he could hear the hint of a smile in her voice. "Someone who can use Anima."
"And what is Anima?"
"Energy. Life energy. It flows through everything. Humans, animals, plants. Even stone, if you dig deep enough." She paused. "Most people cannot feel it. But Wielders can. And with training, you can control it. Use it."
"For what?"
"To fight. To survive. To do what ordinary people cannot."
Kael frowned. "Like magic?"
"If that is what you want to call it. I call it Anima."
"And you think I can do that?"
Sira stopped and turned to face him. "I do not think you can. I know you can."
"How?"
"Because I can see it in you. A flame. Small. Weak. But there." She stepped closer. "You have been using it your entire life without realizing it. Every time you ran from the guards. Every time you survived when you should not have. That was Anima. Instinctive. Unconscious."
Kael stared at her, unsure whether to believe her. "That sounds insane."
"Most true things do." Sira turned and continued walking. "You will learn. Soon enough."
Kael followed. The questions kept coming, but he forced himself to hold them back for now. He would get answers soon enough.
Or he would die trying.
Either was better than the life he had left behind.
...
They traveled all day, following a narrow path that wound through the forest. Kael saw things he had never seen before. Birds he could not name, their feathers shimmering in impossible colors. Flowers as large as his head, their petals glowing faintly in the dim sunlight. And in the distance, barely visible through the trees, something massive and dark rising against the sky.
"What is that?" Kael asked, pointing.
Sira followed his gaze. "The Hollow."
"The Hollow?"
"A wound in the world. No one knows how deep it goes. Or what lies at the bottom." She paused. "But monsters come from it. Aberrations. Creatures that do not belong here."
A chill ran down Kael's spine. "And we are going there?"
"No. We are going to the academy. It is close, but not too close." She glanced at him. "Do not worry. You will see monsters soon enough."
Kael was not sure that was comforting.
Late in the afternoon, they heard it.
A sound. Low. Rattling. Like a growl rising from the earth itself.
Sira stopped instantly. Her hand moved to the sword at her hip, which Kael had not even noticed before. Her eyes narrowed.
"Stay behind me," she said quietly.
"What is that?" Kael whispered, his heart beginning to race.
"An Aberration."
The growl grew louder. Then Kael saw it break through the undergrowth, and his breath caught in his throat.
It was large, larger than a man, with four legs that were too long and too thin. Its skin was gray and leathery, covered in what looked like scars or cracks. Its head was warped, its snout too long, its teeth too sharp. Its eyes glowed faintly red.
"What the hell is that?" Kael breathed.
"A Scavenger. Weak, but dangerous if you are careless." Sira drew her sword. The blade caught the light. "Do not move."
The creature saw them. Its growl turned into a roar, and it lunged forward, claws tearing into the earth.
Sira moved.
Not rushed. Not frantic. Just efficient.
She stepped aside as the creature charged past her. Then she swung.
The blade cut through the air with a sound like tearing cloth.
The creature roared and stumbled. Black blood sprayed from a deep wound in its side. It turned, trying to attack again, but Sira was already there. Her blade moved once more.
This time she struck its neck.
The creature's head fell to the ground and rolled aside. Its body collapsed, twitched once, twice, then lay still.
Sira wiped the blade on her coat, slid it back into its sheath, and turned to Kael as if nothing had happened.
"You all right?" she asked.
Kael stared at her, mouth open, heart pounding so hard he thought it might burst from his chest. "You… you just killed that thing."
"Yes."
"Just like that?"
"Yes."
"Holy shit."
Sira smiled faintly. "Welcome to the real world, Kael. Out here there are no guards chasing you. Out here, monsters do the hunting. And if you do not learn to fight, you will die."
Kael looked at the corpse, at the black blood soaking into the soil. He felt something shift inside him. Fear, yes. But something else too.
Resolve.
"Then teach me," he said, his voice steadier than he felt. "Teach me how to fight."
Sira nodded. "That is the plan."
...
They camped that night in a small clearing surrounded by trees. Sira started a fire with a small motion of her hand that Kael did not fully understand. Flames leapt from nowhere, catching the dry branches. Soon the fire was warm and bright. Kael sat in front of it, hands stretched toward the heat, trying to chase the cold from his bones.
Sira sat opposite him, leaning against a tree, her face half in shadow as she watched the flames.
"How long have you been training?" Kael asked after a while.
"A long time."
"That is not an answer."
"It is the only one you are getting."
Kael frowned. "Why so secretive?"
"Because my past is not important. Yours is."
"Mine?" Kael let out a short laugh. "I do not have a past. I lived on the streets. I stole food. I ran from guards. That is it."
Sira looked at him, and in her eyes was something that looked like understanding. "Everyone has a past. And yours brought you here. That is not nothing."
Kael stared into the fire. After a while, he spoke quietly.
"My parents died when I was six. I barely remember them. Just fragments. A laugh. A warm hand. Then nothing."
"How did they die?"
"An Aberration. Like the thing today. It broke into the city. Killed a dozen people before the guards stopped it." He swallowed. "I was hiding. I saw everything. I could not do anything."
Sira was silent for a moment. Then she said, "That is why you are so fast. You learned to run because fighting was not an option."
"Yes."
"But now it will be."
Kael looked at her. There was something in her eyes that felt like a promise.
"Yes," he said. "Now it will be."
They fell silent again. The fire crackled between them. Kael felt something forming in that silence. Not trust, not yet. But something close. A connection. An understanding.
"Thank you," Kael said quietly.
"For what?"
"For taking me with you. For giving me a chance."
Sira smiled, but it was a sad smile. "Do not thank me too soon. The training will be hard. Many break. Many die."
"I will not break."
"They all say that."
"I mean it."
Sira studied him for a long moment. Then she gave a small nod.
"We will see."