Drip... drip...
Eryan's tears fell softly, carried by a sky void of hope.
Drip… drip...
He ran.
His hurried footsteps echoed through the village alleys, striking the cobblestones with desperation.
He was fleeing. Far from their stares, far from the mocking laughter, far from memories he no longer wished to face. Each breath ripped from his lungs was a silent scream.
"I have to go… I need to disappear…," he thought, panting, heart ablaze.
Behind him, Darian stood still, watching.
His clenched fist trembled, jaw locked in helplessness.
"That's enough. I can't let him go like this."
Ralk, worried, tried to hold him back but Darian shook his head and dashed forward.
A sharp gust split the air as his hand grabbed the boy's shoulder.
— "Eryan… That test doesn't define you. It's just a number. True strength… lies elsewhere," he said, voice firm.
— "I'm… nothing…," Eryan replied in a broken voice. "A failure. Everyone hates me…"
— "Then prove them wrong. This isn't your end. It's your beginning."
The wind wrapped around them. The world seemed to pause.
Darian extended his hand.
Eryan stared at it, his trembling fingers reaching slowly...
Then he looked down.
Stepped back.
"I want to believe you… but I just can't."
— …
Without a word, he shoved the hand away and took off again.
"I can't breathe here. I have to get out!"
Dead leaves cracked under his steps.
The wind lashed his tear-frozen face.
He kept running. Farther. Always farther.
Back in the village, the atmosphere was entirely different.
— "What did he think? That he'd become a knight? What a clown," Kael scoffed.
— "People like him… always dreaming. Pathetic," Irina added coldly.
THWACK!
Darian's staff slammed into the ground. The sound cracked like a whip through the air.
— "You may have shown great talent. But don't let arrogance blind you."
He looked at each of them, eyes as sharp as blades.
— "The capital may await you… but power alone won't make you great. What will… is your heart. Choose your own path… and be worthy of respect."
A heavy silence fell.
— "Such presence…," a villager whispered.
— "He is our chief, after all…"
— "He saved us… when no one else believed in us."
Ralk, fists clenched, stared at Darian, his eyes glistening.
"Darian… you gave me everything. When I was alone, broken… you came. You gave us a home. Even if only for a while… a light in the dark."
A few years earlier
SPLASH.
Ralk knelt in the mud, sobbing.
Behind him silence. And blood.
His parents.
Chaos.
His hands trembled, buried in wet soil.
— "Those nobles… those knights… They took everything from us! Even nature rejects us!" he screamed, devastated.
A gentle voice replied.
— "It's not nature that rejects you, Ralk. If it did… you wouldn't be here."
It was Darian. Calm. Present.
— "It's the hearts of men that have been corrupted. They let evil spread. But if evil spreads… so it can be good. We just need artisans. Artisans of peace."
He reached out his hand.
— "Don't give up. You too… can become one of them."
Ralk trembled, then whispered:
— "An artisan… of peace… I want… I want to follow you."
Darian smiled.
— "Heh… Bad role model, kid. I've got nothing to offer. But if you want… we can be friends."
Back to the present
The wind howled through the silence.
Darian turned around, throat tight.
— "EEEERYAAAAN!!! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
In a quiet alley, Lyra clutched her cloak close.
— "He'll come back… right? He has to come back…," she murmured.
— "Come back for what? He's useless. Won't survive a week," Ardyn said bluntly.
— "…You're wrong."
A single tear slid down Lyra's cheek.
She raised her eyes toward the horizon, fists clenched.
"Eryan… you must come back. Because I believe in you. Even if no one else does."
Night fell like a curtain of ash over the mountains.
At the edge of a ravine, curled into himself, Eryan stared into the void.
His arms wrapped around his knees, trembling.
— "Why… Why me? Why was I born like this…?" he whispered.
The wind blew gently, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
A hand rested on his shoulder.
— "You're human, Eryan. And humans are allowed to be afraid. But you can't stop here. You have to rise again."
It was Darian. He had found him.
— "You're lying…," Eryan murmured, eyes red. "You saw me fail. You looked at me like… I was a burden."
— "You're wrong. I was afraid… but not of your level. Afraid you'd give up."
His voice softened.
— "I understand your pain. But it's in these moments that we discover real courage."
— "So… I'm not a failure?"
— "No. You're a blank page. And you're the one who gets to write your story."
He extended his hand.
— "Come on. Get up. Not for them. Not for me. For you. Be clever. Be observant. Be the exception."
Eryan looked up. His fingers reached toward the hand.
He hesitated…
Then stood up. Slowly.
— "Grandpa… You're the most amazing person I know."
— "If you knew me better, you wouldn't say that. I've failed… so many times."
— "But you built a home. For us. For the orphans. For the whole village."
— "I failed… I promised them a safe haven… But peace here is just a pause… and that pause is about to end."
They embraced. Long and silently.
— "W-What do you mean by that?"
— "No, no… forget it."
Only the adults know the village won't last… I can't burden the kids with this, he thought.
— "Anyway… I'm sure everyone feels the same. You're truly… irreplaceable."
— "Now you're the one comforting me… Thanks… you little fool."
— "So now what? What should I do?"
— "You learn. You read. You watch. You think. Knowledge is your sword. And no on
e will ever be able to break you."
The wind blew gently.
Two shadows stood side by side beneath the stars.
Eryan looked up to the night sky and for the first time, he saw a path.
A path he could choose to follow.