---
The sky had taken on a stifling gray guise, as if preparing to swallow a village without showing any remorse.
As its clouds slowly twisted across a white creature, trailing a long shadow behind it, like the echo of a forgotten soul.
It wasn't an owl... or even a bird.
It was something else...
An eye in the sky.
In the corners, mustard-colored posters hung, speaking coldly of a "government council" that had granted asylum to emissaries from the civilized class. But strangely, none of the poor showed refusal. They remained still, silent... as if their mouths had been sealed from within.
"They got through the first whisper."
...
Deep inside a decaying house, specifically under the garage, sat Larius amidst the tangled threads of shadow. It wasn't a place he lived, but a hole where a man whose identity had been shattered was hiding.
The fingers of his right hand trembled as he held a small mirror, cracked at the edge. In it, he saw what should not have been seen: black veins snaked beneath his skin like hungry snakes.
But they weren't just veins. They were a strange tattoo... a hidden signature on a contract he hadn't signed with his own hand.
He felt something in his chest... like a rusty nail being driven slowly in from within.
Above him, the wheels of the cart clattered against the stones outside. The owner of the house had left. The timing was perfect.
Larius entered the house with light steps, as if he were infiltrating his own body. He turned on the faucet, and the cold water spilled over his skin. He felt uncomfortable. Every drop reminded him that his body no longer belonged to him.
He emerged half an hour later.
He held an old watch in his hand, a type the market had forgotten.
It was working... until it stopped suddenly, without warning. He looked at her, then at the window.
And from among the branches of a nearby tree... Something emerged.
It wasn't clear. Maybe just a piece of cloth... or a wing.
It came out.
It approached the tree.
Nothing.
He turned around.
And the sound of the wind changed.
A being appeared from the sky, with white feathers like a shroud, and eyes dripping with blood.
Its beak was long, ending in a human head... a familiar face.
The owner of the house.
Larius didn't feel the fear of a child.
He felt like he'd seen himself in a mirror, dead... and still breathing.
The being pounced.
Larius recoiled, the ground slipping beneath him, but he barely escaped.
He ran inside, no destination, only escape.
The owl smashed through the walls, screaming as if it were screaming inside his mind.
He wanted to run.
But as he approached the back door, it turned around... it looked.
The look was a mixture of awareness and anger. As if she knew him.
Instinctively, he threw his watch toward a nearby window.
The glass shattered.
A scream.
An explosion of feathers and death.
She rushed into the room, tearing everything apart.
Larius seized the moment.
He ducked and ran.
He didn't look back.
...
Two days later
Larius was returning From the village of Sarqa some food and clothes Heading towards a nearby abandoned wooden house He was sitting there
During sunset, he went out for a little walk.
While he was walking through the streets of the village, he heard a rustling sound. Suddenly, a stranger carrying a stick hits him with it, knocking him unconscious.
...
Larius woke up in a dark room, his hands bound, his head throbbing with pain.
The light was scant, but the smoke from a cigarette was discreetly burning.
A man with neutral features, He was wearing a gray robe that looked like a village guard with a short beard, brown hair, and sharp features.
"Who are you?" Larius asked.
The guard replied, "Calm down, you little thief. I'm here to do my job."
What kind of work are you kidnapping me for?
Larios said it angrily towards him
The man took a step forward.
"I'm one of the guards. One of those who still remember what A village before people like you destroy it .For your information, the rest of the village guards, its ruler, Azouq, and even the people here do not know what kind of danger you are threatening, but I was searching and trying to find you in order to finish, let me say, some distortion. "
Larius laughed. His voice was broken.
"The likes of me?... Damn, you don't know anything You're just a village worker. Stop messing with me. ."
The guard didn't get angry.
He sat quietly.
" Oh really I know. I've seen the whispers eat away at one mind after another. But it's not just you.
You, when you fail... you transform.
You become... like her."
He fell silent.
" Two years ago I was working It was a village living in temporary peace. But strange phenomena began to occur. Storms, weather changes, and the appearance of strange, savage creatures. It has started to appear since we heard about cases of madness and sometimes death.From some young people Then I knew it was her Curse of the whispers of death
Larius was silent.
Something in his heart stirred. A rare moment of identification.
" What does it have to do with me ? And you think killing me will cure you?"
The guard looked at him with dull eyes.
"No. But it will prevent another crime And the people of the village will know that I am great. ."
He raised his wand.
"When the first whisper passes... you will reveal your true colors .If you fail, your body will fall and you will be dead. "
...
Larius felt something in his chest stir.
It was as if his pulse was no longer his own.
His body went cold.
But his mind was working.
Quietly, he pulled out a small blade hidden behind the bench.
He cut the cord.
In a flash, he leaped up, kicked the light toward the guard, and ran.
The guard grabbed his leg, and he struggled.
But he kicked him, and he was pushed out.
He ran...
The air was heavier than usual.
The sky was clotted.
Everything seemed distorted.
He reached the edge of the forest.
But...
A blow to his chest.
He fell.
His breath ragged.
His eyes reddened.
In his mind, it wasn't the pain that was the master... but the sound.
".Death has really chosen you "
The first whisper...
It wasn't words.
It was a judgment.
I am just a young man like you who did not find anything other than this life to find his passion in it, so
---Help me by commenting, sharing🙏 and giving me suggestions that might improve the novel.