Rain had not touched the village of Miboru in weeks.
The sky hung gray, bloated with smoke and clouds that never wept. Trees stood still, brittle as bones. Ash drifted through the air like snow, light but constant, soft enough to ignore, deadly enough to mean something.
Kaen Myojin stood at the edge of the cliff above the village, his feet bare against the rough stone, arms crossed. He watched the rooftops below, each one wrapped in silence. The mountains were quiet. Too quiet.
His sister, Yui, was still at the well.
She always lingered, trying to balance the water jars on her head like the older girls. He warned her not to, told her to hurry, but Yui was stubborn.
Just like him.
The wind carried the scent of smoke, faint but sharp. Kaen's eyes narrowed. It wasn't from the village fires. It was different. Old. Wet and burning.
He turned and ran.
Down the hill. Past the rice terraces, empty and dry. Past the shrine, the prayer flags fluttering without purpose. His sandals slapped the earth as he moved faster, faster—
Screams tore through the still air.
One. Then two. Then too many to count.
Kaen's blood went cold. He pushed harder.
The village was already burning.
Flames danced from roof to roof, licking the sky. People ran in every direction — mothers clutching children, men with farming tools, others screaming for names that would never answer back.
Kaen didn't stop. He dove through smoke and flame, coughing, eyes watering. He reached the well. Yui was there — her jar shattered, feet bleeding, eyes wide with horror.
Behind her stood a creature.
It wasn't human.
Long limbs. A mouth too wide, splitting up its cheeks. Its skin was pale, cracked, and hissing steam. Horns curved back from its head like twisted branches. It sniffed the air, head twitching like an animal.
Kaen stepped forward.
"Yui," he said. "Don't move."
The demon turned.
Its eyes glowed gold.
Kaen grabbed the closest thing — a charred stick, weak and thin — and ran at it with a scream that sounded more like a cry. He swung.
The demon caught it easily. Crushed it in its claws. Threw Kaen aside like paper.
He slammed into a wall. Felt his ribs crack. Gasped.
Yui screamed his name.
The demon reached for her.
Kaen forced himself up, staggering. His legs shook. Blood dripped from his nose. He didn't care. He launched himself at the demon again, fists clenched, eyes burning.
"Get away from her!"
The demon turned. This time, it didn't throw him.
It stabbed him.
Claws plunged into his chest, deep and cold. He felt the air leave his lungs. Blood filled his mouth.
Yui screamed again.
Everything slowed.
The demon dropped him. He hit the ground, heavy. His limbs refused to move. His heart thundered, then weakened.
His vision blurred. Smoke. Fire. Screams. Yui crying his name.
Then silence.
Only breath. A breath not his own.
So this is it, he thought. This is how I die.
But something inside him moved.
Not his soul. Not his heart. Something deeper. Something old.
A voice echoed from within the dark.
"You do not die today."
Kaen's body convulsed.
He gasped.
Air rushed in, thick and black. His chest burned, but it wasn't pain. It was fire. Fire spreading through his blood.
"You bled enough. Now bleed for me."
The world twisted.
He opened his eyes.
The demon was turning away, dragging Yui by the arm. She kicked, screamed. Her voice cracked with terror.
Kaen stood.
His wound was still there, bleeding, but he moved.
He didn't understand why.
He didn't understand how.
But he walked forward.
The demon stopped.
Turned.
Stared at him like he wasn't real.
Kaen raised his hand. The fingers shook. Then curled into a fist.
"Let her go," he said.
The demon snarled. "You're dead."
"I was."
A black flame flickered across his chest. A mark glowed faintly — a symbol not from this world. Yui stared, eyes wide.
Kaen didn't feel the fear anymore.
Only heat.
He stepped forward again. The demon charged.
Kaen met it head-on.
No weapon. No strength. Just rage.
The moment it lunged, something exploded from his chest. Black fire — real fire — spiraled out, slamming into the demon. It screamed. Flesh sizzled. Smoke filled the air.
Kaen collapsed.
Everything went black.
He awoke hours later. The fires were dying.
Bodies lay everywhere.
Ash covered the ground. The village was gone.
Yui lay beside him, still breathing, her small hands clutching his torn sleeve.
But Kaen knew. He felt it.
Something had entered him.
It was alive.
Still there.
Waiting.
Later, when the slayers arrived, they asked what happened. Kaen didn't speak. He couldn't. His voice was broken. His eyes hollow.
The bodies were burned. Yui was taken to heal.
Kaen stayed silent.
But the voice whispered again that night.
"We survived together. That makes us one."
He pressed his hand to his chest.
The mark was still there.
Glowing, faintly. Waiting.
From the burned hill above the ruins, Kaen looked down.
Ash drifted across the wind. No prayers. No gods. Just silence.
And inside him, something breathed.