The night sky had shifted.
Elvia stirred from her bed, her pointy ears twitching uneasily. Something felt off—different from usual.
She sat up, blinking as a strange red-orange glow seeped through the window. The room was quiet. The other children slept peacefully.
"What... is that?" she whispered softly.
Drawn by an inexplicable pull in her chest, Elvia grabbed a small wooden plank—barely longer than her arm—and silently crept out of the orphanage, barefoot, heading toward the flickering light.
Ahead of her, the forest was alive with roars, explosions, and fire.
Each step felt heavier than the last, but she couldn't stop.
Peeking out from the bushes on the edge of the clearing, her eyes widened in surprise.
There he was.
The black-haired human—the scary man who yelled a lot, the one everyone said was crazy.
But now...
He wasn't frightening.
He looked radiant.
