Fire.
The smell of the forge. The stench of burnt flesh. The weight of Roberto's arm crushing me against the ground while his back turned into charcoal.
"MOM! DAD!"
I woke up with a violent jolt, throwing my body forward. Instinctively, my hands grabbed the sheets, expecting to feel the hot ashes of my home, but my fingers sank into soft, cold fabric.
My breathing came out in desperate gasps. My chest rose and fell as if I were still running from the black smoke. My eyes burned, and when my vision finally adjusted, terror paralyzed me.
Where was I?
The ceiling was white, carved from polished stone that seemed to glow with its own light. There was no soot. No screams.
Only an absolute, crushing silence.
No… no, no, no. Was it a nightmare? I thought, hope struggling to be born inside my chest. Are they in the kitchen? Did Dad already leave for the workshop?
I tried to stand, but a sharp stab in my calf the moment my foot touched the floor made me collapse. A wave of pain shot through my arm. I turned my face and saw it wrapped in bandages. Then I looked at my leg.
Clean bandages covered the exact spots where the dragon's fire had touched me.
It wasn't a nightmare. Everything was over.
The knot in my throat burst apart. I buried my face in my trembling hands and started crying. Ugly, loud crying — the kind that comes from someone whose entire world has collapsed beneath their feet.
"Calm down, little one. Breathe."
A feminine voice, gentle as the spring wind, sounded beside me. I felt cold, soft hands touch my shoulders.
I lifted my tear-soaked face and saw a woman sitting at the edge of the bed.
She was beautiful, with blonde hair like threads of melted gold and skin pale as snow. Her brown eyes looked at me with a pity that made my stomach twist.
"W-Where are they?" My voice came out hoarse and broken.
"My friends… my village…"
The woman sighed softly, stroking my hair.
"My name is Kânia. You're safe now. What happened was terrible, I know, but it's over. You're in my residence, in the city of Lavinsk."
"Lavinsk?" I murmured in confusion.
I knew every neighboring village near Safe Place because of my father's work. We traveled constantly, and Lavinsk wasn't one of them.
"You are in a world different from your own, child."
Her words made no sense inside my confused mind.
Another world?
Before I could process the information, heavy footsteps echoed through the hallway and the door opened.
"Crying won't rebuild your house, boy."
The voice was cold and sharp. The temperature in the room seemed to drop drastically.
I raised my head and saw him.
The man who split the land apart. The one who faced the dragon and… let it live.
Silver.
He stood leaning against the doorway.
Hair silver like the ashes of a bonfire, pale skin, and green eyes that seemed capable of seeing straight through my soul.
His presence was overwhelming. Suffocating.
My right knee started trembling. My body was warning me that this man was dangerous and that I should fear him. But when my hands clenched into fists, I realized my hatred was stronger than my fear.
"You…" I growled, gripping the sheets tightly. "You let that monster escape. It killed my mother! It killed my father! Why didn't you kill it?!"
"Silver, don't be harsh on him right now," Kânia intervened, standing up.
"He just woke up."
Silver sighed. His eyes never blinked as he stared at me.
"Get up."
"What?!"
"I said get up. We have somewhere to go, and the gods don't like waiting."
Gods?
The absurdity of the situation dried my tears. I was broken, but rage pulsed through my veins. Struggling intensely, I grabbed the edge of the bed and forced myself up using only one leg, gasping in pain.
Without another word, he turned his back and walked away.
I followed him while limping. We passed through a long hallway until we reached a large room, where I saw him leaving through the front door. Still struggling and supporting myself against the furniture, I managed to catch up.
The moment I stepped outside the house, the light nearly blinded me.
The sky wasn't blue.
It was a vibrant gold, as if the sun itself had melted and been painted across the clouds. The air shimmered, heavy with an energy that made every hair on my body stand up.
Around us, beings with indescribable appearances walked through streets made of gleaming stone. Men and women wearing armor, some with wings, some floating, others enormous like mountains of muscle.
Some of them stared directly at me.
A violent shiver ran through my entire body.
Their looks weren't filled with pity.
They were filled with disgust, confusion, and a terrifying amount of hatred.
Why are they looking at me like that? I thought, shrinking my shoulders, feeling like an insect among giants.
"HEEEEY! Master!"
A childish voice cut through the tense silence. A girl came running toward us. She had wild black hair, skin slightly lighter than mine, and red eyes glowing with curiosity.
"Laura, stay here," Silver ordered without even stopping his walk. "I don't want problems today."
"Ah, boring! I'm not staying behind babysitting Arthur!"
She crossed her arms and huffed.
Silver stopped abruptly.
"Climb on," he said, looking at me over his shoulder.
"What?"
"On my back. Hold tight and keep your mouth shut unless you want to swallow your own stomach."
I obeyed hesitantly. The moment my arms wrapped around his neck, the world distorted.
It wasn't running.
The air itself exploded.
My stomach twisted violently. I shut my eyes tightly as the pressure crushed my ears.
When the force finally stopped and I opened my eyes, I collapsed to my knees on the ground, coughing dryly.
We stood before a colossal gate forged from crystal and gold.
"When she appears, kneel," Silver suddenly whispered, his relaxed posture completely gone.
"And don't you dare raise your head unless she allows it."
"She who?" I asked, panic rising in my throat.
"The Supreme Queen."
The massive gates opened without making a single sound.
The hall beyond them was vast, with a floor that reflected like the surface of a mirrored lake. At the far end of the room, atop crystal stairs, stood a throne.
And seated upon it…
Was a woman with dark skin and long black hair that seemed to swallow the very light around her.
Entire constellations appeared to shine and die within the fabric of her dress. Just looking at her made my eyes ache.
Silver walked to the center of the hall and knelt.
I immediately did the same, trembling from head to toe while suppressing a groan of pain from my leg.
The atmosphere in the room became dense.
So unbearably heavy that I had to place both hands on the floor to keep from being crushed.
"Silver…" her voice echoed.
It did not come from the throne.
It emerged from inside my own mind — something absolute and cold.
"You dare profane my hall by bringing this mortal being into Lavinsk?"
"He is not merely a mortal, Your Majesty," Silver replied, his voice steady.
I felt the Queen's gaze burn against the back of my neck.
"Raise your head, boy."
I obeyed hesitantly. I swallowed hard as the Queen's black, unfathomable eyes locked onto my face.
For a single second, the entire room seemed to freeze.
The Queen's expression of sovereign boredom cracked apart.
Her nails scraped against the armrest of the golden throne with a sharp sound.
"Impossible," she whispered, her voice laced with ancient venom.
A confused sob escaped my throat.
"This anomaly…" The Queen leaned forward, her eyes blazing with a fury that made the floor beneath my feet crack.
"You reek of that abyss. Those eyes… that face. How dare you carry the blood of that bastard?"
"B-Blood of who?" I stammered, my heart pounding wildly.
"SILENCE!"
Her voice exploded like thunder.
The impact hurled me backward across the mirrored floor.
The Queen smiled with disgust, staring at me as if I were the most revolting thing in creation.
"I should break your neck right now out of pure contempt."
The blood drained from my face.
What is she talking about?
Silver stepped forward, placing himself between me and the Queen's gaze.
"Your Majesty," Silver interrupted, his tone now sharper.
"I invoke the right of guardianship. I found him, and he is now my responsibility."
The Queen narrowed her eyes at Silver.
"What are you planning, Silver?"
"I guarantee he will become a useful weapon for Lavinsk," Silver answered, holding her gaze.
"Or I will personally slit his throat myself."
A deadly silence settled over the hall.
"Very well," the Queen said, leaning back on her throne with disgust.
"Remove this abomination from my sight. But remember my words, boy: the blood flowing through your veins is cursed. And the day you lose control, Silver will not be able to protect you from me."
"Let's go," Silver ordered, grabbing my arm roughly.
The wind swallowed us once again, but this time I felt no nausea.
My mind was trapped inside a storm of words.
Cursed blood. Abomination. Bastard.
When we returned in front of Silver's house, my legs gave out. I collapsed into Lavinsk's golden dust.
I stared at my trembling hands.
At that moment, I began doubting myself.
What is happening?
I clenched the golden soil tightly in my fists.
Tears began falling again, and all I could think about was how everything felt like one enormous and terrible nightmare.
And what the hell was inside me?
I looked toward the strange sky of this new world.
I didn't know what I was.
But for the first time since the dragon reduced my life to ashes…
I had a reason to keep living.
I needed answers.
But before I could continue drowning in my thoughts, Silver walked toward me and spoke.
"Come inside. I need to speak with all of you."
My body stopped trembling, but in its place came a cold feeling deep within my chest.