The chirping of the birds and the gushing of the river played sweetly like a harmony from the heavens.
In a shallow corner of the river, there was a big rock, large enough for two people.
Lidien was there, sitting, playing in the cold water with his tiny feet. He was looking at the sky, an innocent smile planted on his face, away from any disturbances.
"Lidien!" shouted a young girl, who was slowly walking towards him.
"Kanaz... what are you doing here... if Uncle Tom saw you again..."
"It's okay! I'm a Village Madman now, like you... remember?"
Lidien looked at Kanaz... then a sudden thought came to his mind.
'Yeah, I taught her the prayer my grandfather taught me,' like it all came naturally.
"Say, Lidien... can we leave this village now? and travel the world?"
Then Lidien looked again at Kanaz... surprisingly... the face of Kanaz slowly matured, until her wrinkles multiplied and she became old.
"Yeah... we can leave now... I'll be with you forever."
Lidien touched Kanaz's face, his hands now also full of wrinkles.
Then suddenly the forest changed. It became darker and darker...
The sweet smile of Kanaz slowly became sinister... her teeth transformed into fangs, her eyes turned crimson... the hand that held Lidien's hand on her face decayed and turned skinless.
"Then be with me in the afterlife too, Lidien."
A shiver ran down Lidien's spine. This was not Kanaz... he frantically stood up.
And then ran towards his village.
The forest was dark, yet his village was surprisingly bright.
Then in the middle, where the large bonfire was placed, he saw a large stake with the silhouette of a man.
His tribesmen were kneeling... all of them had crimson marks on their bodies, the same as his mark when he conducted his prayer before his sacrifice, the Mark of Death.
All of their eyes were crimson, tearing with blood. They prostrated on the ground towards the stake where the man was chained.
"Let death be the start of a new beginning."
"Let death be the start of a new beginning."
Then he walked slowly towards the stake.
Only to see his Father... smiling at him while being burned.
"Live..."
Lidien's eyes were wide open... his heart skipped a beat.
"No!"
He ran towards the bonfire.
"No!!"
But every step he took made him move farther away instead of getting closer.
"NO!!!"
Until all he could see was darkness.
'A dream... no, a nightmare mixed with fragmented memories.'
Then a crack.
And it shattered...
Revealing a luminescent ocean suspended in a cosmic void. As Lidien regained his consciousness, he tried to float towards the ocean.
"Is this the Dreamflow?"
In the center of it was a large, bright red crystal... it was bleeding continuously, dyeing the center of the starry ocean crimson, but it didn't spread, and maintained itself like a fountain of blood.
Surrounding the bright red crystal were shattered fragments, dark and hazy, orbiting slowly like satellites.
Lidien touched one of the orbiting crystals, and it flooded him with memories of the old Lidien without warning.
"Urgh!"
Even in his ethereal form, Lidien felt his head burning. He kneeled and felt his Dreamflow getting smaller...
Though the Dreamflow could naturally return to its original state upon restoring the lost energy called Verve, Lidien's Demonic Rank required a full day to restore the lost Verve.
When suddenly, the blood gushing out from the bright red crystal immediately filled up the lost Verve and restored it to its normal state.
Lidien heaved a sigh of relief. Witnessing what happened inside his Dreamflow made him realize how powerful the bright red crystal was.
"This body... was unnatural."
His inherited memories told him a Soul Shard could only be whole or fractured... yet he possessed two distinct shards...
Lidien smiled, then laughed softly.
"So, I didn't reincarnate just to be a normal demon... the problem now is, I don't know what kind of Essence this one holds..."
Overcome with curiosity, he reached for the bright red crystal itself... he felt another pain, much more agonizing than the first one he had experienced.
"I-I... shouldn't have touched anything!" he said, gritting his teeth from the agony.
***
The carriage continued to rattle in the darkness of the night. Soldiers held their torches along with swords, alert for sudden ambushes and attacks, either from magical beasts or Hungers that were still lurking, waiting for the right time to attack them.
Tap... tap...
The door gently opened. Mad Dog entered the carriage, making it creak from his weight as he stood behind the curtain.
"Sshh..." Lily put a finger on her mouth, stopping Mad Dog from approaching.
"Ma'am Lily, we need to stop for the night... the Bone Orchards are dangerous during this time..." Mad Dog whispered.
"Go do your thing... Just don't disturb my little brother's sleep."
Mad Dog silently went out and commanded all the soldiers to stop their procession.
Lily then caressed Lidien's face, full of beading sweat as he murmured incomprehensibly in his dream.
"I hope this will give you a good night's sleep..." then she kissed his forehead.
However, right after Lily removed her lips from his forehead, Lidien's eyes opened, wide with the realization of what had happened.
Lidien immediately rolled to the side of the small bed, staring and pointing at Lily, who was wearing only a thin fabric.
If Lidien was a Demon, which he was, Lily was willing to sell her soul for him.
"S-stop... why the hell are you wearing that?!"
Lily giggled. On all fours, she crawled towards Lidien as the thin fabric slipped lower, revealing more of her flawless skin.
Gulping...
Lidien was paralyzed by Lily's actions, unsure if it was the ability of the Demon of Lust, or just him being innocent in front of a succubus.
"S-stop..."
Yet Lily didn't. She put her face beside Lidien's and whispered,
"I know you want it too..." while tracing his chest gently with her index finger.
Boom!
A loud explosion killed Lily's momentum, making her eyes turn crimson as her nails grew longer.
Yet she smiled at Lidien and stood up smoothly and slowly, her back glowing with a tribal tattoo that moved and flowed like a river of lava.
She put on her black cloak, covering her body, then gazed out of the window and said,
"I'll kill everyone who disturbs our brother-sisterly bonding..."