The rain continued to fall steadily, while a girl near the entrance of a cave tried to start a fire using sticks and stones to ignite the flame.
"Come on, I've seen this in so many movies!"
After a couple of attempts, the girl finally managed to light it, her face glowing with excitement.
"Wow! It really worked!"
Suddenly, she seemed to realize something.
"Up until two days ago, I was using gas to light the fire... and now I've suddenly become a caveman."
The girl looked out of the cave, noticing the sun beginning to set, then pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them.
"I really liked my old life. Why did this have to happen...?"
After a moment of silence, her stomach growled. She frowned in annoyance.
"And as if we didn't have enough problems already, now we have to find our own food... by hunting!"
Frustrated, she grabbed the bow beside her and examined it.
"How do I use it!?"
She tried to find the right position, but none of them felt right.
"Ugh! Damn!" she shouted, throwing the bow to the ground in anger.
"I don't even know how I survived this far... I've only lived on wild berries."
After venting and taking a few deep breaths, she looked back at the bow and picked it up.
"Let's try again."
She tried several positions before stopping to think.
"Think... I've seen so many movies. One of these can help me!"
The girl soon tried a new position and smiled confidently.
"Yes! This is the right position!" she said as she prepared to shoot.
"Go! Fly, arrow!"
The arrow came free from the string... and landed almost right in front of her. The excitement faded.
"Well... I couldn't have expected to succeed on the first try."
He went to pick up the arrow and prepared himself again.
"Let's try again..."
He spent the rest of the time shooting arrows until he fell asleep from exhaustion inside the cave.
The girl woke with the bow still in her right hand, yawned, and saw the sunlight entering the cave.
"It's already morning..."
Her stomach growled again. She sighed and stood up, bow in hand.
The girl's hair was pulled back in tight braids, some dyed a golden blonde that caught the light, framing a harmonious face, a face that couldn't go unnoticed. Her brown eyes held a multitude of emotions, an ever-changing storm that made her difficult to decipher, but completely authentic.
She looked at her bow with a smile. "Let's try some real practice."
A sudden sound of footsteps in the forest made her tense.
Really?!
She quickly erased all traces of the campfire and hid in the darkness of the cave, taking cover behind a large rock.
"Come here, girls!" said a male voice, approaching the cave.
"It seems safe here!" said the person entering. It was Dalai, followed by Dana, carrying Estrella on her back.
The hidden girl watched them worriedly.
How do I get out of this!?
"Okay..." Dana gently placed Estrella against the cave wall.
Estrella looked at Dana with a sad expression.
"I'm sorry you have to carry me around like a sack of potatoes."
"Don't worry, we'll just consider this training." Dalai replied ironically as he inspected the cave, only to be hit on the head by a small pebble. He turned to see Dana looking at him disapprovingly.
As Dalai continued to inspect the cave, Dana made Estrella more comfortable and gave her a warm smile.
"We're here to help each other. I know you would have done the same if I were you." Dana said, standing up.
Estrella felt a wave of relief at those words.
Dana turned and noticed small burns on the ground. Her eyes immediately darted to Dalai.
"Dalai, look out! There's someone here!"
Dalai turned to Dana, right next to the rock where the girl was hiding. Seizing the moment, the girl grabbed Dalai, aiming an arrow at his neck.
"Shit!" Dalai cursed as the girl held him down.
"Don't move, or it'll end badly!"
I didn't notice those burns because I was in such a hurry to help Estrella! —Dana thought angrily as she picked up her sword.
"You... drop the sword!"
Dana hesitated for a moment, but then dropped the weapon to the ground.
"Yes... but don't do anything crazy." Dana said, her voice tense with concern.
"I know exactly what I'm doing. Now, get away from the cave entrance!" the girl ordered as she slowly made her way toward the exit.
Dana stepped aside, and the girl pushed Dalai away before breaking into a run.
Dana and Estrella watched her disappear into the distance, while Dalai slammed his fist on the ground in frustration.
"Fuck! This is all happening to us?!"
Dana approached to check on her.
"Yeah..." Dana muttered bitterly.
The girl ran as far from the cave as she could before stopping, panting deeply. She leaned against a tree, her hands resting on her knees.
"A stroke of luck..." she muttered, exhausted.
As she caught her breath, she thought back to what she'd just done, and a wide, excited smile spread across her face.
"Just like in a movie..."
[Two days earlier]
The silence was absolute, broken only by Dana's ragged breathing. Around her, there was nothing, only darkness.
A darkness so thick it seemed alive, swallowing every shape, every sense of distance. She could barely make out her hands in front of her face, indistinct shapes ready to vanish at any moment.
Then, behind her, something changed.
No sound. No footsteps.
Just... a presence.
From the veil of darkness to her left, an arm slowly emerged. The fabric of the void parted like an invisible curtain, allowing a pale limb to slide out, its movements unnaturally calm. A thin gray mist wrapped around that hand, drifting like thick smoke, and with each touch, it chilled the air.
Icy fingers brushed Dana's chin, gently lifting her face. A shiver of fear ran down her spine, freezing her in place.
Instinctively, she tried to turn.
But the arm vanished in an instant, retreating into the darkness with unnatural speed, as if swallowed by the void itself.
That's when she heard it.
The slow sound of footsteps in the darkness.
They moved slowly, yet each step seemed to vibrate in the air, coming closer and then fading, as if coming from every direction at once.
What's going on... — Dana thought, panic rising as she tried to pinpoint the direction of the footsteps.
"Are you afraid of the dark?"
The voice didn't come from anywhere, but seemed to emanate from the darkness itself. Deep and cavernous, each word trailed through the air like a cold shadow touching her skin.
"Who are you!?"
"What a foolish question, my dear subordinate... I am your deity, the one you will represent on your journey."
"How could I represent a deity who doesn't even introduce himself to his subordinate?"
The deity chuckled at Dana's words.
"If you insist... I am Erebus, a primordial god born of chaos, the personification of darkness and shadows."
"Are you an evil deity?"
"What difference would it make to know that? In the end, you'll just want to win and survive."
"Why don't I like the idea of bringing victory to an evil deity?"
"As I said, I am the darkness: I can be welcoming and mysterious, but also disturbing and dangerous. It all depends on who stands in my way."
Dana felt Erebus stand directly before her.
"Why did you choose me?"
From the darkness, Erebus's hand emerged again, gently caressing Dana's golden hair, while his other hand offered her her future divine weapon.
"Even in the thickest darkness, a single spark is enough for your hair to reflect the light. May that faint hope accompany you into the depths of this dark world, where the tournament decides fate."
[Back to the present]
Dana woke up leaning against the cave wall, Estrella resting her head on her shoulder as she slept.
Dana looked out of the cave and saw the darkness of the night.
Erebus was wrong about one thing—I will always shine, not because I reflect light, but because I carry my own, even in the deepest darkness.