Chapter 2 – The Burden of the Legacy
The rain was beginning to ease, leaving behind only a gentle drizzle that kissed the earth like a fading memory. Adrian ran, his heart heavy. Each step on the wet ground was a desperate attempt to escape the pain he felt inside.
The streets shimmered under the pale light of the lamps, their golden halos flickering through the mist. Puddles scattered around reflected a distorted world — blurry images shaken by falling raindrops. The scent of wet earth mingled with the faint perfume of flowers, their petals bowed under the weight of the storm but still clinging to life.
Maria's words echoed in his mind, pounding like a drum:
She wants the best for us... but I feel my chest about to explode. I can't take this pain anymore. I won't... I can't.
The image haunted him: loved ones slipping away in his arms, eyes begging for salvation he could not give. It was more than pain — it was destruction. A hollow that consumed from within.
Running like this, powerless and without choice, would be worse than death.
Not knowing how long he had been running, Adrian arrived at the old lake on the outskirts of the city — a place etched into his childhood like a dream too distant to grasp. It was where his parents used to take him to play, where laughter once echoed beneath the trees.
But time had changed everything.
The trees had grown tall, their twisted branches like ancient arms reaching toward the sky. The silence was broken only by a distant crow and the damp smell of earth and decaying leaves. The lake, once alive with skipping stones and sunlight ripples, now mirrored a dark, still surface — a reflection for forgotten ghosts.
Adrian sat on the worn bench, the damp wood creaking beneath his weight. His fingers trembled involuntarily, as if wanting to cry, but he had no strength left.
The cold air carried the scent of moss and time. He looked at the trembling reflection of the moon on the water and whispered,
"There's no forgetting... I lost everything that day."
And memories came — uninvited, unstoppable.
His mother's warm arms wrapping him after a nightmare.
His father's laughter in the kitchen on Sunday mornings.
The smell of coffee filling the silent house.
Then — the crackling fire, shattering glass, screams tearing the sky.
He was not alone.
Maria, Theo, Lia, Noah... all carried the same scars. All had buried someone they loved.
How to move on? How to let go?
His hand clenched the silver feather pendant at his neck — his mother's last gift. It didn't glow, didn't pulse with magic, but to Adrian it was the strongest weapon.
"I will follow this legacy," he whispered, not with hope, but as a promise.
"The only way to protect what remains."
The stories came in whispers — ancient myths, legacies hidden in forgotten realms, sealed by divine spirits and old gods. To most, fairy tales. To Adrian, the only truth.
If I want to protect those still left...
If I want to stop more people from suffering...
I have to change my destiny.
The clouds parted, revealing a starry sky — a silent cloak of light over the lake. A breeze stirred leaves, sending ripples across the water. The moonlight felt like a blessing.
And beyond the veil of the mortal world, something ancient stirred, breaking the silence with an ancestral whisper.
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