The sky above the village was painted in muted tones — soft grey, fading orange, and just a whisper of crimson.
Evening had arrived gently, like a secret.
The village of Ruuval slept at the edge of forgotten woods, surrounded by endless fields and the hush of time. It was the kind of place where stories faded… and power, if ever it had existed, had long turned to dust.
Meoko walked barefoot on the cool earth, carrying a worn clay pot against her hip.
She moved quietly, her every step in rhythm with the earth itself.
She was nineteen — young, yet her gaze held an odd stillness.
Not sadness.
Not even longing.
Just… a silence that had settled too early in her bones.
A maid in the elder's home.
She rose before the birds and slept after the stars.
She cooked. Cleaned. Drew water from the deep well.
She was gentle. Obedient. Soft-spoken.
But something about her felt—
Off.
Her presence, perhaps too silent.
Her eyes, too clear under the moonlight.
Her breath, somehow in rhythm with the wind.
Yet no one noticed. Not really.
To the village, she was just Mioko.
Another girl. Another shadow.
________________________________________
[In the Forest]
A storm was watching.
From beneath the trees — eyes sharp as steel, mind colder than mountain air —
Kael stood.
Dust clung to his boots. A hood hid most of his face.
He did not speak.
He did not need to.
His mission was simple:
Find the girl.
The one with power.
The one who could destroy or save.
But how did you find a storm hidden inside silence?
He scanned the village. Children playing. Women at the well. Men returning from the fields.
No signs. No magic. No threat.
And yet…
A flicker. A stir in the air when she walked past.
A breath of wind that seemed to pause.
Girl.
A maid?
He frowned.
Kael (thinking):
"It can't be her. Too plain. Too quiet."
Still, his storm stirred.
Only slightly.
Barely.
Enough to make him stay.
________________________________________
[Meoko's Room — Later That Night]
Her room was small — a mat on the floor, a clay lamp flickering low, a wooden window creaking against the wind.
Meoko sat combing her long dark hair, lost in her thoughts.
Outside, the wind brushed gently against the trees.
She didn't know someone was watching.
She didn't know her life was beginning to change.
The moon above hung low, red-tinged.
And far beyond the village borders, something old… something dangerous… had begun to awaken.
To be continued...