Hawwaa!

  The creature let out a war cry drenched in pain—the kind of sound a predator makes when it locks onto its prey. To begin its hunt.

  It lunged forward. Unbalanced body. Eyes filled with blackness.

  "I… Is it finally happening?"

  Breath stopped. Legs froze. Forgot he could move.

  The distance—shrinking lesser and lesser as Kai's breaths got slower and slower.

  Then—something snapped.

  Inside his body.

  Sounds became sharp and clear. The scrape of claws against dirt. The crack of twigs. His own heartbeat—slamming against his ribs loud enough to drown everything, including the creature's snarl.

  In a second his frozen body snapped with energy—legs pushing off the ground.

  And a thought. Just one clear thought—

  Run!

  Without thinking twice, he entered the dark forest.

  Kai didn't think much. Just running into the forest.

  Deeper and deeper.

  Fast and faster.

  Bushes whipping against his chest. Roots reaching for his ankles like fingers.

  All of a sudden, he heard a question within him.

  Why am I running?

  It came quiet. In a very casual way. Like someone familiar knocking on the door.

  He'd spent years thinking about death. Peaceful. At worst—nothing. And it wasn't so different from this, from carrying the hollow weight in his chest in every breath.

  So why are my legs moving?

  Is this… fear of death?

  He searched his heart for the answer—turning the question over like a stone to find something underneath. Just to find the same thing he'd always found.

  He had always yearned for death. Quietly. Politely. The way a drowning man yearns for a stick to float.

  So why—why—was he running away now? When he finally got to taste it.

  He stumbled. Shoulders hitting the bark of a tree—rough, the impact rattling through his collarbone. He turned.

  Twenty metres.

  Fifteen.

  His chest heaved. Legs felt heavy—as if invisible hands were sinking his body into the soil.

  "Huh… hope it will be quick."

  Heartbeats calming down. No.

  Not calming.

  But boarding an accelerating train.

  His mind fought. Desperately. Violently. Tearing Kai himself apart for life.

  "Stop fighting."

  Death… at worst, it would be painful, but pain ends. Everything ends. It was a truth he'd learned not so long ago.

  Kai raised his arms in front of him, a loose guard. Not to surrender or block. Just—a gesture. Like embracing death with his arms.

  "Hope death feels better."

  With that, he relaxed his body. His back found the bark to lean against while he lay on the ground.

  Eyes with no fear. Not even any feeling. Just—a flat, open gaze. Watching the dragon-like creature closing the distance.

  Ten metres.

  **

  "Maa, what is joy? Sorrow? Feelings? What is the feeling everyone talks about? Are they good? Why can't I feel them?"

  A small boy looked up at his mother. She stood at the kitchen counter, chopping vegetables—the steady rhythm of the knife filling the warm air.

  Fresh smell of stinking hing and jeera rising with the hiss of oil heating in an old iron wok.

  Her hands slowed. Not stopping.

  "Umm… maybe something which reminds us that we are alive."

  "So am I not living? Am I dea—"

  Before he could finish, her hand pressed against his mouth.

  "NEVER!"

  Her voice cracked, filled with fear rather than anger.

  "Never repeat these words again."

  The kitchen went silent.

  Then, with a faint smile and soft expression, she added,

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "There's a saying—for light to spread, there needs to be darkness."

  She set the knife down. Turned fully towards him. Her fingers found his head. Rubbed gently. The smell of onion followed her touch.

  "God has given everything a fixed time. Fixed good times. Fixed bad times. When one ends, the other comes. So there will be good times, Kai. There will."

  Her eyes held his. Not blinking. Waiting.

  "Promise me you will live. Okay?"

  Kai looked into her eyes. Two dark pools deeper than the deepest.

  "Promise."

  **

  Promise!

  Kai's eyes snapped open—violently.

  Six metres.

  "Sorry." His voice came flat. Almost bored. "It's not my time yet."

  He pushed himself to stand.

  His eyes swept across the ground and found it—a thick fallen branch.

  Grabbed it like a bat. Hands fully stretched backwards. Taking a proper stance.

  Two metres.

  The creature lunged.

  WHACK.

  The impact travelled up through the wood to his palms, his wrists. The creature's body—lighter than expected—launched sideways to hit the ground, landing some metres away.

  It scrambled upon its legs. Shaky but standing.

  "Strong but light, like hollow from inside," Kai muttered, analysing the creature's build before moving his legs in another direction.

  "Hmm… if not for my low stamina, it would have been a six."

  He delivered the joke in a flat monotone. No audience. No laughter.

  Didn't matter. He'd practised that. Things normal people say, expressions they wear.

  Kai started running again—but this time it was different. Before, he was carried by his survival instincts. Now he was running. Changing direction.

  Zig-zag. Zig-zag.

  Sharp left. Sharp right.

  Using the cover of trees, forcing the creature to adjust its line with every turn.

  Fast. Faster.

  Behind him—the creature recovering. Wounds filling. Its stride becoming smoother.

  Hmm… if I keep running, I will end up dead anyway.

  He criticised himself and started thinking of other ways out.

  Crack. Crack.

  Somewhere in the trees, the four-armed man was still fighting the bigger creature.

  Seeing its condition, it looked like it lacked energy to let out that cannon attack—probably thanks to the four-armed man. But this wouldn't last long, as from the look of it, it would recover in some minutes.

  Not enough time. Barely a few minutes.

  He quickly came up with a short-term solution. Not one that would save him, but one that would buy him some time.

  He grabbed the bark of the nearest tree. Both hands. Fingers digging in.

  He climbed. Fast. Quickly reaching one of the highest branches.

  The creature reached the base of the tree nearly three seconds after.

  Claws on bark.

  Haawaa!

  The creature cried out—frustrated, furious. Claws scraped against the trunk, leaving white gouges in the wood. Failing to climb.

  Its black eyes showing the reflection of Kai—its prey.

  With each try, its limbs seemed to be recovering. Getting better at grip.

  "I have only a few minutes."

  Kai crouched on a thick branch, surveying the forest below. Scanning.

  "Think. Think."

  …

  Crack.

  Whoosh!

  The four-armed man passed Kai's tree from above, close enough that the displaced air ruffled Kai's hair.

  Locked in the claws of the bigger creature.

  Struggling, his coat torn from the waist.

  Blood—dark, almost black—trailed behind them like brushstrokes.

  And from the inner pocket of the torn coat—something slipped.

  A small golden cylindrical container.

  Covered in some threads that unravelled in midair.

  Symbols that Kai had never seen before.

  Strange geometrical patterns that ached one's eyes if followed.

  Mysteriously beautiful.

  Carved around its curved surface.

  Kai's pupils reflected it falling.

  Thud!

  The box touched the soil near Kai's tree. The remaining threads dissolved on touching the ground.

  "What is tha—"

  Before the words left his mouth, the box began to glow.

  Golden light.

  Warm. Intense.

  Making Kai feel that suddenly his surroundings were filled with knowledge.

  The creature near the base of the tree—caught by the light.

  With thin smoke rising, its body started burning.

  Forcing it to retreat several tens of metres away.

  Hawaall!

  Hawaall!

  This cry was no longer of rage or frustration but a real pain cry.

  "Got it."

  Kai's voice—flat, measured.

  "Now it's time to end this."

  He started descending the tree slowly. Concerned if the light would burn him too.

  The creature saw its prey coming closer.

  It tried to step forward.

  But was driven back by the light.

  "Will I get burned too?"

  He cast his gaze on the unaffected leaves scattered on the ground inside the light's radius.

  It will be safe, I guess.

  Kai thought after ensuring his safety.

  Hawaall. Hawaall.

  The cries changed. Something entered the creature's voice that hadn't been there before—something that sounded, impossibly, like helplessness. It watched Kai standing. Untouchable. Three metres away.

  "Huh…" Kai tilted his head. "Even you've got feelings?"

  His face changed to reveal a smile. Small. Practised. Real enough to make anyone fall for it.

  It dissolved as quickly as it came.

  "There's no one here. No need for that."

  He then moved toward the box. Stretched his right arm toward it. Suddenly, he retracted his arm before it could touch it.

  He then picked up a leaf and tossed it on the box.

  It slipped through its smooth surface to touch the soil again.

  Safe! With that confirming that touching the box would not cause any harm to him, unless the box was biased toward humans.

  He slowly stretched his hand—contact.

  Some strange cold metal. Something flowing inside it—like energy itself.

  "I wonder if the next second I'll turn into ashes." With this, he shook his hand, grabbing the box toward the creature in a mocking way.

  The creature grunted toward Kai while maintaining a distance of ten metres.

  Then the light—

  The light! It disappeared all of a sudden. Not dimmed. Not faded.

  But vanished, with its warmth. Leaving Kai in the darkness of the forest.

  Hahaha…

  The laughter echoed inside his chest. Hollow and familiar.

  "Now this is called bad luck."

  "Man!" He sighed. "Is there some room for neg—"

  His ears heard the howl of the creature, but now it was new. And it was clear in the creature's eyes what it was—mockery.

  It was "laughing" at Kai.

  "You definitely got feelings." He narrowed his eyes. Not a joke anymore, but a genuine observation.

  Both stood frozen. Breath held by the forest.

  Kai moved first to run, followed by the creature.

  Boom!

  The creature launched a weak cannon which disappeared halfway before reaching Kai.

  "Did I cross the path of a black cat today?" he muttered, already running. Zig-zagging.

  Six metres.

  But now the creature's body was better balanced than before.

  Four metres.

  As Kai ran, he swept his eyes over the golden box. Some lines emerged on its curved surface.

  A text message.

  He read while running. Eyes flicking between the words and the dark forest ahead.

  "The Fallen One—A Servant. To make him serve you, chant: I am unknown. Want to be known. I am ignorant, enlighten me with Knowledge. I ask for one who emits knowledge. I ask for the Servant of Knowledge."

  Two metres.

  "I ask for kind service, kindest of kinds—The Sura of Knowledge." Kai's voice rose in a flat manner to recite.

  "SERVE ME. SERVE ME. SERVE YOUR MASTER WHO SEEKS KNOWLEDGE."

  The box erupted, leaving Kai's hand to float in midair.

  Golden light. But brighter than before, like a small sun. It flooded the forest, erasing shadows. Kai shut his eyes. It carried a mysterious warmth.

  "Sh*t! 'He' is free." Somewhere in the same forest, the four-armed man who was still fighting the bigger one, carrying heavy wounds, seemed to notice the light.

  Heartbeats passed.

  Three.

  Five.

  Eight.

  The light slowly faded away.

  Kai opened his eyes.

  Empty hands. The box had disappeared somewhere in the air.

  At his feet—a circle of fine ash, dark against the soil. The creature. Reduced to ashes. No bones. No claws. No black hollow eyes. Just ash.

  Kai stared at the ash for seconds.

  Then at his empty hands.

  Then at the ash again.

  "Woah. What happened?" Flat. Unbothered. "The box—where'd it go?"

  He scanned the air, ground, and trees, looking for the box.

  "Anyway," he added, nudging the ash with his foot, "seemed to have made good fertiliser out of the creature."

  Kai didn't think too much.

  He listened to the surrounding voices. The sound of battle had moved a nice distance away. After making sure there were no more threats, he relaxed.

  Then the easygoing expression he was wearing as a mask softened.

  Then faded away.

  Replaced by nothing.

  "Performance over."

  He then turned toward his home direction.

  And ran.