Chapter 3: The Second Flame
The night was cold. Too cold.
Ren had never felt this kind of chill before — it wasn't just physical. It was like something ancient breathed against his skin. Every creak of the trees, every gust of wind, carried whispers he couldn't understand.
Still curled up inside the hollow of the ancient tree, he barely managed to rest. The glowing mark on his hand occasionally pulsed, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, as if tracking something.
Then—
A sharp jolt hit his chest.
> "Survivor 02 — Signal located. Distance: 0.9 Miles West. Caution: Hostile entities nearby."
Ren's eyes flew open.
Another one?
Someone like him?
He stumbled out of the tree and stood beneath the morning fog. The world around him glowed with a strange energy, almost dreamlike. Blue butterflies with translucent wings drifted by lazily. Giant vines moved ever so slightly, as if breathing.
The instructions burned into his mind again:
> "Locate Survivor 02. Linking is priority."
Ren took a deep breath and began to run. Branches scraped his arms, and strange birds squawked above him. With every step, the world seemed to grow more alive… and more dangerous.
Then he heard it.
Screaming.
Not a beast's roar — human.
Ren pushed harder, his lungs burning. He broke through a curtain of vines and stopped on the edge of a broken, moss-covered shrine. Statues of forgotten gods lay shattered in the grass. At the center—
A boy with shaggy brown hair swung a broken tree branch at a creature three times his size.
The beast was like a twisted wolf — black fur, glowing green eyes, and six legs. It snarled, lunging.
Ren didn't think. He sprinted forward, grabbed a rock, and threw it with all his might.
It struck the creature's side. It turned.
Big mistake.
It growled, lips curling.
> "Say the First Word."
Ren froze. That voice again.
Inside his head.
> "Say the First Word."
He didn't know what that meant. But something — instinct — took over. The mark on his hand flared bright red.
He raised his arm and shouted without understanding:
"Valthorien!"
The air cracked.
A shockwave burst from Ren's palm, raw and red, slamming into the beast. It was thrown across the field and slammed into a broken statue, whimpering before it vanished into mist.
Ren stood frozen.
His breathing ragged.
The other boy stared at him with wide eyes.
"…You… you too?" the boy finally asked, showing his glowing mark.
Ren nodded slowly.
"Yeah," he whispered.
"I guess that makes us two."
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