nor'

of my heart matching the frantic rhythm of my feet against the damp ground. The trees around me have become sinister silhouettes, their gnarled branches re

er the weight of my fear, I ca

ow echo of my own plea-a mocking whisper that bounces back from unseen corners of the dark

I know lies dormant within me. I imagine a blazing fire, a fierce infer

ore. Flames answe

ve left me. It is as if I am clutching at smoke, the more desper

internally. Moon

my fierce guardian. I concentrate, willing my body to shift into the agile, fearsome creature. Instead, my limbs betray me, locked in an unnatural paralys

Goddess again whose presence was known to provid

leaf caught in a storm. But my plea is swallowed by a chorus of sinis

hidden in the shadows, move with a predatory precision. Their voices merge into a single, horrifying entity-a sound that chills my blood and sharpens the edge

asn't making

e the fingers of a malicious giant determined to hold me captive. Panic surges through me as I find myself surrounded, the hunters closi

e shell of my hope. I collapse to the cold, muddy ground, screaming, my vision darkening as the world around me fades into an abyss of oblivion with e

ing I die, I shut my eyes, unable to fig

I lie there, caught between the remnants of the nightmare and the obscure reality of my room. The memory of that nightmarish pursuit lin

re," the terror remains, a silent remainder

as burned into my memory, the searing pain that left my flesh and soul scarred, and the relentless terror of being hunted by mer

my thoughts far from the mundane clatter of dishes and the soft mur

ntle yet laced with worry. His eyes searched

w, not

ver. "Nothing, Father," I replied, my smile a fragile mask barely conceali

ld. In that moment, I knew I could not burden him

us to expose. The pain was not just a relic of the past; it was a living thing, coiling within me, fueling a dark determination. I had made up my mind long

in malice, whose very existence was an affront to everything I once held dear. I would track them down, follow the twisted trail of their sins until I found them

uld leave them

determination, lips set in a firm line of resolve. In that quiet, solitary moment, I vowed to reclaim the power they had stolen from

me, yet the cold fire of vengeance was all the light I needed. Every memory of that fateful day, every ache of loss and pain, was