The narrow bedroom was flooded with faint moonlight, where dust particles floated like tiny stars in a confined space. Arion sat on the edge of the worn wooden bed, with sunken eyes staring at the tattered travel bag open before him. His fingers lightly brushed over the torn fabric, as if touching old wounds.
"Finally... I will leave this village."
The whisper escaped his tired lips, carrying with it eight years of heavy memories. On the wooden desk beside him, the simple copper necklace shimmered under the moonlight, the last remaining trace of Jacob, and the last witness to their friendship.
"Why did you insist on saving me that day? I told you to run."
His voice was so faint it almost dissolved into the room's silence, but the words were heavy as stones. His eyes clung to the necklace as if waiting for an answer that would never come. Then his hand slowly reached out, picked up the necklace, and deftly wrapped it in the old piece of cloth that had preserved the stains of dried blood from years ago. The movement was precise, like a long-performed ritual.
This wasn't his first imaginary conversation with his dead friend, but his insistence on continuing it was a rebellion against the cruelty of fate, a refusal of a painful reality.
"You must go... before they find you."
A faint voice came from the open window. Arion raised his head to see Julia standing on
The doorstep. She was the village doctor who had cared for him all these years, a woman not yet thirty-five, but her eyes held a wisdom greater than her age.
Arion immediately composed himself, donning a mask of feigned confidence. "It's a pity I won't be able to see the face of that scoundrel Cain when he discovers I stole his horse!"
But Julia wasn't fooled by the act. Her gaze held a pen of wisdom that mapped her fears. "Why do you insist on angering him? You know who Cain really is... I saw with my own eyes him throwing defiant youths to the beasts."
A forced laugh erupted from Arion's chest. "Don't worry, Marcus will take care of it... even though I haven't seen him since my training ended." He remembered how Marcus had left the village months ago, bidding him farewell with a vague phrase about "work that must be done."
"When I become strong enough, I will teach him an unforgettable lesson."
But Julia knew these words were merely a thin shell hiding a deep fear. She pushed him towards the door after placing some food in his bag. "Go quickly, before they discover you."
Arion walked away, his fake smile fading as soon as he turned his back. A worried look burned in Julia's eyes, resembling that of a mother sending her son into a battle from which he may not return.
Outside, the night sky was studded with twinkling stars. Arion ran towards the stable where the black horse awaited. From afar, he heard the sounds of knights approaching. He hid behind a pile of hay, his breath trapped in his chest.
"He must be here somewhere!" shouted one of the knights.
Arion pressed Jacob's necklace in his pocket. "Help me, my friend," he whispered into the darkness.
With light steps, he sneaked towards the horse. It was a critical moment; any sound could reveal his location. When he reached the horse, he cut the rope with his knife in one swift movement. The horse whinnied softly as if understanding the danger.
Arion mounted the horse and sped off into the darkness, away from the lights and noise. But suddenly, he heard a sharp whistle - the danger signal he knew well.
The night winds carried whispers of danger within them, and the black horse cut through the darkness with steady hooves, as if aware of the mission's peril. Arion leaned on its back, his eyes scanning the darkness with a mix of defiance and caution. Behind him, the voices of the knights rose from the heart of the sleeping village, chasing the ghost of the thief who dared to touch their master's property.
But his heart didn't beat with fear; instead, it filled with a strange defiance. Those knights trained by Cain were faces from a painful past, boys who had bullied him when he was weak. Now, after years of training under the barbaric Marcus, they seemed to him like mere lost, obedient dogs.
What he truly feared wasn't the men themselves, but those gleaming bracelets adorning their wrists, which connected them directly to General Cain. Arion knew he wasn't ready yet to face that giant, especially while carrying in his body the scars of his etheric illness that hadn't fully healed.
And the moment he left the village boundaries, two knights emerged from the darkness like ghosts, their armor gleaming under the faint moonlight.
"Stop, thief!" The voice shot out like an arrow in the night.
Arion didn't waste time. He jumped off the horse with the agility of a cat and charged towards the first knight. His hand touched the chest plate for a moment, releasing a hidden electric charge that threw the knight from his saddle.
When he turned towards the second knight, his sword gleaming in the air, the unexpected happened. The knight jumped back and quickly removed her helmet, revealing a face Arion had known for a long time.
Red hair flying in the night breeze, and green eyes like spring grass.
"Anabelle..." The name left his lips like a sad sigh.
"You've always been reckless, Arion." Her voice carried the sorrow of the past.
He smiled with bitter disbelief, "At least one of us has remained the same."
"You're a fool to think people don't change." Her gaze was like arrows, "You yourself are not the boy who returned from Jacob's village."
A dry laugh escaped his chest, "You know I'm not talking about change. I encouraged you to seek a better life, but to abandon a friend just because Cain told you to stay away from the cursed boy?"
Anabelle fell silent for a moment, her eyes momentarily receding into a buried past.
"If you were going to change like this, why did you stand by my side when everyone hated me?"
"Anyway, this is no longer my business now." He turned towards his horse, "If you try to stop me, I won't show mercy."
Arion pulled his horse behind him towards the dark forest. Behind him, Anabelle watched his shadow disappear into the darkness, her eyes glistening with tears, knowing she might never see him again.
She put her helmet back on slowly, pulled her unconscious companion, then whispered in a voice barely audible:
"You really are a fool, Arion. How can you be so cruel?"
She laughed mockingly at herself, "I suppose I'm to blame for this..."
She paused for a moment, her eyes following his last trace in the darkness:
"Good luck, Arion. I hope to see you again under better circumstances."
As for Arion, he merged with the darkness, his horse steadily cutting through the path. Under the star-studded sky, he stopped for a moment. The stars witnessed the crimes of the past, reminding him of Jacob and the only feelings he was still capable of feeling. The rest of his emotions had become masks he changed as needed.
His hands trembled, and the tingling in his veins increased. He knew the journey had just begun, and facing Cain was only the start. In the depths of the dark forest, a fate whose shape he did not yet know awaited him.
The journey had begun, but the greatest dangers were not on the road, but within him.