The forest beyond the village was never truly silent.
But that morning, its quiet felt different too orderly, too deliberate, as if every living thing had agreed to hold its breath.
Galor stopped walking.
"Don't move forward," he said quietly.
Rinve, standing behind him, obeyed at once. His hand tightened around the wooden sword not out of fear, but because something pressed heavily against his chest. The air around them felt unchanged, yet each breath he took felt deeper than usual.
Ellara stood to the side, her expression stiff. No smile. No teasing remarks.
"It's here," she said under her breath.
Rinve swallowed.
"What is?"
Ellara didn't answer. She only raised her hand slightly, her fingers trembling. Rinve noticed the motion it wasn't the gesture of someone preparing to attack, but of someone holding themselves back from running.
Galor stepped forward once.
"Come out," he said firmly.
"I know you can hear me."
No response.
Seconds passed.
Then a branch snapped.
Not loudly. Too softly.
From between the trees, something moved. Not large, but not small enough to dismiss. Its shape resembled a human, yet the way it stood was wrong. Leaning too far. Too rigid.
Its eyes… were empty.
The pulse in Rinve's chest intensified.
"That's not an animal," he murmured without realizing it.
Ellara shot him a sharp glance.
"Don't look at it for too long."
The creature stepped fully into view.
Its skin was pale gray, veins dark and visible along its neck and arms. Its limbs were long, its fingers too many to count at a glance.
"It's not attacking," Galor said lowly.
"It's observing."
As if reacting to the word, the creature tilted its head. The movement was slow, yet heavy with intent. As though it were evaluating… Rinve.
Ellara cursed under her breath.
"Damn it… there's more than one."
"Ellara?" Rinve turned toward her.
Before he could ask anything else, a second creature emerged from the opposite side. Then a third.
They didn't surround them.
They cornered them.
Galor lowered his stance, shifting into a defensive position.
"Rinve," he said firmly,
"listen to me. No matter what happens don't move."
Rinve wanted to argue. Wanted to say he wasn't afraid.
But the words died in his throat when one of the creatures stepped forward.
The pulse surged.
For a fraction of a second, the world slowed.
Rinve inhaled instinctively, following the breathing pattern Galor had taught him.
The creature stopped.
All of them stopped.
Ellara's eyes widened.
"What are you doing?"
"I… I'm breathing," Rinve answered honestly.
Galor felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
That shouldn't be possible…
The nearest creature let out a growl like stone scraping against metal. Then, without warning, it lunged.
Galor moved first.
His sword swing was fast and precise, striking the creature's shoulder. Not lethal, but enough to knock it aside. Ellara muttered a short incantation, and a thin flash of light struck the legs of the second creature, slowing its movement.
"Rinve, fall back!" Galor shouted.
Rinve stepped back once. But his eyes remained locked on the first creature. There was something he felt
not hostility, but a strange sense of connection. As if the creature recognized something within him.
It rose again.
Faster.
Galor cursed.
"It's adapting."
The third creature moved not toward Galor, not toward Ellara.
Toward Rinve.
Time shattered.
Galor ran. Ellara screamed.
But Rinve stood frozen, the pulse exploding like an echo in his chest. Without thinking, he raised his hand.
There was no light.
No explosion.
Only… pressure.
The creature stopped one step in front of him. Its body shook violently, as if restrained by an invisible wall. The ground beneath its feet cracked softly.
Silence fell.
Rinve trembled.
"I… I don't know what I did."
Ellara dropped to her knees.
"That's impossible…"
Galor stared at his son not with awe, not with pride, but with fear he struggled desperately to hide.
The creature let out a hoarse sound. Then, one by one, they retreated.
Not defeated
but yielding. For now.
Within seconds, the forest returned to silence.
Rinve staggered. Galor caught him before he fell.
"Breathe," Galor said quickly.
"Follow me."
Rinve obeyed, and the pulse slowly subsided.
Ellara stood with difficulty, her face pale.
"That… shouldn't have happened."
"What?" Rinve asked weakly.
Ellara looked at him for a long moment, then whispered, almost to herself,
"They didn't attack you. They… tested you."
The word hung heavy in the air.
On the way home, no one spoke.
That night, Galor sat alone outside the house. Levane stood in the doorway, hugging herself.
"How bad is it?" she asked.
Galor answered without turning around.
"Faster than I expected."
In his room, Rinve stared at his hands. Nothing had changed. No sign of power. Yet the pulse… felt closer now. More aware.
If that was only a test… he thought, then what comes next?
Far beyond the village, in a place unknown to any map, someone opened their eyes.
"So… the key has finally reacted."
A thin smile formed.
"Interesting."
The silence after the incident felt heavier than any scream.
Rinve sat in front of the house, hugging his knees, staring at the utterly ordinary ground. No cracks remained. No traces of monsters. No sign that the forest had nearly changed his life.
The world looked… normal.
Too normal.
But his chest did not.
The pulse was no longer wild but not entirely calm either. Like something that had opened its eyes, then pretended to sleep again.
Levane approached quietly, carrying a cup of warm water. She sat beside him without speaking. After a moment, she asked softly,
"Are you scared?"
Rinve thought for a while.
"I'm… confused."
Levane smiled faintly.
"That's more honest."
He looked at her. "Mom… what was that thing?"
Levane let out a long breath.
"Something that should never have come near this village."
"Because of me?"
Her hands trembled slightly. She set the cup down carefully, then pulled Rinve into a tight embrace.
"It's not your fault," she said quickly, as if afraid he'd blame himself.
"Whatever you carry… it is not a sin."
On the other side of the house, Galor and Ellara stood facing each other.
"This is too soon," Galor said grimly. "If they're already approaching"
"They didn't approach," Ellara cut in. "They were summoned."
Galor stiffened.
"By whom?"
Ellara looked toward the forest.
"By something. Or someone. But not Rinve."
Galor's eyes narrowed.
"You know more than you're saying."
Ellara didn't deny it.
"And you know more than a village farmer should."
For a moment, the air between them tightened two adults burdened with secrets, standing in a village that should have meant nothing to the world.
"You'll stay?" Galor asked at last.
Ellara nodded.
"Now more than ever."
That night, rumors spread.
Incomplete. Unclear. But enough to plant fear.
Why had the creatures appeared only when Galor and his son were in the forest?
Why hadn't they attacked the village?
Why had they retreated?
And most dangerously
why was Rinve unharmed?
The whispers were like a faint wind not loud, but everywhere.
Rinve noticed the next day.
The villagers' gazes had changed. Not hostile but no longer warm. Other children didn't approach him. Some mothers pulled their children away with awkward excuses.
Rinve clenched the edge of his shirt.
"Father… what's wrong with them?"
Galor stopped walking. He knelt in front of Rinve and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Listen carefully. The world fears what it doesn't understand. That isn't your fault. But you must be strong."
"Strong like yesterday?" Rinve asked quietly.
Galor fell silent.
"Stronger than that. And wiser."
The training changed again.
Not just swords. Not just breathing. Galor began teaching discipline when to move, when to stay still. When to restrain oneself, even when capable.
Ellara watched from afar. She no longer interrupted. No longer guided directly. As if she were waiting for something… or someone.
One afternoon, Rinve sat alone beneath the tree where Ellara often stood.
"Sister Ellara," he called.
She emerged from the shadows.
"You called me on purpose."
Rinve nodded.
"In the forest… I didn't want to fight."
Ellara paused. "And?"
"I just wanted them to stop."
She looked at him for a long time.
"That's why they retreated."
Rinve frowned.
"Because I'm stronger?"
"No," Ellara said softly.
"Because you haven't chosen yet."
The words confused him further.
Ellara continued,
"Creatures like those sense intent. And yours… is still untainted."
"What does that mean?"
She turned away.
"It means you can still become many things. A hero. An observer. Or something the world isn't ready to face."
Rinve remained under the tree long after she left.
That night, he dreamed.
Not of the forest. Not of the village.
He dreamed of a vast, endless place filled with faint symbols pulsing like breath. They didn't call to him… they waited.
When he woke, cold sweat soaked his back.
The pulse was there again.
More orderly. More aware.
And for the first time, Rinve felt something new not power, not fear
but the awareness that the world no longer saw him as an ordinary child.
Far away, someone closed an ancient book.
"The second reaction," they murmured.
"Earlier than expected."
A thin smile formed.
"Very well… let's see how long you can stay hidden."
In that small village, Rinve stared up at the night sky, unaware that from that day on, he no longer merely lived in the world.
He had become part of its movement.