Most children lit their first flame before they could walk.
In Kaivaan's village, toddlers would giggle as sparks danced in their palms — weak, flickering magic born from innocent will. But for magic to become perfect — refined, stable, powerful — they had to offer something in return. A body part, given willingly to the Monster beneath the world.
Kaivaan had given nothing. And so, he had nothing.
"Hey, Kaivaan! Show me a spell!"
The voice rang out through the schoolyard. Laughter followed. The sun was high, but Kaivaan felt cold.
He turned his face away.
Another boy stepped forward, crackling lightning dancing on his fingers. "Oh wait, you can't, right? Maybe try giving up your whole useless self!"
Kaivaan didn't reply. He knew the routine. Insults. Laughter. A small spark of magic in someone's hand just to show him what he lacked. He had grown used to it. Mostly.
A soft voice broke through the noise.
"Enough."
It was Noira. Light shimmered around her fingertips — not blinding, not angry — just... calm. Controlled.
She stepped between Kaivaan and the others.
"I sacrificed something too," she said, brushing a hand through her shaved head. "That doesn't make me better than him. It just means I made a choice. He didn't."
The boys hesitated, then backed away.
Kaivaan said nothing. Not even thanks. Just nodded once and walked.
That night, he lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
Words echoed in his mind:
"He didn't make a choice."
But it wasn't that simple.
He couldn't make a choice.
He had stood at the altar once. The Monster had spoken to him. A thousand voices. A thousand temptations.
"Give me a finger, Kaivaan. I will give you fire."
"Give me your eye, and I will show you truth."
"Give me your voice, and you will command the world."
Kaivaan had asked, quietly, "What if I don't want to lose anything?"
The monster had laughed.
"Then you will never gain anything."
He left. Without fire. Without truth. Without command.
But the village didn't forget.
A boy who refused the gift. Who feared sacrifice.
Weak. Useless. Broken.
Even his own father had whispered: "Maybe you weren't meant to burn."
The next morning, the sky cracked open.
Literally.
A rift tore through the clouds above the forest. A surge of magic swept across the valley — too wild, too unstable.
People screamed. Animals fled. And from the rift fell a man.
No... not a man.
A presence.
Kaivaan saw him land in the clearing. Black hair. Black coat. Two blindfolded eyes.
The man stood tall, though blood ran down his arms. His voice was deep, rough, amused.
"Oi. You there. The one who doesn't burn."
"You're Kaivaan, right?"
Kaivaan blinked.
"Who... are you?"
The man smirked. "Oryan. Shadow mage. Sacrificed both eyes. Still stronger than every brat in this land."
He took a slow step forward.
"You want power, don't you?"
Kaivaan didn't answer. Oryan didn't need him to.
"I can smell the fear in your bones. You've got something special. You didn't give the Monster anything... because you've got more to give than they ever will."
Oryan leaned in close.
"Your emotion."
Kaivaan's breath caught.
"The Monster told me," Oryan continued. "It spoke to me before I cut out my sight. Said it once met a boy who'd one day sacrifice his soul, not his skin. That boy... is you."
Kaivaan stepped back. "What would happen… if I gave it my emotion?"
Oryan shrugged. "I don't know. But I've seen emotion create storms fiercer than fire. You want to burn, kid? Burn so bright you melt the Monster itself?"
Kaivaan looked down at his hands. Still empty.
"I want to be the strongest."
His voice cracked.
"I want them to stop laughing."
His fists clenched.
"And I want to kill the Monster."
Oryan grinned.
"Then it's time to pay the price."
Later That Night
Kaivaan stood before the altar again.
The cave was silent. Cold. The stone beneath his feet pulsed like a heartbeat.
And then… the Monster came.
It did not crawl or rise. It appeared — a shifting mass of limbs and whispers, with a smile made of shadow.
"So… you've returned. With something more precious than flesh?"
Kaivaan didn't flinch.
"Take it," he whispered. "Take my emotion. All of it."
The Monster laughed, and the cave shook.
"You will forget joy. Forget love. You will fight without mercy. You will win… but never feel the thrill of victory."
"I know," Kaivaan said.
The Monster reached forward — a tendril of black wrapping around Kaivaan's heart.
"Then the bargain is struck."
Kaivaan collapsed.
When he rose again, his eyes were dull. His voice was flat. But his hands… burned with dark fire.
The boy who had once felt nothing...
…now was nothing.
Except power.
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