They say São Paulo[1] is a concrete jungle, but anyone born in the countryside knows a real jungle is silent before the strike. Here, the noise is constant. The screech of subway brakes, the honking, the muffled conversation of a thousand strangers squeezed into the carriage. For most, this is just a Tuesday routine. For me, it is the battlefield.
I adjusted the sleeve of my denim jacket. The thick fabric on the right side was warm—not from body heat, but from what lay beneath. Where once there was flesh, bone, and skin tanned by a lifetime in Minas[2], now there was only... light. A solid, golden, translucent structure, humming at a frequency only I could hear.
It was the weight of my choice. Or rather, of my "Selection."
I closed my eyes and, for a second, the smell of diesel oil and subway sweat vanished. I went back to that night in the pasture, three months ago.
I remember Goiás's whinny. It wasn't the sound of a horse asking for food; it was the sound of prey facing the end. When I ran to the corral, the flashlight trembled in my hand. That wasn't a wild animal. It was a "living" shadow, made of pitch darkness and entropy, writhing like solid smoke around my horse's legs. His vitality was being drained, his white coat turning grey, his eyes rolling back.
I wasn't a heroine. I wasn't an adventurer. I was just a veterinary student who loved that animal more than myself.
"Leave him alone!" I screamed, throwing myself in front. I had no sword, I had no magic. I had only my body.
The shadow didn't hesitate. It lunged at my right arm, raised in defense. The pain wasn't human. It was the cold of the void devouring every nerve, every piece of who I was. It was the mark of Umbra, the Malevolent, demanding sacrifice, pain, and destruction.
But I didn't back down. In that moment of absolute agony, I didn't ask to live. I asked for Goiás to live. "Take it from me, but save him."
That was when the world turned golden.
There was no bargaining, no contract signed in blood. Just an immense, ordered, and protective presence descending upon me. Aureus, the Benevolent. He saw my surrender. He saw that I was willing to break to keep something whole. Where the shadow devoured, the light filled. The cold vanished, replaced by an unbreakable barrier of solid light.
I opened my eyes on the subway. The loudspeaker announced Sé Station.
My right arm, hidden under the jacket, pulsed. A child on the seat in front dropped their ice cream and started crying. The mother, exhausted, looked about to explode. Without thinking, I reached out with my left hand—the one made of flesh—and took a tissue from my pocket, offering it with a calm smile. The tension dissipated. Order was restored, even if minimally.
I felt my Fervor rise, a nearly imperceptible spark in my soul.
The divine war doesn't happen in distant castles. It happens here, in dark alleys and boardrooms. There are those who serve Chaos to gain power, sacrificing everything and everyone. And there are us, the few foolish Chosen of Aureus, who follow a strict Code of protection and conduct.
I am Dayanne Gabrielly. I lost an arm to save a horse. Now, I use the light I gained in exchange to ensure humanity doesn't lose its soul.
The train stopped. The doors opened into the darkness of the tunnel.
"Let's go, girl," I whispered to myself. "The work is just beginning."
[1] São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and South America, the country's economic and financial capital, and a global center for culture, arts, gastronomy, and business.
[2] Minas, also known as Minas Gerais, is a Brazilian state in the Southeast region, known for its rich history, strong economy, and cultural diversity.