Rain had fallen all night—soft, unbothered by the chaos it drowned.
The town of Rellin was quiet at dawn. Too quiet. The kind that draped over rooftops like mourning cloth. No birds. No merchant chatter. Just wind rustling through flags that should've waved with joy.
The rumors had reached the capital yesterday.
A rogue creature, they said.
Born of forbidden magic, hiding in the mines, haunting the hills.
People begged for Kael. The Hero. The Savior. The Sun-Wrapped Sword.
But he hadn't come.
He was in the eastern provinces, hunting some nobleman's cursed heir.
Politics. Prestige. Easier coin.
So the kingdom sent me.
Not alone. A few guards. A carriage. A borrowed blade.
Not to defeat the beast—no, of course not. Just to hold the line until the real story began.
But as fate would whisper it…
The story started early.
We arrived at dusk.
The mayor greeted us with tear-rimmed eyes. His daughter had vanished that morning, her scarf found near the edge of the forest.
He begged us.
I nodded.
The others hesitated. Waited. Said we should camp, wait for Kael.
But something inside me itched.
I couldn't.
Not this time.
So I left them behind.
Sword trembling in hand, I stepped into the woods where the trees bent like old men and the air felt like held breath.
And there she was.
A girl, pale as snowfall, eyes wide as moonlight. Clinging to a tree root, shaking.
And behind her—
A shadow that hissed.
The beast wasn't massive. Not a dragon. Not some roaring abomination.
It was worse.
It looked like a man. But its skin dripped like candle wax, and where its face should've been, there was only a grin.
I didn't think.
I moved.
One swing. Then another. It laughed.
My sword felt like a toy in my hand. I wasn't Kael. I wasn't trained in light or legend.
But I had fear. And rage. And a reason.
It lunged.
I fell.
And then—
It burned.
Not the creature.
Me.
From my fingertips, blue light spilled like starlit ink. Cold. Controlled. Hungry.
The grin melted. The beast screeched, and with one final wail, it vanished into ash.
Silence.
The girl stared. I stared back.
Then she whispered:
"Are… are you the Hero?"
I should've said no.
But for the first time in my life, I said—
"Not yet."
The guards found us later, jaws slack with disbelief.
No Kael. No prophecy. No golden sword.
Just me, a nameless page in someone else's book…
who just turned the first one of his own.