The sky looked wrong the next morning. Yun didn't even know how it was wrong, but something about it felt… tilted, like the colors were in the wrong places or the clouds forgot how they're supposed to move. He didn't sleep well. He barely slept at all, honestly. Every time he closed his eyes he saw that creature leaping at him again, the teeth, the cold breath, the… the silver light that came out of him.

Him.

Not Shen Yu.

Not some hidden hero.

Him, a boy who could barely stack firewood straight.

His hands kept shaking all morning. His breath kept getting stuck somewhere between his chest and throat. He walked around like he was drunk but he wasn't, he was just lost in his own body.

The villagers didn't talk much. They looked tired and scared and a little angry too, like this fear was someone's fault. People avoided walking alone. Kids stayed inside. Even the chickens made less noise, like they sensed something in the air that Yun couldn't name but could feel.

When Yun left his house, his mother grabbed his sleeve tight.

"Don't go far," she said, her voice trembly and thin. "Don't wander about like always. The world's not acting normal."

Yun nodded though his throat felt too dry for speaking.

But as soon as he reached the clearing near the well, he saw Shen Yu waiting there. Shen Yu always waited in weird places, like he knew where people would walk before they even started walking. His robe was stitched wrongly now—Yun noticed instantly that whoever fixed it didn't know how to sew properly. The stitches crooked. Some parts didn't match. It made Shen Yu look less perfect somehow, more human even.

"You look pale," Shen Yu said. His voice softer than usual.

"I—I don't feel normal," Yun muttered back. "I feel like something leaking inside me that I can't stop leaking."

Shen Yu tilted his head. "That's… not the best description, but yes. Awakening feels like that for some people."

Yun rubbed his palms on his pants. They still felt warm, like the silver light hadn't left them since last night. It scared him. It excited him a little but mostly scared him like crazy.

"Did I really do that?" Yun asked. "The light? The… star thing? Did that come from me or was it something else, something that just passed through me because the monster was too close?"

"It was you."

Shen Yu didn't even hesitate.

"But it wasn't supposed to be this soon."

Yun blinked. "What does that mean?? What do you mean sooner or later?? Why does it sound like you know more about me than I know about myself??"

Shen Yu's eyes flickered away. Not guilt exactly, but something close.

"You were born with it," he said slowly, picking each word like choosing which stone wouldn't break when stepped on. "A mark. Not visible to others but visible to those who know what to look for. The creatures that attacked they smelled it. Or sensed it. Or whatever their kind does. That's why they came."

"So it's my fault?" Yun snapped, his voice cracking ugly and loud. "Everything that happened last night, the screaming, the torches, the monsters.....because of me?"

Shen Yu stepped forward quickly. "No. No, Yun. Don't twist it like that. This started long before you were even born. Your… your birth is the answer, not the cause."

Yun didn't understand a single piece of that. The words swirled around in his head like dirty water. His eyes stung. He turned away because he didn't want Shen Yu to see him looking like he might cry.

But then something else happened.

Shen Yu's hand moved very slightly and Yun felt the air around them shift again. Not like last night, not a powerful shockwave, but a small ripple. Like the world exhaled.

"They're watching," Shen Yu whispered.

Yun stiffened. "The monsters?"

"No," Shen Yu said. "Something worse. Something older. Something that doesn't leave footprints."

Yun swallowed hard. "The… stars?"

Shen Yu didn't answer. Which was an answer by itself.

Later that day…

The village tried to continue like everything was normal. People repaired fences. Old man Lai tried fixing the gate. Auntie Lin forced the children to sit and practice their writing. But their hands shook so badly that every character looked like a spider crawled across the page.

Even the goats acted strange. One refused to eat. Another kept staring at the forest like it expected someone to call its name. A pot shattered suddenly without anyone touching it. Small things, but too many small things piling up into something scary.

Yun walked with his hood low, head hurting, the silver warmth still flickering in his veins. He dropped firewood twice. He tripped on a root he saw clearly. He almost burned his sleeve trying to light a lantern.

Everything felt wrong inside his body.

And worse—every time the sunlight hit him, even a little, he felt a tiny spark in his palm. Like the stars were poking him. Watching. Testing him.

By sunset, Yun sat behind his house, hugging his knees.

He didn't want to be special.

He didn't want monsters or stars or destiny or whatever this cursed thing was.

He just wanted to be a normal boy in a quiet village where the biggest problem was a stubborn goat or a flooded rice field.

Shen Yu approached slowly, not making sounds like a normal person walking on leaves. He sat beside Yun without asking. The sky above them slowly darkened, but the stars did not come out yet. It was like they were waiting for something.

"You're scared," Shen Yu said softly.

Yun wiped his nose. "No. I'm… I'm terrified."

Shen Yu nodded. "Good. Fear keeps you alive. Only fools awaken without fear."

Yun sniffed again, looking at the dirt. "Are you scared?"

For a long moment Shen Yu didn't speak.

Then:

"…Every day," he whispered. "Of what's coming. Of what's following me. Of what's waking in you."

Yun's breath caught.

Shen Yu continued, voice sounding like a cracked bell, trembling a bit for the first time ever:

"And tonight… it will be worse. They will send something stronger. Something smarter. It will not rush blindly like the others. It will watch. It will wait. It will try to learn you."

Yun's skin crawled.

He hugged his knees tighter.

"Why… why us?" Yun whispered.

"Because," Shen Yu said quietly, looking up at the first star peeking through the clouds,

"the strongest one hasn't arrived yet."

Yun froze.

His heart felt like it stopped working.

Shen Yu stood up slowly as the sky fully darkened.

"Come inside soon," he said. "Lock your door. And no matter what you hear tonight… don't open it."

Yun wanted to ask a hundred questions.

But Shen Yu was already walking away, his shadow long and crooked under the moonlight.

And from the forest—far, far away—something howled.

Not like a wolf.

Not like anything Yun ever heard.

Something that sounded like hunger wearing a voice.

Author note : well this is one of my longest chapter yet and my first Novel so I will highly appreciate any form of support you guys give me and I am open for ideas and suggestions and needs more power stone to overcome his cries.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.