Akari lay curled against the dirt. Her arms wrapped tightly around her body, her knees tucked against her chest. The glooming trees rustled above her as wind scraped the ground with claws made of air. And yet, despite her loneliness, she had found comfort in the earth beneath her. Something about it was warm and welcoming, a feeling she had long dreamed of. A feeling that reminded her of her mother’s gentle embrace and soft smile. This is good, she thought. Her hands searched the forest floor for soft patches. Here, she would sleep, unbothered by the cries of the locals. Here, she would rest in warmth that accepted her.

  "Psst. Come. Quickly." "What?" "It is the girl. She is alive."

  The village had sent scouts, two men tasked with ensuring Akari did not survive. Yet despite every harsh truth of nature, she still lived. Curled against the dirt, she slept peacefully, a faint smile stretched across her face. A scout in a dark green hoodie raised his binoculars, squinting in disbelief. He exclaimed, "No, no, no... It has been a whole week. How is she still alive?"

  The second scout had fallen to his knees. He did not answer. They had worked together for almost a decade. No. 1 and No. 2 they were called. They had crossed mountains, seas, and entire nations. Never once had No. 1 seen his partner cry. No. 2 had always been the strong one. Always steady. Always certain. Yet now, in the face of something so cruel and unfair, he said nothing. Because he knew what they were required to do. There was simply no other choice but to report back to the elderly man.

  Back at the village, silence had swept the streets. The sky was clear; no children ran past the empty stalls. Stores were closed. Not a single business dared to open on this day. The entire village was focused on one thing, the meeting. The scouts rushed down the main road, searching for anyone, but every window was shut and every whisper stirred from behind closed curtains. As they passed, unseen hands pointed towards an old, abandoned house at the edge of the district. They followed the silent directions. The scout in green winced as something sharp raced down his spine.

  "You okay?" No. 2 asked.

  "Yeah." he replied. So, they continued towards the lone house. The moment they had reached the crooked door, No. 2 had raised a hand to knock, but the door opened before he touched it. Darkness waited on the other side, thick and absolute. Without speaking, they stepped inside.

  The forest was quiet when they arrived, and a single candle flickered inside the house as villagers gathered around an elderly man seated with his cane. The scouts delivered their report while the old man's expression had barely changed within the darkness of the room. The meeting ended soon after.

  Later, the villagers marched toward the Forest of Darkness with tools, spears, and cans of oil in hand. Sweat dripped down faces hidden behind masks of fear, while pain gnawed at their souls. Each person felt the weight of their crimes, yet they followed without hesitation. Their purpose was simple, the death of a child.

  Back in the forest, orange flames had swallowed the ravine, and smoke painted the air as Akari awoke to heat crawling up her legs. The blue glow of the forest floor had turned orange, and the ground beneath her was black and burnt. She staggered upright as flames surrounded her, and above her, silhouettes watched.

  “There she is.” They cheered, believing they had cornered a monster.

  Akari ran through burning soil, leaping over charred roots. Every breath hurt and her feet stung, but she had no other option. She skidded to a halt near the ravine wall, staring at the thorns jutting from the surface. The heat pressed against her back, the flames chasing her, and for a moment she froze. She wanted to turn around, to hide and curl up against the dirt, but the flames behind her roared louder and the dark smoke thickened. If she stayed put, she would die, and if she went back to the village, they would surely kill her. The cliff was the only place left.

  She swallowed, trembling, then reached out. Despite the large, poisonous thorns emerging from the ravine wall, Akari still climbed toward the cliff. Her hands sunk into the twisted vines and she winced as the first thorn cut her palm. She climbed only a few steps before pausing again. Above her were the villagers, their silhouettes shifted as she closed the distance. Suddenly, a burst of heat surged at her back. The flames had crawled up the ravine, crackling louder as they reached for her legs. Akari flinched and climbed another step, then another, each movement was slow and painful. She pressed her body against the wall, hoping the fire would die down, but the flames only grew stronger, creeping higher and forcing her upward.

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  Above, a shaky voice whispered. “Just stop already.”

  A young woman stepped back from the ledge as her guilt consumed her. She had believed they were doing the right thing, that the child was a demon, yet watching Akari endure the constant slashes from the thorns struck her harder than the heat below. This isnt right, no. This is so cruel. She fell to her knees as her breath left her, something heavy pressing into her soul.

  “Please,” she whispered, though her voice vanished under the roar of the flames.

  As the flames rose and Akari climbed higher, her movements had begun to slow. Her arms shook and her grip slipped several times. Her consciousness was slipping away piece by piece. Her expression emptied, the trembling in her limbs fading into a strange stillness, and then it happened once more. A faint blue cloud began to gather around her, barely visible through the smoke. It clung to her arms and drifted along her shoulders, then, the thorns around her bent as if pushed aside by something unseen. Her fingers stopped reaching for gaps and instead sank into the ravine wall itself as though the stone had softened at her touch. She no longer climbed around the thorns but moved past them like water flowing through cracks, her body weaved through narrow spaces.

  The mob stepped back in awe and fear, surrounding the ledge with their weapons raised. A hand appeared over the top of the cliff, then another, then her head, then her full body as she pulled herself over with that same fluid, sleep-like motion. After a few seconds of pure silence, Akari then collapsed on the soil, unconscious.

  The villagers charged at her unconscious body, their cries tore through the smoke, but before their blades could make contact, every limb in the crowd froze. Their feet locked as though frozen in ice. Their necks tightened, one by one as they fell like crows on a battlefield. The group who had charged at Akari, were no more.

  “I see,” the elderly man murmured. He stepped from the crowd with his hand placed on his hat, calm and cold as ever. “Return to the village. There is only one way to kill this demon.” He turned, and the others followed.

  They obeyed without a word. The crowd gathered her limp body and carried it away from the scorched ravine, moving through the forest in tense silence. By the time they reached the river, the first light of dawn had begun to rise. The river glistened as the sun began to climb higher while Akari was dragged through the grass and placed at the edge of the stream. The villagers stood behind her, and two men held her arms as the elderly man sat on a stone beside the water, his cane resting across his knees. “Hold her still.” This was their final plan, their final answer. If weapons could not cut her, if fire could not burn her, if poison could not kill her, then they would drown her.

  Akari stirred. Her vision blurred as her blue hair clung to her face. Water? She stared at the river, its shimmering light, at the fish that leapt from its surface, and she smiled, small and fragile, as though the sight alone eased something inside her. The moment barely settled before the world vanished. Something cold surged around her face, the river pulled her under, and hands forced her head beneath the surface.

  “I cannot breathe.” She twisted left, but all she could see was water. She twisted again, but there was nothing but rocks and fish that had scattered around her, a blur of silver shapes drifting through the current. Her chest tightened as memories of her parents surged through her mind. Her hands reached out but caught nothing. She tried to scream, but the river swallowed the sound, and her tears dissolved into the current as the pain grew sharper and heavier.

  Someone, anyone, please help! She screamed the thought, desperate to be saved, but nobody could hear her from beneath the surface. Her lungs grew heavier every second she spent beneath the surface. Her vision dimming while the world around her blurred into shifting shapes. Her body grew heavier, her arms floating aimlessly at her sides, and slowly her eyes began to close. There is no point. She felt herself sinking, her mind growing quiet as the last traces of strength slipped away.

  Yet something pulled her back, small at first, faint and inexplicable. A figure in her memory, fragile but warm, appeared in the darkness of her thoughts. A strange presence that felt safe. Her eyes opened, confused and unfocused. I am still alive? Why? Another memory flickered at the edge of her sight, a glimpse of someone cloaked in unfamiliar garments she had never seen before. blue silk, etched in white lines. Akari’s gaze raised, the strange figure had a sword on their waist, and long white hair that stretched down like a cape. Her gaze continued towards the figures face, but there was nothing to be seen. Their face had been hidden behind a dark mist.

  However, at that moment. Akari’s breathing had steadied despite the water pressing in from all sides. Her body stopped resisting and simply floated, calm and still, as the current curled strangely around her. Then, slowly, the water around her shifted.

  The river parted, surrounding her like a tunnel. Droplets floated upward like beads of glass. The stream bent away from her, revealing the stone beneath her feet while a soft rain of shimmering water fell as she stood on the empty riverbed. Behind her, the entire mob knelt on the ground, their breaths stolen and their bodies drained. No one moved, no one spoke. The world was still.

  Akari looked up at the falling droplets and smiled as her body faded into the morning air. Before she vanished, three words left her lips. “We’ve met before.”