Inside the cave, time was measured only by the rhythmic drip of water falling from the rocky ceiling, settling into a small pool that had become a mirror to the silence of the place. On the dry side, deer hides carpeted the ground, while the crackle of the fire and the dancing sparks were the only sounds piercing the majesty of the vast green forest outside. And there, in the heart of this stillness, stood Harten. Was he a survivor? An avenger? Or merely a lost soul searching for a purpose long vanished in the abyss of time?
Harten stepped out to patrol his forest, carrying his bow and his peculiar weapon: a sharpened ivory tip lashed with durable silk thread. He spoke aloud to himself, a desperate attempt to repair what remained of his language.
"I must check the traps... they need to be full. I won't repeat the hell of last winter, when my body had to feast on those cursed insects."
He stopped abruptly, wiping his brow with a calloused hand, and let out a guttural snarl. "Damn you, whoever you were... Damn it! Was there really someone here with me?"
He struck his palm against his head, trying to banish the throbbing pain that attacked him whenever he tried to recall that man's face or name. His memory had become a black hole, swallowing everything.
But the forest decided to reward him today. At the "Great Pit," Harten's eyes widened with a rare smile. "The jackpot! Three deer in one hole." He began hauling his catch, muttering, "I talk to myself too much... just so I don't feel entirely alone in this world."
He moved toward the last trap, but his smile withered, replaced by a jolting shock.
"What is this?... A human?!"
At the bottom of the pit lay a human girl, with hair as black as coal and sun-kissed skin, dressed in primitive, tattered rags. She was unconscious, surrendered to her fate. Harten pulled her out with care. When she regained consciousness and saw him, she let out a terrified scream, crawling backward as if she had looked into the face of a demon.
Harten moved to speak, but stopped suddenly. He remembered the words carved harshly into the walls of his cave: (DO NOT SPEAK TO ANYONE... YOU WILL DIE IF YOU DO).
In an instant, his gaze shifted from human joy to a glacial coldness. He no longer cared for her presence. He began binding the five live deer with a chilling indifference, while the girl watched him with trembling eyes, unable to believe this human "beast" hadn't harmed her.
The girl followed him like a shadow until they reached the cave. She stole a glance inside; she saw the stacks of deer hides and the gleaming knives with bone handles—but Harten had vanished! She recoiled in fear, only to collide with a body as solid as a wall behind her. It was him.
"Damn it... what a nuisance you are!"
He shoved her out of the cave with his powerful hand and said sternly: "I have no time to waste on you."
The girl fell outside just as a heavy rain began to pour, accompanied by a biting chill. She started to sob and scream with a voice that could rend the heart, while inside, Harten built a fence for his deer, trying to ignore her cries.
But at that moment, a strange voice seeped into his mind... the voice of someone he knew well, though the face remained a blur. The voice called him by a mysterious title he couldn't quite grasp: "O [Ibrahim]... help the people."
Harten froze. Who was this person? And why did they ask him to help others when the walls of his cave commanded solitude?
Harten looked toward the mouth of the cave, where the roar of the rain merged with the girl's screams.
Would he follow the "Rule of the Walls" that ensured his survival? Or follow the "Echo of Memory" that demanded he be human?