Darkness.
I feel the dark.
Crawling, an existence, unexplained and unexplored.
The disgusting squelch and an unfamiliar sound of breaking.
Yet my eyes do not open.
I feel a cold wind caress my face, as if to comfort me, as a warm, blazing fire erupts from behind me.
Yet my eyes do not open.
and finally.
I hear the sound of swaying cloth, like a veil silently flowing in the wind.
And just as everything falls to silence, the sound of a hissing snake makes itself known in the shadows.
Never ending...
The darkness never stops.
"...Achlys!"
I gasp at the sudden knock, the loud banging coming from my door breaking me out of the trance of my dream.
I quietly get off my bed, my gaze falling on my mirror, examining my reflection.
"It's me..."
I blurt out, an uncomfortable feeling gnawing in my mind that something happened...
Or is it that something will happen?
My eyes continued to move across the room, papers stuck to the walls, depicting a crude drawing of two children. One with brown hair and the other with ash-colored hair.
I pushed back strands of hair as I took my focus to the door.
"Achlys! I know you're awake!"
My best friend, Bran, yelled from the other side.
"There's no need to yell."
I say as I open the door, met with the smiling face of the brunette boy.
Bran, just Bran... Apparently.
My best friend since the very first day I had the ability to open my eyes.
"What is it this time? Sister Lucia already informed me that we wouldn't have to be doing chores today."
I say with a sigh as we both walk down the halls of the orphanage.
Saint August's Orphanage of the Sun. An orphanage dedicated to following the God of the Sun's teachings.
This is where we grew up.
Our home...
"... When are you going to stop zoning off like that?"
Bran grumbled as he tried to flick my forehead, my hand already covering the expanse of skin.
"When are you going to stop reading that book? I don't remember bothering you even when you're lost in those... valleys of useless information."
I retorted, rolling my eyes as we entered the orphanage's common room.
This was where we were allowed to play in, directly connected to the kitchen as well as having direct access to the outside, where the town's cathedral is easily accessible.
"Tsk tsk... They grow up so fast..."
I hear Bran say, his smile softening at the sight of our younger siblings.
"You're one to talk; you're only 4 cycles older."
My ears drown out Bran's useless retorts as I make my way past the younger children, heading for the cathedral, with Bran following behind me while grumbling.
I've been having dreams.
Their contents remained foreign and unfamiliar, yet they still left a certain feeling at the back of my mind.
My hands push slightly against the cathedral's entrance, slipping inside before finding my usual spot to pray in.
I knelt onto the floor, my eyes closed as I drew our patron god's rune on my chest.
This has been me and Bran's routine.
Although the boy probably prays for nonsense...
He has no idea as to why I come here to pray in the first place.
None of them but the Sister and Mister Vel know.
'Oh Father above... May you bless me with peace of mind. Clear away the worry in my heart, and may my dreams remain untrue...'
I have no idea why my dreams are so... Eerily dark.
While Bran often overshares of how he dreams of crispy roasted pork skin and living with me in a peaceful cabin in the woods...
My dreams remain shrouded, seemingly veiled in darkness.
I can hear, yet I cannot see. My mind drifting in a river of shadows.
As I ended my prayer, I slowly opened my eyes.
I've lived my life with the burden of these dreams, learning not to complicate my understanding and accept it along the way...
I pushed myself back to look up at the center of the chapel, my eyes on the statue of our God.
A well sculpted man with long hair and a muscular body held in his right hand a halberd decorated with rays of the sun that was a head taller than him, and on the left, cradled close to his chest, was a baby wrapped in a bundle of cloth.
I slowly stood up, turning to face Bran, who has been oddly silent since we arrived to pray.
'Now that I think about it... I don't remember seeing him kneel.'
"Bran—"
My breath hitched, and my words cut when I saw him; he was just staring at me before his lips parted as if wanting to speak.
Yet no voice escaped his mouth.
His gaze looks so... Different from his earlier cheerful demeanor.
"Bran...?"
I couldn't react in time, and he hesitated before turning around and walking out of the cathedral.
A sigh escapes my lips as I sign the lord's rune once more before bowing and making my way back to the orphanage.
Something definitely changed.
Bran, my closest confidant. A person of happiness, smiles, and jokes...
Has left me alone after shedding tears?
and his gaze... Something about the way his eyes looked at me is different...
Tired and in pain...
Like the eyes of someone who has seen hundreds of horrible things.
Unspeakable things...
I forced myself not to think about the sudden change.
Immersing myself in my usual routine, I expected to see Bran around the orphanage at the very least.
His room, the kitchen, and even his usual reading area were left as they were.
He was nowhere to be seen... His collection of books remained in place, strangely not moved.
And so I kept going. Playing with the younger kids, helping with the nuns until the shining sun lowered itself on the horizon, casting a beautiful glow over the sky.
Bran hasn't gone back.
I finished helping in cleaning the kitchen as I made my way to my room, closing the door behind me; my eyes fell onto the forest far beyond the orphanage's fence.
Whenever I am alone. Me and Bran would go into the forest and just... sleep.
Two innocent little boys; he was 2 cycles older than me, but that didn't stop us from growing close.
Our little hands grabbing sticks and acting as though we were adventurers out in the world to explore.
Often leading to an ear-breaking nagging from Sister Lucia once we got home.
'Perhaps...?'
A thought passed my mind: maybe he went back into the forest? He'll be back later, I'm sure...
That was when my eyes fell onto a folded paper stuck in my window.
Confusion and wariness settled in my chest as I made my way closer, quietly taking it and moving back to sit on my bed; I read the contents.
Written in a familiar yet... Also, foreign handwriting was used for the words.
'Do not go into the forest.'
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End of Chapter 1