Screaming... Screaming... Screaming...
A child, about seven years old, was screaming at the top of his lungs. His hair was pure white, and his eyes were as black as an endless abyss. He walked among the rubble of shattered homes, clutching a torn doll—black wool spilling from its neck, one arm ripped off.
He called out pleadingly:
"Where are you? Where are you?... Brother! Where are you
Tears streamed profusely from his wide eyes, flowing down his cheeks as he walked through the streets of a great city, entirely engulfed in flames.** Fire consumed the walls, and smoke billowed into the sky, forming thick black clouds as if a curse had fallen upon the city.
The streets were utterly empty... save for corpses strewn across the ground. Not a single corpse was intact: some were headless, some handless, some limbless, and some were nothing but charred torsos.
The child kept wandering, alone, amidst the rubble of houses. The entire city was silent... nothing could be heard except his trembling voice and the sound of flames consuming stone and iron.
And suddenly... from among the shadows of the ruined houses, a black shadow emerged... watching the child with heavy stillness.
It was impossible to tell whether this shadow belonged to a woman or a man... or even if it was human at all. Its voice began to seep through... a raspy whisper, like the scraping of iron:
"Even if you go to the ends of the earth, child... I will find you. You won't escape me. Don't blame me... for this is your fate... He chose you."
The child looked around, right and left, his voice beginning to tremble:
"Who are you?!"
The shadow emerged from the darkness and approached. It stood before the child... but the little one saw nothing but a mass of inky blackness.
And suddenly... the shadow reached out its hand, seized the child by the neck, and lifted him high.
"Today... you will suffer a fate worse than death."
Then, he ascended with the child into the sky at lightning speed, until they entered the heart of the black clouds.
The child couldn't utter a word, for the shadow was choking him. The shadow looked at the burning city and waved his hand... The flames blazed higher, rising into the air. The heat intensified. The child began to sweat profusely. Then... his clothes caught fire!
He started screaming, screaming with a terrifying voice... The flames devoured his body, melted his clothes, and burned his skin, until his flesh began to melt, his hair fell out, and his head became bald.
The pain was unbearable... Then suddenly, he lost consciousness.
As for the shadow, the flames did not harm him... as if he were made of them.
When he saw that the child had lost consciousness, he gestured with his hand, and the flames subsided. He waved again, and the child's body began to heal. His hair grew back. His skin mended. His clothes returned as they were.
The child opened his eyes. He was still in pain, despite his complete recovery.
He had barely caught his breath... when the shadow pointed towards the city again, and fire ignited. The torment began anew...
His clothes melted, his hair burned, his flesh melted away, until his bones were exposed. Then he lost consciousness... then he was healed... then he burned... then he was healed...
And so... a full day passed in continuous torment. The boy no longer regained consciousness, even after being healed.
The shadow laughed, loudly... and its voice seemed to fade away... It said in cryptic words: "It seems your soul... has begun to fade..."
Then it threw the boy's burned body towards the burning city. As he fell, his body began to melt once more... The shadow disappeared into the heart of the black clouds.
And at that moment... something emerged from the boy's body. That thing said, in a faint voice: "Finally... this torment is over..."
Then the world shattered.
Nothing remained... except darkness.
And in the darkness... a few words were heard
Eternal darkness, a wrong path, an endless circular course. Many souls wandered so that some could revel in the darkness. Justice trodden upon, safety vanished, time deteriorated, And sorrows multiplied within it because of humanity's sin.
Lead the world to its dawn, for darkness looms on the horizon. And be certain: the end is but the beginning. Listen to your heart when the time comes—for that which you flee from is your salvation.
Mihon, Mihon, what's wrong? Is it the same dream again?"** — "Oh, my head... Not exactly. The last words are the same, but something's unclear. I can't hear the final words... as if something's obscuring them from me." — "Do you think those obscured words weren't part of what was told to us years ago?" Mihon replied: "I don't know... Maybe that day, the Old Man didn't say many things." When Mihon mentioned "the Old Man," sorrow surfaced in his eyes.
Yes, there are many things forbidden to be spoken of. That's why the elder said: 'It's not suitable for you to know now; you are still too young.' Therefore, we must search ourselves... Won't we find our answers in that place?"
— "Yes, Youray. Our plan remains as we agreed."
Youray said: "Do you think we will find it? Many years have passed, and it has never been heard of that anyone has set foot in that place."
Mihon replied: "The elder told us to search for three things: The Skull of Secrets, the Stone Chests (or what are known as the Ancient Manuscripts), and also the Fragments of the Tablets. The Skull and the Manuscripts will lead us to the ancient battle, and there... lie the remnants of the war. Even if we must die, we must complete our plan... and find the Crown. The most precious thing from the battle."
Youray smiled: "Dying by your side... that would be wonderful. But we must not die before achieving our goal. We must change this cursed world."
Mihon said firmly: "We will do what we can... We have no choice. Whoever stands as a wall in our path, hell awaits them."
Mihon had pitch-black hair like utter darkness, and dark, black-hole-like eyes that resembled two black voids. Two black dots marked his forehead above his left eyebrow. His clothes were black, striped in a bloody color.
Youray, meanwhile, had long white hair and shut eyes. He appeared gaunt, with pale, bloodless skin, and wore silver garments adorned with golden scribbles
Youray said: "This path will never be easy. We'll encounter many powerful foes along the way. We'll have so much fun!" (He said this while laughing)
Mihon replied: "And who cares about those 'strong ones'? We simply need more power. They'll become mere weeds in our path."
Youray said excitedly: "This world is so big... I wonder what we'll come across? I'm thrilled for this journey with you, Mihon."
Mihon smiled: "Me too... I wish we could travel this world safely, seeing happy people everywhere... But..." (He sighed, looking sorrowful)
— "So, when do we depart? And what's our destination?" Youray asked.
Mihon was silent, a large map spread out on the table before him. He pointed his finger at a specific point on it.
— "Ah, so we start from Randor... That makes sense, it's the closest to us."
The map depicted seven continents. Six of them were massive, while the seventh consisted of a large number of major islands, forming a great continent known as: 'The Archipelago'. The continent of 'Krakar' lies southeast of the Archipelago, and there lies the island inhabited by Mihon and Youray.
The map showed several routes leading to the Kingdom of Randor.
Mihon said: 'There are several routes, but we will take the Kampur route. Through the Kampur forest. I read in the newspaper that it's a dangerous route, and we will test our strength there.'
Youray said: 'Then it's settled. We just need to leave this island.'"
"The island was located 50 kilometers from the mainland, measuring 4 kilometers in length and 2 kilometers in width. They inhabited a wooden hut within a ruined village. The hut was old, containing five beds, only two of which were clean. At its center stood a large table.
The village once teemed with people years ago, but an incident claimed many lives, and the survivors abandoned it. As for Mihon and Youray, they remained despite their youth.
They walked out of the hut, climbed to the mountain summit, and stood there watching the sunset.
Yurai broke the silence: 'Isn't watching the sunset something marvelous?'
Mihon replied: 'Savor this moment... for it is the last sunset we'll see on this island.'
— 'I'll miss it... We spent beautiful years here, except for that day.'
Mihon smiled: 'Nothing lasts forever in this life... Spring plants give way to summer, and this world's summer is approaching.'"