The gate was not merely an exit to the outside…
It was the boundary between two worlds.
Behind it, they left the false security of the Academy…
Before it, stretched a world that holds no mercy for the weak.
Nir stood among the students, silent, while whispers swarmed around him like restless flies.
He didn't need to turn to recognize their stares…
He knew them by heart.
Fear…
Laced with rejection.
But today…
There was something else.
Caution.
—
The gate groaned open slowly, emitting a deep screech as if protesting their departure.
And with the very first step beyond it…
Everything changed.
The air.
An invisible weight settled upon their chests, as if the world itself were pressing down to test them.
The ground felt harsher,
And the silence… deeper.
—
They marched for hours.
The trees grew denser,
And the light began to fade gradually, though the day was far from over.
The forest was… unnatural.
As if it were… watching them.
—
As for Nir…
He felt something else.
Not fear.
But…
Hunger.
—
The void within him stirred slowly, like a creature awakening from a long slumber.
A faint whisper slithered into his depths:
"Here… there is plenty…"
—
He clenched his fist.
He tried to ignore it.
But the sensation did not vanish…
Instead, it grew sharper with every step.
—
And when the village finally appeared…
He felt no relief.
—
The houses were silent,
Doors swung wide open,
And windows… empty as eyeless sockets.
No smoke.
No sound.
No life.
Only…
The heavy trace of something that had passed through… leaving nothingness in its wake.
—
They stopped at the entrance.
The air here… was foul.
—
"Something is wrong…"
Lyra whispered, her voice low as if fearing the silence might hear her.
—
But Nir wasn't looking at the houses.
Rather…
At one of the doors.
—
It stood ajar.
And the darkness behind it… was far too deep.
—
Then…
A sound.
—
A slow grating… like bone scraping against stone.
—
The door moved.
—
With agonizing slowness…
As if something inside…
Were learning how to emerge.
—
Breaths hitched.
Bodies stiffened.
—
Until it appeared.
—
A human body… or what remained of one.
Grey, cracked skin,
And limbs moving at wrong angles… like a broken doll.
But the most terrifying part…
Were its eyes.
—
A black void… without end.
—
Someone took a step back.
But Nir…
Did not flinch.
—
Because he felt it.
With absolute clarity.
—
The aura surrounding that creature…
Wasn't missing.
—
It was…
Shattered.
—
And the moment their eyes met…
—
The voice within him whispered, this time with terrifying clarity:
"This… is food."
—
Time froze… for a second.
—
Then…
Nir smiled.
—
A smile that was not his own.
—
And there… the hunt began.