The world was burning behind him.
Zen ran.
His feet slammed against the cold stone path, barefoot, scraped, bleeding. His tiny frame shook with sobs, and tears blurred the path ahead. He didn't know where he was going only that he had to keep moving.
"Mama… Papa…"
He tripped. Fell. Got back up. Ran again.
The tunnel had led him into the lower city what was left of it. Fires danced between the buildings. Screams echoed through the air. But worst of all… were the eyes.
Humans. Ordinary people. Their faces twisted with fear, hatred panic.
"There he is!" one shouted. "It's the prince! The one they're after!"
Zen didn't understand.
They were his people. His kingdom. Why were they—
"Kill him before they come back!"
A rock flew past his head. Another grazed his shoulder. He turned and fled, heart thudding like a drum against his ribs. His cloak caught on a nail he tore it free and kept running.
He was too small. Too slow. The night was closing in.
Something hissed behind him. A shadow leapt from the alley another demon. But before it could reach him, a crumbling wall gave way and crushed the creature beneath rubble. Dust filled the air.
Zen didn't stop to look.
He just ran.
Through ash and broken stone. Through what remained of Eldoria.
He didn't know how long he ran until a burst of magic from somewhere nearby knocked him off his feet. He hit the ground hard, and the world spun.
The Aegis Tear, still clutched to his chest, glowed faintly.
And then… everything went dark.
When the World Was Quiet
Cold water touched his fingers.
Zen opened his eyes slowly. Sunlight poured through green leaves above. He lay at the edge of a shallow river, the water lapping at his side. Birds chirped in the distance. The air smelled of wet bark and moss.
He sat up—slowly, stiffly.
His body ached. His arms were scraped, his clothes torn, his voice… gone.
He looked around.
No people. No city. No screams.
Just the jungle.
He blinked and it all came back.
The fire. The demons. His mother's voice. His father's bloodied sword.
The door slamming shut.
Zen dropped to his knees beside the river.
And he cried.
His small hands clawed at the dirt, his voice breaking in gasps so sharp it hurt to breathe.
He pounded the earth with tiny fists, over and over.
"Why… why… why…"
"I want to go back…"
"I want my mama…"
"Papa…"
"Please… someone… please…"
The tears wouldn't stop. They soaked his face, his clothes, the Aegis Tear on his chest. He curled up, shivering not from cold, but from the empty, aching hole inside him.
The one shaped like two people who would never hold him again.
And there, in the middle of that forest, the prince of a dead kingdom wept until he could no longer breathe through the sobs.
The Sound in the Trees
Silence followed.
A stillness so quiet it felt unnatural.
Then—
Snap.
Zen's breath caught.
A branch had broken nearby. Not far. Not human.
The hair on his arms stood up.
Another sound. Low. Wet. A growl not loud, but heavy, like something breathing from a place just beyond the trees.
He wiped his face quickly, forced his body to move.
He remembered his mother's words.
"You must live."
His tears still fell, but his legs carried him. He stood, holding the Aegis Tear close, and stumbled deeper into the trees searching for shelter, for safety, for anything that could keep him alive.
Because that's what they wanted.
Because that's all he had left.