The name still echoed in his mind.
Medrus Miro.
It sounded like a song, a secret, and a dare, all at once. Names had power. Zylus was beginning to understand that now.
Medrus stood beside him, silent for once. Not grinning. Not teasing. Just… There.
The wind howled softly across the cliffside, carrying with it the scent of pine and the silence of unanswered prayers. Zylus's eyes fluttered shut beneath the moonlit sky, his body slumping forward. He was feeling sleepy from all the events that had happened today. Before he could hit the ground, Medrus caught him, arms steady, gaze unreadable. The boy's last conscious breath escaped in a whisper.
Lucky whimpered once, then curled beside him, eyes dimming into sleep.
Medrus looked down at the boy in his arms, and for the first time, his smirk wasn't mischievous… It was solemn. Pride. Relief. Maybe even a flicker of something like hope.
He looked up to the heavens, the silver disc of the moon glinting above Mount Carmel.
"...Is this it, brother?"
Then, without another word, a gust of wind swept around them, blurring their forms into shadow and stardust. The world paused. Then, they vanished.
Night slowly gave way to morning. The stars faded. The sky brightened.
Zylus woke to warmth. The crackling of fire, the soft scent of stewed herbs, and the weight of sleep still clinging to his bones. He blinked a few times. Rough stone framed the ceiling above him, light trickling in through the mouth of a cave.
He sat up with a groan, rubbing the back of his neck. The bed he thought he'd slept on was… Strange. It had looked like a mattress, but now it dissolved into a simple wool blanket and a pillow made from animal hide.
"Where… Are we?" He croaked.
Medrus was crouched beside a fire, feeding wood into the flames with practiced ease.
"Home sweet nowhere," he said. "At least for now. The cave will be your starting point. Your classroom. You wanted to learn Amora, didn't you?"
Zylus's heart quickened. "Yeah. I do."
"Well then. Lesson one: don't always believe what you see." He gestured toward the bed. "That was never real. Just a trick of illusion. But it got the job done."
Zylus furrowed his brow. "So you… Trick people for fun?"
Medrus chuckled. "Sometimes. But mostly, I show them how their minds play tricks on themselves. That's where real power begins."
Zylus's stomach growled.
Medrus reached into his cloak and, from a hidden pouch, began pulling out vegetables and dried meat, adding them to a bubbling pot over the fire. A savoury aroma filled the cave, making Zylus lean in like a wolf catching scent of prey.
"Eat up. You'll need the energy."
Before Medrus could even hand him a spoon, Zylus dove in, face first.
Medrus raised an eyebrow. "Well, someone's hungry."
Zylus licked the last drop of stew from the bowl and bowed his head. "Thank you, sensei."
"Drop the formalities, kid. 'Sensei' is enough. Just treat me like a friend."
Zylus hesitated. (A friend? What does that even feel like?)
"...Okay."
Medrus nodded and stood. "Now, go outside. Explore. Learn your surroundings."
Zylus blinked. "How is walking around going to teach me anything?"
Medrus turned, voice low and sharp. "Because awareness is your first weapon. You won't survive knowing only yourself. You must know the world. Amora flows through all things. If you can't feel it, then you don't know it."
Zylus wanted to argue, but the weight of Medrus's words stopped him. (I could ask another question… Or I could go find the answer myself.)
He nodded and rose to his feet. Medrus's sharp eyes watched his every move.
As Zylus neared the mouth of the cave, a thought tugged at him. A memory. His voice stopped Medrus before he could leave.
"Hey… Back when I first got here… Those things you fought. The ones with the pitch-black skin and glowing violet eyes. They weren't human. Who-what-were they?"
Medrus paused, back still to the boy. The air between them grew colder.
"Dark elves," he said at last. "They're not from this region. Not naturally. They follow power… Or try to snuff it out. When someone new stirs the currents of Amora, they're often the first to come."
Zylus's brow furrowed. "They came… Because of me?"
"In part," Medrus said quietly. "But mostly, they came because the world's shifting. Something's unravelling, and they can smell it."
Zylus stepped closer. "Are they… Always evil?"
Medrus finally turned, his eyes grave. "They aren't evil. They're bound. Corrupted by a force older than either of us. Their ancestors were known as wise and proud once. Now, most are just hunters. Assassins. Slaves to darkness."
"Can they be… Saved?"
A long pause.
"I don't know," Medrus admitted.
Zylus didn't press further.
Later, the two stood just outside the cave, the morning sun burning off the last of the fog. The trees stood tall and silent, as if holding their breath.
"Before we go deeper, Zylus," Medrus said, "tell me something. Why do you want to learn Amora?"
Zylus answered too quickly. "To be strong. Powerful. I want to see what others haven't."
Medrus stared. "And then what?"
"...Save people? Isn't that what it's for?" Zylus asked, the words unsure even as he spoke them.
"Save them from what?"
Zylus opened his mouth, but the words faltered.
Medrus sighed and crouched near a tree. "Amora isn't just light and wonder. It's blood and shadow. Its biggest use? Killing. Controlling. You think peacekeepers are the only ones who use it? Without the ones who destroy, there'd be no one to save. You want to carry that weight?"
"I… I don't know-"
"I'm just messing with you." He grinned. "Lighten up. You're twelve, not a philosopher."
But Zylus didn't laugh. (Why do I want to learn Amora?)
"Sensei," he said at last, voice steady. "I think… It's my escape. My way out of the cage I was born in. I want to matter. To feel like I belong to something bigger than my pain. And after seeing this world, I want to change it.
Medrus tilted his head and smiled. A real one, this time.
"I see."
He pulled out a deck of cards from within his cloak, shuffled them with practiced fingers, each flick a small magic.
"This world is cruel, Zylus. Deeper and darker than what you've seen so far. And I need you to know something. Lucky can't stay with you."
Zylus shot to his feet. "What? No! He's all I have left!"
Medrus didn't flinch. His voice, thought calm, cut like stone. "If he stays, he dies. That dog is too small to outrun soldiers. Too loyal to leave you. And you're too attached to let him go."
Zylus shook his head, trembling. "No. There has to be another way."
"There isn't. You want to keep him? Then you stay behind. Stay hidden. Stay… Weak."
Zylus's fists tightened at his sides. His chest burned with defiance, but the flame flickered when truth slipped through the cracks. Medrus was right. He hated it… But he was right.
Zylus looked down. Lucky lay curled beside the fire, chest rising and falling, lost in sleep. Peaceful. Trusting. Unaware of the storm about to split their world in two.
"...Then what happens to him?" Zylus asked, voice breaking.
"I'll take him somewhere safe, "Medrus said. "Somewhere, the reach of war and Amora can't touch."
Zylus knelt beside Lucky, brushing his fingers through the dog's soft fur. He leaned close, forehead touching the sleeping pup's. The silence stretched. His breath hitched.
Zylus looked at Lucky. His voice trembled with both grief and fondness.
"Hey, Lucky… Remember that time we played tag in the woods? You ran so fast that you knocked into a tree. Then, the whole thing nearly came down on us."
He let out a shaky laugh, tears slipping down his cheeks.
"We should've been terrified. But you just barked at the leaves, and I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. Even when the world almost crushed us… You made it feel safe.
"You kept me alive," he whispered. "Now let someone do the same for you."
Lucky stirred slightly, then settled again, as if he understood.
Zylus stood slowly, wiping at his eyes. "Take care of him. Please."
Medrus stepped forward, placing a firm hand on the boy's shoulder. His tone softened. "I will. I won't be long. Just a little while."
Just before they vanished in a swirl of wind and falling leaves, Zylus called out one last time:
"Lucky! I'll come back for you! I swear! Even if all we ever get is one more conversation, I'll chase you to the ends of the earth! We'll… We'll have time. We'll get to know each other again. I promise!
And then… Just like that… They were gone.
For a moment, the silence that followed felt heavier than the weight of a thousand unspoken goodbyes.
Outside, the morning light washed the world in gold. As Zylus stepped from the cave, the shadows fell away behind him. The air was crisp, touched with dew, and the mountaintop terrain stretched endlessly beneath the sky's gentle glow.
His breath caught. Wiping the lost drops of tears that had fallen down his cheeks.
For a moment, the weight of everything. The fear, the questions, the past…Lifted. His heart pounded like a drum, not from dread, but from something unfamiliar. Freedom. Wonder.
A new path had begun. One built on regret, sacrifice, and the echo of dreams.
But it was his.