Chapter 4: Shadows of Distrust
The silence that followed was heavy—heavier than the stillness of a grave.
Ryn stood frozen. His hand remained clamped over his shoulder, which burned like searing iron beneath his clothes. His eyes—eyes he no longer recognized—pierced through the gloom, locking onto the girl standing before him.
To the villagers, Leora was merely the priest's daughter; a girl shrouded in an aura of sanctity and grace. But here, in the heart of the Forbidden Forest, where even the bravest dared not tread, her presence felt like a "sin" that birthed a thousand questions.
"What are you doing here, Leora?"
Ryn's voice came out sharp and cold, as if his vocal cords had been forged from frozen steel.
Leora took another step back. A dry branch snapped under her foot, the sound echoing like a thunderclap in the forest's unnatural quiet. She didn't answer immediately. Instead, her eyes darted between the Black Mirror—now fading into nothingness—and Ryn's left eye, which overflowed with a violet light that pulsed in sync with his heartbeat.
"I've been watching you, Ryn... for years," she said, her voice trembling yet carrying a note of haunting certainty. "My father wasn't just a priest for prayers; he was a guardian of the prophecy you were born to fulfill. We know who you are, even if you do not."
[Warning: Intense emotional fluctuations detected.]
Ryn's body stiffened. Rage began to rise in his chest like thick, black smoke.
The realization that his entire life had been under a microscope—that his suffering and isolation were merely a "prophecy" whispered by priests in dark rooms—sickened him. He no longer saw the gentle girl from the village square; he saw another jailer trying to frame his destiny.
Ryn took a step toward her. The shadows beneath his feet began to stretch unnaturally, responding to his inner fury.
"Watching me? By what right? Were you waiting for this exact moment? Was every smile in the village just a performance to see when the 'monster' would finally wake up?"
"It's not what you think!" Leora cried out, tears welling in her eyes. "The forest is no longer safe for you. There are those who sensed the Pillar of Light shatter, and they are on their way. You must trust me."
Ryn let out a dry, mirthless laugh.
"Trust you? I don't even trust the eye I'm using to look at you right now."
His violet gaze turned lethal. "Leave, Leora. Leave before the shadow dwelling within me decides how to vent its rage on you."
In that moment, Ryn realized a bitter truth: his true enemies might not be the beasts lurking in the dark, but those who claimed to protect him while hiding the truth of what he had become.