At the southern tip of the Kingdom of Morneth lay a walled town, perpetually suffused with the smell of putrid earth. People were born there, and people died there. They called them "the cursed." It was in this town that Darius was born.
Darius's family was an ordinary one. His father, Gareth Crowe, was a former carpenter; his hands were thick and calloused. His mother, Lyanna Crowe, was an elegant but weary-faced woman. And then there was his older brother, Kael Crowe, three years his senior, one of the most optimistic souls in the town.
But every day, the same questions gnawed at Darius's mind:
"Why are we here?"
"Why must we die in this decay while they are free?"
"What was our sin?"
His mother would always stroke his hair and say in a low voice:
— "Darius… sometimes there is no answer. You just have to endure."
But even in those days, sparks of rage flickered in Darius's eyes.
In Morneth's cursed town, the virus of decay struck one of its harshest blows yet. Darius's home was now like a cemetery where the silent footsteps of death roamed.
His father, Gareth, had hands turned black, his veins swollen with the rot. Blood gushed from his mouth with every cough. His mother, Lyanna, was pinned to the bed; her chest sank with every breath, her lungs tearing apart. His brother, Kael, was huddled in a corner on the floor, retching and trembling.
As Darius watched them, a single question echoed in his mind:
— "Why us?"
Lyanna's voice was thin, cracked, and brief.
— "Darius…"
The woman's lips were bone-dry, her eyes drifting into the void.
Gareth could barely lift his head. A deep rattle came from his throat.
Kael bent over, coughing up blood, gripping the floor with his fingers. He laughed in utter despair.
Darius knew what he had to do. Even at the age of 5, he had to kill his family, for he could not bear for them to suffer such agony.
Tears streamed from Darius's eyes as he picked up the rusty knife. His first step was toward his mother. Lyanna closed her eyes and uttered a single word:
— "Forgive."
The woman fell silent without a struggle as the knife pierced her chest.
Gareth managed a trembling smile.
— "My son, sometimes you have to make hard choices in life. That's what makes life what it is. This is the end for us, may this end be your beginning."
With one swift motion, his father's voice was silenced as well.
Only Kael remained. His brother, spitting blood, looked at him. His lips moved one last time:
— "Live only for yourself."
When the metal of the knife was once more stained with blood, a profound silence fell over the house.
Darius sank to his knees, staring at his bloody hands. His breath hitched.
— "If my family and I couldn't be happy, I won't let anyone in this world be happy."
And in that moment, the child Darius died. Only Darius Crowe remained.