The village was never the same after that day.
What had started as a quiet morning, full of the usual hum of work and laughter, was now overshadowed by the terrible knowledge that something—something far darker than the usual troubles of life—had come to Brumehill.
Lena was safe, yes. But I wasn't sure if I was.
The village that had once welcomed me with open arms, calling me Aether as though I were something blessed, now watched me with suspicion. Fear. It lingered in their eyes like a shadow, and no matter how I tried to smile or pretend that nothing had changed, it was there—looming, suffocating.
I hadn't realized how deeply the villagers had tied their fate to the fabric of their daily lives. They lived in a delicate peace, unaware of what it truly meant to fight, to face an enemy from beyond. But now, that peace had been shattered. And I—I—was the cause.
The whispers started almost immediately. I heard them in the streets as I passed by, a sharp murmur of voices, always low, always hurried, as though afraid I might hear.
"It's the omen."
"They say demons never attack here. Not in all the years of Brumehill's history."
"What if this... Aether is the cause? What if his presence is a sign of something worse?"
There were those who had already begun to avoid me. I caught their eyes as they glanced away, quickly turning to face the ground or walking briskly past me. I was nothing more than a shadow to them now—a burden they couldn't understand, but could feel heavy upon their souls.
Even Tomas, who had once treated me like a son, didn't meet my gaze when I came to help in the forge the next day. He kept his back to me, his hands fumbling over his tools. His silence spoke louder than words could.
I knew what they thought. They feared me. Not because I had killed the demon—no, they feared me because I had brought it here. That demon wasn't a chance encounter. It wasn't just a wandering creature seeking to destroy. They believed that somehow, I had summoned it—that the mark on my chest was some kind of curse, a harbinger of doom.
But it wasn't true. I didn't want to hurt anyone. I wasn't the one who had invited the darkness into their world.
I had been trying to protect them.
And yet, no one believed me.
It was at the edge of the village that I finally saw her—the one person who still saw me as Aether, the person who saved Lena. Mira.
She had watched everything unfold from a distance, her sharp eyes never leaving me as I fought the demon. Her wrinkled face, framed by the strands of her gray hair, never showed a hint of fear. Instead, it held an expression of quiet thought, as though she had seen something I hadn't. Something I couldn't understand.
I stood near the well, the weight of the villagers' silence crushing my chest, when she approached. Her steps were slow, measured, as though she had all the time in the world. She was the oldest in the village, yet there was always something young about her—an energy that didn't quite match her appearance.
"You've done more than you know, boy," she said softly, her voice as steady as always.
I didn't respond right away. I couldn't. Her words were a comfort, but they didn't make the tightness in my chest any easier to bear. The villagers' rejection stung, deep inside where it hurt the most.
"I didn't ask for any of this," I murmured, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. "I didn't want to bring that demon here. I was trying to protect them."
"I know you were," Mira said, her eyes soft with understanding. She placed a hand on my shoulder, her grip firm. "But that doesn't matter now, does it?"
I blinked, the realization of her words sinking in like stones thrown into the still waters of my mind. She was right. The damage was done. The village had already decided.
"You can't stay here any longer, Aether," Mira continued, her voice growing quieter. "Not with them looking at you like that. Not with the fear growing inside them."
I looked at her, pain twisting in my gut. "You want me to leave."
She nodded, the decision clear in her eyes. "It's not that I don't want you here, child. You've brought light to this village in your own way. But they'll never understand you—not like I do. And in their eyes, you'll always be the one who brought the demon to their door."
I couldn't argue with that. I had seen the way they looked at me. It wasn't just suspicion—it was fear, pure and simple. Fear of what I might become. Fear of what I could bring.
Mira paused, glancing behind her as if to ensure no one was listening. Her voice dropped even lower, a whisper now meant only for me.
"I can send you to a place where you can learn," she said. "A place where you'll be able to find the answers you seek. Where you'll train to become strong. Strong enough to protect not just this village, but others as well."
I frowned, uncertainty creeping into my heart. "A place where? Who can teach me? I don't even know who I am, or what I'm meant to do."
She smiled faintly, a sad but knowing look in her eyes. "I've heard rumors of an academy. One where warriors are trained—where they learn to harness the power within them. It's far from here, beyond the borders of the mountains, in a place known as Ironhold. The academy's name is Emberforge."
I stared at her, uncertain. Ironhold? Emberforge? These were names I had never heard, places I didn't know. But Mira's expression told me she wasn't suggesting this lightly. She wasn't sending me away out of fear or hatred.
She was sending me because she believed I had a purpose.
"You'll learn to control your power there, Aether," she said softly. "And when the time comes, you'll know what you're meant to do. What you were always meant to be."
I felt the weight of her words settle deep inside me. I didn't know if I was ready for this. I didn't know if I was ready to leave Brumehill—if I could leave behind the few that still cared for me.
But I knew one thing.
I couldn't stay here anymore.
"I'll go," I said, my voice quiet but firm. "But I need to find my own path. I need to discover who I really am."
Mira gave me a final, knowing look. "Then go, Aether. Find your path, and may the God guide you."
And with that, she turned away,
leaving me standing in the silence of the village that had once been home.
---