The smoke rose gently at first, drifting in soft gray spirals against the bright blue sky. Steve walked toward it with steady steps, stone sword in hand, heart thumping with equal parts fear and curiosity.
The land around him shifted slowly as he traveled:Grass became plains, plains became soft rolling hills, and the trees thinned until only scattered oaks dotted the landscape. For the first time, the world felt… wide. Alive.
And he was not alone in it.
Steve climbed one last small hill, and froze.
Below him spread a cluster of square houses made of wood and cobblestone. Tiny gardens sat behind fences. Lanterns hung from posts. A well stood in the center of it all, surrounded by gentle blocky paths.
A village.
People.
Or… beings.
His heart raced. "Someone lives here."
Or lived.
Because the silence was unsettling.
No footsteps.No voices.No movement.
Just wind.
Entering the Silent Village
Steve approached the first house cautiously, sword raised. The door was slightly open. He pushed it with the tip of the blade.
The room was empty.
A small bed, a table, and a chest.
He checked another house.
Empty.
A third.
Also empty.
Each home showed signs of life, half-eaten food, tools lying around, wheat growing in neat rows, but no villagers.
It was as if they had all vanished at once.
"Where… where did everyone go?" Steve whispered.
A chill crawled up his back.
Strange Markings
At the center of the village stood something he hadn't noticed before: a tall post planted firmly in the ground, wrapped with strange symbols carved into wooden planks. Straight lines, zigzags, circles folded into squares, none of it made sense.
He reached out and touched one.
A sudden flash stirred at the edge of his memory, a feeling, not an image.
Fear.Running.Screaming.Night.
He jerked his hand back, breathing hard.
"What… was that?"
His heart hammered, and he shook his head to clear the dizziness. The memories didn't come. Only feelings. Faint echoes.
The Survivor
THUNK.
Something moved behind him.
Steve spun, holding his sword ready.
A small door creaked open from a house on the far side of the village. Something shuffled.
A figure stepped out, short, blocky, with green robes and a large square nose. Its eyes widened when it saw him.
A villager.
Alive.
The villager pointed at Steve, panicking."Hrrr! Hrrr!!"Then it rushed toward him, grabbed his arm, and tugged urgently.
"Hey, I'm not here to hurt you!" Steve said, startled.
The villager only pulled harder, gesturing toward a house with barred windows and a reinforced door.
Steve followed.
Inside, the villager pointed to the wooden floor.
Scratch marks. Deep ones.Claw-shaped.
Steve crouched. "Something attacked the village…"
The villager nodded violently, eyes wide with fear.
Then the villager pointed to the horizon, far beyond the plains, toward a massive dark forest where the trees stood tall and unnaturally still.
Steve's instincts whispered again.
Do not go there.Not yet.Not alone.
The villager made a choked sound, pushing a small object into Steve's hand: a worn map, edges tattered, the ink faint but clear.
On it was a symbol drawn in rough strokes:
A tall, dark figure with haunting purple eyes.
Steve stared.
He had seen something like that on his first night… that long-limbed creature surrounded by drifting purple particles.
The villager pointed at the symbol…then at Steve…then at the dark forest…
As if saying:
This thing took them.And you… must face it.
Steve swallowed hard.
He didn't remember who he was.He didn't know why he was here.But a strange determination settled inside him.
"I'll help," he said quietly."I don't know what you're afraid of… but I'll find out."
The villager's expression softened. It placed a hand on Steve's shoulder, then hurriedly barricaded the door again.
Steve stepped outside, staring at the map, feeling the weight of the unknown ahead.
A dark forest.A missing village.A creature that watched him from the shadows.
His journey was no longer just survival.
It had become a mission.