Two figures pushed through the thick undergrowth, their breath coming in ragged, synchronized gasps. Sugat stumbled, his palm slamming against the rough bark of a tree to steady himself. His lungs burned, and his pulse hammered so loudly it drowned out the night. Only minutes ago, he had been kneeling beneath the blinding lantern light of Hera, condemned by a jeering crowd, with the heat of the executioner’s torch eager for his skin. Now, there was only the deep, suffocating green of the woods.
He turned sharply to the girl beside him, his chest heaving. “What just happened?” His voice cracked, raw from smoke and terror. “That phoenix... the shadow... the smoke. Who are you? Was that your doing?”
Hiraya slowed, bending forward with her hands on her knees as she fought to catch her breath. “The smoke was mine,” she said at last, her voice steadying. “A diversion spell. Nothing more.” She straightened, her expression tightening as she looked back toward the distant, golden glow of the city. “But the phoenix?” She shook her head, her silver-gray hair shimmering in the dark. “That wasn’t me.”
They stopped, really looking at each other for the first time since the chase began. Hiraya wiped a smudge of soot from her cheek, her eyes searching his. “…I suppose I should introduce myself,” she said quietly. “My name is Hiraya. I’m a wandering witch.”
Her gaze sharpened as it settled on his feet—or rather, the void where his shadow should have been. “I’ve been traveling from city to city, following visions. Searching for someone.” She paused, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Tonight… I think I found him.”
Sugat stiffened. In Hera, no one ever asked his name; they usually spat it at him like a curse. “…I’m Sugat,” he said after a long moment. “Just a cursed boy. No shadow. No family. No one.” He looked away, his voice dropping. “The Sentinels hate me. The people fear me. You probably should too.”
“I don’t fear you,” she said, her voice devoid of the disgust he was used to. “I wouldn’t have saved you if I did.”
Something tightened in Sugat’s chest—a strange, uncomfortable warmth. Hiraya circled him slowly, her eyes wide with a deep, quiet curiosity as she stared at the ground. “…You really don’t have one,” she murmured, almost in awe.
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“You’re the first person who isn't angry about it,” Sugat admitted, shifting awkwardly.
“You look like you’re floating,” she said softly. To her, it wasn't a deformity; it was a wonder.
The moment was abruptly broken by a long, low grrrr. Hiraya froze, her face flushing a brilliant crimson. “E-excuse me,” she coughed, turning her head away in embarrassment. “I… I may have forgotten to eat during my travels.”
A small smile tugged at Sugat’s lips—the first in years. “I know somewhere we can get food.”
He led her to a quiet bend in the river. With practiced ease, Sugat snapped a sturdy branch and sharpened the tip against a stone while Hiraya watched, puzzled. Before she could ask what he was doing, he hurled the makeshift spear into the dark water. SPLASH! Hiraya let out a gasp of delight that turned into genuine laughter as Sugat lifted the stick, a large fish writhing at the tip.
“You’re amazing!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands.
“The fish tastes best when it’s fresh,” Sugat said, trying—and failing—to look cool as he puffed out his chest and gathered dry wood.
“Wait,” Hiraya said suddenly. “Book.” Purple sigils flared in the air, spinning like tiny stars before a heavy grimoire appeared in a blink of violet smoke. Sugat’s jaw dropped. “H-how did you—?”
“It’s mana,” she said casually. “This book is part of me. Watch. Ignis.” Fire blossomed from her palm, igniting the wood instantly.
They cooked the fish in the dancing orange light, eating in a comfortable silence. Later, they walked until they reached a hidden cliffside where Sugat parted a curtain of thick vines to reveal a small cave. Inside were a few worn blankets and cracked cups—a home carved by the desperate need to survive.
“This is where you live?” Hiraya asked, her eyes softening.
“I’m cursed,” he reminded her as he lit a flickering lantern. “That’s why everyone drove me away.”
Hiraya knelt beside him, her gaze turning dark and serious. “Something is wrong in Hera, Sugat. The King’s light blinds the people while the poor rot unseen. I’ve seen villages crushed and lands taken—lies dressed as victories. The world outside Hera is bleeding.”
“I’ve never left this forest,” Sugat admitted. “They said I’d bring ruin to anything I touched.”
“I’ve seen the fall of the kingdom in my visions,” Hiraya countered, her expression fierce. “I saw a man who could burn truth into the world. A chosen one. The phoenix... it wasn't a curse, Sugat. You’re him. You are the one I was looking for.”
Fear surged through him, colder than the night air. “No!” Sugat shouted, standing up abruptly. “None of this makes sense! I'm just a boy they throw bread at!”
The silence snapped tight. Then—SCRAPE.
The sound of metal against stone. Heavy boots. The rhythmic, terrifying clank of marching armor. Hiraya sprang up, her hand reaching for her grimoire. “They found us.”
Sugat’s hand slid to the rusted dagger hidden beneath his blanket, his breath catching in his throat. A boy without a shadow. An army chasing the dark. Outside, the forest began to howl as the world finally began to choose sides.
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