Darkness covered him.
Not the kind born from night. Not shadow cast by flame.
This was something alive.
It had weight. It had intent.
It coiled around him like cold smoke, pressing against his skin, seeping into his breath.
Elias had never seen anything like it.
The darkness shifted.
Then—
It smirked.
And lunged at him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The open expanse of the training grounds stretched before him. Wind spiraled around stone pillars, water clashed in controlled streams, fire cracked against reinforced stone, and earth rose and fell under careful command.
A small boy, not much older than Elias, approached timidly.
He glanced at Elias, then at the ground, then finally spoke. “Um… hi. Can I… sit here?”
Elias shrugged, a little shy. “Okay.”
The boy plopped down beside him, clutching his tattered notebook. “I… I saw you yesterday. You helped the other kids… even when you weren’t asked. You… you’re really kind.”
Elias blinked, surprised. “I… I just… try to help. That’s all.”
The boy smiled faintly. “I… I want to be like you. I… I don’t want anyone to get hurt if I can help it.”
Elias felt a warmth in his chest.
“Then… maybe we can help together.”
For a few moments, they sat quietly, watching leaves spin in the wind.
Cassian was not there.
Without his presence, the field felt looser. Less restrained.
Elias and that child sat at the far corner on a low stone bench, watching quietly.
No aura. No element. No sign of progress.
A shadow fell over Elias.
“BOO.”
He nearly jumped out of his skin.
The twins stood behind him, grinning.
“Reflexes,” Ethan said dryly.
“I hate you,” Sushank muttered, rubbing his shoulder.
“You were spacing out again,” Elara added, nudging him.
“I was watching.”
“Watching Miha?” she teased, smirking.
His ears reddened instantly. “N-No! I—just… looking around!”
Who's your friend? The twins asked.
Before anyone could give an answer, a chill swept across the courtyard, brushing Elias’s neck. He shivered.
“Did… did you feel that?” he asked quietly.
Ethan’s grin faltered. “Probably just the wind.”
Elara’s eyes narrowed. “No. That felt… different.”
—
Far away, beyond the noise of the training grounds. Inside the church in a small, shadowed chamber carved from stone, a lone figure knelt before a low altar.
Not older than twenty-five, hood drawn low over his face, he pressed his hands together and whispered, voice trembling yet deliberate:
“O Beacon of Dawn, Holder of the Eternal Flame… hear me. Grant me your strength, your guidance…”
The room was still, heavy with tension. Candles flickered weakly, shadows stretching like reaching fingers.
“Please… let it work… don’t fail me now… I need—” his voice cracked.
A sudden snap. One candle went out. He froze.
“No… no, not now!” he hissed, panic rising. “I followed every step… why isn’t it responding?”
His knuckles whitened against the stone floor. “I… I can’t fail. I won’t—”
A cold draft swept past, carrying a whisper that was not his own. The words he had summoned twisted back on themselves.
His knees shook. His lips moved, frantic and hoarse:
“No… I—I almost had it… just one more moment…”
Shoulders slumping, he muttered, defeated: “Damn it… all of it… wasted.”
Then—the bell rang.
Violently. Shattering the tense quiet of the chamber and carrying its resonance across the grounds.
—
The sky above the training grounds darkened as if something vast had passed over the sun.
Wind spells flickered out. Fire shrank. Water fell lifeless.
“Everyone get out! It’s a devil!” a man shouted from the tower.
A sharp crack split the air.
The man’s body fell from the tower.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
It hit stone with a final, sickening sound.
Silence.
Then panic.
A student near the center jerked violently.
Nothing touched him.
No blade. No spell.
A thin line appeared across his throat.
He collapsed.
No one had seen what struck him.
They were being hunted.
Elias stepped back instinctively.
The twins were shaking.
Elara grabbed his hand. “Stay close… don’t let go.”
“Don’t… don’t let it get us,” Ethan muttered, voice tight.
The air pressed heavier.
Another student died.
Again—no one had seen how.
Elias’s heart pounded.
He wanted to run.
But fear locked his legs in place.
Then—
For a flicker of a second—
He saw it.
A distortion.
A ripple in the air.
And it was moving—
Toward Miha.
She didn’t see it.
No one did.
Elias didn’t think.
He ran.
“Miha!” he shouted, voice cracking.
He shoved her aside.
They crashed to the ground.
“Are you okay?!” he yelled, panic rising.
Miha coughed, eyes wide. “I… I’m fine!”
Behind where she had stood—
The student who was sitting beside Elias froze.
A deep gash split across his chest.
He fell.
Silence.
Elias’s stomach twisted. He wanted to reach for him, but the fear and chaos held him frozen.
“No… no!” he shouted, scrambling to his knees, but it was too late.
Silence settled over the spot where the boy had fallen, broken only by the low hum of the encroaching darkness.
Elias swallowed hard, anger and grief clawing at him. I… I couldn’t save him…
Elara grabbed his arm, voice trembling. “Elias… we have to move. Now.”
Then—
The air warped.
Too tall. Too thin. Limbs bending wrong.
Its face stretched into a smooth surface—
Darkness covered him.
Not the kind born from night. Not shadow cast by flame.
This was something alive.
It had weight. It had intent.
It coiled around him like cold smoke, pressing against his skin, seeping into his breath.
Elias had never seen anything like it.
The darkness shifted.
Then—
It smirked.
And lunged at him.
Before impact—
A spear of silver light ripped across the sky.
It struck the devil mid-motion.
Light and darkness exploded in violent collision.
Cassian descended from above, divine sigils blazing behind him.
“Fall back!” he commanded.
Miha attacked first.
Wind accelerated fire. Water sharpened into blades. Earth erupted from below.
The devil staggered—
Then split into two forms.
One rushed Cassian.
The other dove toward the students.
Lucas roared, wind bursting outward. “Get back!”
Miha formed a spiraling vortex of all four elements and hurled it forward.
Cassian raised his hand.
“Judgment.”
A pillar of divine light descended.
The training grounds vanished in white.
When the light faded—
Smoke lingered.
Then—
A low laugh echoed.
Unharmed.
The devil lunged again.
Faster.
More violent.
Straight toward Elias.
And then—
He saw it.
Not the shadow.
Not the distortion.
He saw it.
Its shape. Its intent.
Something inside him went completely still.
His panic vanished.
His trembling stopped.
His eyes—
Turned void black.
Not glowing.
Not shining.
Just empty.
Endless.
The devil froze.
Mid-lunge.
Its smile faltered.
It hesitated.
Cassian felt it instantly.
“…No.”
Ancient sigils formed behind him—massive, overwhelming.
The devil tried to move—
But that single hesitation—
Was enough.
Cassian brought his hand down.
The spell descended like a falling star.
The darkness shattered.
Erased.
Silence fell.
The sky cleared slowly.
Students lay scattered across cracked stone.
No one noticed the hesitation.
Except Cassian.
His gaze was fixed on Elias.
Whose eyes were normal again.
As if nothing had happened.
Devils do not hesitate.
Unless—
They are facing something worse.
Everyone was dismissed.
No one argued.
Students left in shaken silence.
Elias walked with the twins and Lucas.
“…You pushed her,” Ethan said quietly.
“I just reacted,” Elias replied.
Elara looked at him carefully. “You saw it.”
“…For a second.”
Lucas frowned. “No one could see it.”
Elias didn’t answer.
They continued home.
The walk home felt longer than usual.
No one spoke.
The evening sky was dim, painted in fading orange and gray. The wind was softer now… but it no longer felt peaceful.
The streets were quieter than usual.
Not because the town had changed.
But because they had.
No one spoke for a while.
Footsteps. Wind. Distant chatter from people who didn’t know what had happened.
Elias walked slightly ahead of them, small hands clenched at his sides.
Behind him—
Ethan kicked a small stone down the road.
Hard.
It bounced off a wall and rolled into a drain.
He muttered,
“He shouldn’t have moved.”
Not angry.
Just frustrated.
At the world. At himself. At being helpless.
Elara was unusually quiet.
Her fingers were twisted into the fabric of her sleeve.
After a long silence, she said softly:
“He told us… he wanted to be kind like Elias.”
Her voice trembled slightly.
“He said he’d work hard… get strong like Miha.”
Silence again.
Lucas walked at the back.
Watching all of them.
His jaw was tight.
His hands were still faintly shaking — though he kept them behind his back so no one would notice.
After a few steps, he finally spoke.
Low.
Controlled.
“He wasn’t strong enough.”
The twins looked at him.
Lucas didn’t look at them.
“Kindness without strength gets you killed.”
It wasn’t cold.
It was bitter.
A lesson learned too late.
Those words hit harder than the attack.
Elias's steps slowed.
He remembered the boy’s smile.
The way he ran forward.
The way he said he would train.
His vision blurred slightly.
His throat tightened.
He blinked.
Hard.
No.
He wouldn’t cry.
Not here.
Not in front of everyone.
His fists tightened more.
A tear gathered at the corner of his eye—
But before it could fall—
A gentle hand touched his shoulder.
"Miha."
She had caught up quietly.
She didn’t say “don’t cry.”
She didn’t say “be strong.”
She just said softly:
“You’re seven.”
Simple.
Grounding.
She stepped in front of him slightly, shielding him from the others’ view.
“You’re allowed to feel this.”
The tear fell anyway.
But this time—
He didn’t hide it.
Behind them—
Ethan stopped walking.
Elara lowered her gaze.
Lucas looked away toward the sunset.
None of them said anything.
But something changed between them that day.
They weren’t just classmates anymore.
They were children who had seen death.
Elias was holding the boy’s notebook.
He didn’t even remember picking it up.
The edges were bent. A small tear marked the corner.
His fingers tightened around it.
He said he’d work hard…
He said he’d protect people…
He said he wanted to be kind…
His throat burned.
Why did it feel so heavy?
Why did his chest hurt like this?
He blinked hard.
Don’t cry.
He was supposed to be brave.
The boy had been brave.
Elias’s vision blurred slightly.
He lowered his head so no one would see.
If I was stronger…
If I was faster…
His lips trembled.
The first tear gathered at the corner of his eye—
Miha's fingers carefully closed over the notebook in his hand, steadying it… steadying him.
“You saved me,” she said quietly.
Elias shook his head immediately. “I didn’t… he—”
“I know,” she whispered.
There was no denial in her voice. No anger. No fear.
Just understanding.
Miha stopped walking.
So did he.
She knelt slightly so she could look at him properly.
“You’re allowed to feel sad,” she said softly. “You don’t have to pretend.”
His eyes trembled again.
“I couldn’t protect him,” he whispered.
“You’re seven,” she said gently. “You don’t have to protect anyone yet.”
That broke something inside him.
His breathing shook.
But instead of letting the tears fall freely, Miha did something simple—
She pulled him into a quiet hug.
Not tight.
Not dramatic.
Just steady.
Elias froze for a second… then slowly clutched the back of her clothes.
His face pressed against her shoulder.
The tears didn’t fall loudly.
They didn’t break into sobs.
They just slipped quietly, unseen by the others.
And Miha stayed there.
Letting him grieve.
Letting him be small.
After a moment, she whispered near his ear:
“He wanted to be kind like you.”
Elias’s grip tightened.
“And he was,” she added.
They stood there for a little while longer before continuing home.
The sky darkened.
But for the first time since the bell rang—
Elias didn’t feel completely alone.
_
The town slept in uneasy silence.
But the church did not.
Inside the church.
The air was heavy.
Cassian stood before the altar.
An elderly man in high robes faced him.
Cassian’s voice was tight with anger.
“Who told him to perform the advancement ritual without anyone knowing?”
