I fell in love with you in my new life

POV - Luahn

The first sound I heard was not a voice.

Nor was it the murmur of the wind.

It was a pulse. Very low.

As if it came from the ground... or from myself.

Thump...

Thump...

Each beat was like a distant drum.

Was it my heart?

Or was it something else?

I opened my eyes with effort.

The high ceiling of the temple was white, but not made of ordinary stone. It was like living marble, with veins that shone softly. Translucent curtains floated beside the arched windows, moved by a gentle breeze that smelled of sacred leaves and resin.

I was lying down.

My body ached in places I had never noticed before. My torso was bandaged. My legs were numb. I felt as if I had been broken and put back together again.

I tried to sit up. A mistake.

"Don't do that."

The voice came from the shadow next to a column.

"You could reopen the fissures in your energy channels."

I turned my head slowly.

There she was.

Melhe, the High Priestess.

She was dressed in pure white, without adornments. Only her staff rested beside her, leaning against the stone.

She sat with her back straight, watching me as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"Where... am I?"

"Central temple. Spiritual healing wing. Chamber Seven."

"How long...?"

"Three days since the explosion."

I swallowed.

My throat was dry, as if I had been breathing dust for a long time.

"Emilia... Grisel...?"

"They're alive. Stable. And more stubborn than ever."

I closed my eyes for a few seconds.

A rush of relief ran from my chest to my fingertips.

"Thank you..."

"Don't thank me. They saved each other. And you... you're still an enigma."

There was a tense silence.

"The energy you still emanate is strange. Not only because you now have Yang... but because I don't know how to describe it."

"Neither do I..."

"There are traces of Yin deeply rooted. But also violent impulses of Yang that arise like storms. And both communicate. They clash. Sometimes they synchronize. Sometimes they repel each other. I've never seen anything like it."

I slowly turned to face her.

She looked at me with a mixture of reverence... and fear.

"What am I...?" I asked quietly.

"That's the question that has kept the High Council awake for two nights."

"Are they upset?"

"Some of them."

"Are they going to... punish me?"

"They haven't decided yet."

I looked away.

My chest burned. Not physically, but with shame.

From feeling that perhaps... everything I tried to do to protect them had gone wrong.

"I just wanted to help..."

"And that almost killed you. Almost killed them."

Melhe approached me.

She placed a cold towel on my forehead. I was amazed by her touch: it wasn't harsh. It was... maternal.

"My daughter has talked a lot about you."

"Grisel?"

"She says you're her only friend. That she didn't need anyone else."

"..."

She smiled, very slightly. Then she got up and headed for the door.

"Many questions await you, Luahn. But for now... just rest.

"Your soul has been broken and rebuilt many times already. Don't rush its final form."

Minutes passed. Or maybe hours. I don't know.

The sound of the wind lulled me to sleep.

But I couldn't sleep.

Not with everything I was feeling inside.

The Yin... soft, undulating, caressing my bones.

The Yang... like embers sleeping under my skin.

Both mine.

Both disobedient.

Both alive.

The door burst open.

"LUAAAHN!"

I didn't need to see her to know who it was.

"Mom..."

She ran to me without worrying about the healers. Her footsteps echoed with desperation.

She threw herself at my side. She hugged me tightly, breaking every rule of spiritual recovery.

Her hair covered my face. I felt her body tremble against mine.

"You're alive... you're alive...!"

"Mom..."

"Please don't ever do this to me again! Don't ever disappear without telling me where you're going!"

All I could do was cry.

After everything I went through... everything I remembered...

She had always been there for me.

"I'm sorry..."

"You're sorry?" 

She moved away from me while looking me in the eye.

"You're sorry, you say? LUAAHN! You could have died!"

"But I didn't die."

"That's no excuse!"

Her tears were both of anger and relief.

And then, without warning, she hugged me again.

This time, more gently. Longer.

"I saw you on the ground... and you weren't responding..."

"I... just wanted to be useful."

"You always were, you idiot!"

"Not as a warrior."

"It doesn't matter! You've always been my strength. My only strength. Do you hear me?"

I nodded.

And in the silence, I dared to ask:

"What am I now?"

She looked at me.

Not like a son.

Not like a child.

But like someone who had already crossed a threshold.

"You are my son."

I clung to her hand.

"I'm scared..."

"Me too."

"But I'm not going to give up."

She smiled with tears in her eyes.

"That's you, Luahn."

And for the first time since I opened my eyes...

I felt at home.

*

POV – Fortz

The main temple seemed to swallow sounds.

Words did not bounce off its walls. They sank. They withered away.

It was as if the air itself had learned to listen and judge.

The High Council chamber was not used often. 

Only in emergencies.

It was occupied only by the wise elders who directed and organized everything in the city.

Today, the decision had a name.

Luahn.

I stood against the back wall. I was still wearing part of the clan's ceremonial armor, unpolished, dull. Not out of disrespect, but because I had come straight from training.

The council gathered in front of me.

Eight wise elders who had been leaders in past battles.

Five spiritual representatives, including the priestess Melhe.

And the three leaders of the three main families of the Wolf Clan.

One for each domain within the forest of Hypnos.

Everyone knew. Everyone had seen. Everyone wanted answers.

And worst of all, everyone was afraid.

"So it's true," said one of the wise men, with a knotted beard.

"A half-breed channeled Yang.

That's impossible. Biologically incompatible."

"And yet it happened," replied the elderly Ienyr, one of the spiritual leaders.

Her tone was calm, but charged with tension.

"Moreover, he did so during an unauthorized awakening ritual."

"Not even Yin should have that," spat a representative of a major family.

"Who can assure us that this is not dark magic?"

"Or a failed experiment."

"Or a malformation of the Tree."

"Watch your words!"

Melhe's voice boomed.

He had remained silent until now, standing next to the ceremonial throne.

"The Tree is not wrong. What happened was the decision of the mana, of its energy. Not an aberration."

"And what do you suggest, Priestess? That we proclaim him chosen?"

"I suggest we observe. And that we stop fearing what we do not understand."

The murmurs intensified.

My teeth were grinding from the tension.

"And you?"

A dry voice addressed me.

It was Master Harvion, one of the permanent members of the council.

"Fortz. You are the father of one of those involved. And also the son of a great veteran warrior.

"Your opinion will be recorded in the texts. Speak."

Everyone looked at me.

Not as a father.

Not as a soldier.

But as someone who had to say something that no one else wanted to say.

I sighed.

"My father told me about the wars."

"We know that."

"That demons broke through our defenses. He saw men die standing up. He saw women wield spears for sons who would never return.

He saw fog. Blood. And broken promises.

And he saw what happens when we fear the wrong child."

There was silence.

"Luahn didn't ask to be born mixed-race.

He didn't ask to be rejected."

He didn't ask to have an energy that you can't classify."

I walked to the center.

"What he asked for... was a chance."

Some looked away.

"And I was there when he was left behind while others awakened their abilities.

When he was beaten.

When he was mocked.

And yet he trained harder than anyone else."

I looked at the elders.

I saw how they pretended not to know what everyone knew.

"That boy... chose strength.

He chose to sacrifice himself to protect us.

And he almost died for it."

One of the elders murmured:

"What if he can't control what he awakened?"

"Then we'll help him."

"What if he's dangerous?"

"Aren't we all, when pushed to the edge?"

I approached the table.

I clenched my fists.

"You can call it a mistake.

You can call it an exception.

But if you condemn him for being different... you will lose him."

There was a moment of silence.

"What if that energy contaminates others?" asked another.

"What if it's just what we need for the next war?"

"Are you suggesting we use it?"

"I'm saying that maybe the Tree chose him for a reason."

There was another silence. A longer one.

Melhe stepped forward.

"My daughter volunteered too. It wasn't just him. And Emilia risked everything too.

Are we going to punish them for doing what many adults don't dare to do?"

No one responded.

"I propose," Harvion finally said, 

"that the boy be kept under observation.

That he be prohibited from participating in rituals until the extent of his energetic duality is determined.

And in the meantime," he added.

"Let him train.

With a mentor. With protection, not as a prisoner.

But as one of our own."

The Council looked at each other.

The decision was not made aloud.

Only nods.

A tacit agreement.

Although temporary, it would give us time to observe him and not jump to conclusions that we might regret in the future.

I left before they gave me permission.

I had said what I needed to say.

And as the air in the hallway hit my face...

I thought about him.

About his gaze that morning, before the ritual.

Luahn didn't know if he had a place in this world.

Now the world would have to decide if it was ready to make one for him.

*

POV - Emilia

It was difficult to open my eyes.

The light in the temple was soft, but to me, it seemed to cut like blades.

My body ached inside, as if I had been fighting non-stop for days... 

For a second, I didn't know where I was.

Until I saw her.

Grisel.

Sitting in a chair next to my bed. Asleep. With a bandage on her forehead and her arms crossed over her lap. Her relaxed expression in her sleep was a miracle in itself.

And then I felt it.

"Luahn..."

My voice was a sigh.

I sat up a little, with effort. And I saw him.

Through the screen, in the next room, he was awake.

Sitting, half reclining against some pillows, still bandaged, with a couple of blankets over him.

He was staring at the ceiling with an expression that I couldn't tell if it was calm... or resignation.

"You...!"

Grisel woke up instantly, startled.

"What happened? Is it time for the affinity tests already? Did we miss breakfast?"

"No, idiot!" I said. 

"Luahn is awake!"

We both stood up. Well, more like... we staggered and crawled, like two old souls trying to reach the same point.

When we reached Luahn's bed, he looked at us as if he still couldn't believe we were there.

"...Hello," he said quietly.

I don't know who was faster.

Maybe Grisel. Maybe me.

But in the blink of an eye, we were both hugging him at the same time.

"You're an idiot!"

"You scared us like never before!"

"I told you to stop!"

"We protected you with everything we had!"

"And you still almost exploded like a mana crystal!"

He didn't respond right away.

He just hugged us back. With what little strength he had left.

And it was in that silence that I knew:

He was scared too.

Very scared.

It took a while before we let our guard down.

We sat on cushions around him. Grisel brought fruit from the recovery basket. I stole some tea from the healer sleeping in the next room.

And so, between bites and sips, we were... us.

"I don't know how to apologize," he said, looking down.

"You don't have to," I replied.

"Really?"

"Because we're still going to scold you every time we remember this."

"Exactly," added Grisel with a smile. "That's what friends do, right?"

He chuckled softly.

"And you guys are okay?"

"We survived," I said. 

"And by the way, your magical explosion left a crater in the middle of the sanctuary.

Did you know you lit up the whole forest? Literally. There were fireflies passing out."

"There was a squirrel that started walking in circles," said Grisel, nodding gravely.

"How awful..."

"The worst part is that it did it better than some warriors on patrol."

"GRISEL!"

And then... the three of us laughed.

Not out of mockery.

But because we needed to laugh again.

Because for a moment, we had felt like the world was slipping away from us.

And we were still here.

After the calm came the questions.

"Luahn... how do you feel now?" I asked seriously.

He was silent. He put his hand to his chest.

"Different."

"I don't know if it's better."

"But yes... more complete."

"As if for the first time I feel balanced or something."

I saw his reactions, he didn't seem to be lying.

"Do you feel the Yin energy?"

"Yes."

"And the Yang?"

"...Also."

He looked at us with that mixture of calm and smoldering fire that was so characteristic of him.

"They don't get along. But they don't hate each other. It's strange."

"And you?"

"Me what?"

"Do you hate yourself for this?"

He took a while to answer.

"No. It scares me, but... I don't regret it. If it all happened again... I'd do it again."

Even if you had died...

Above all..."

I stared at him.

That answer... was his.

Entirely his.

And yet, I felt someone else speaking from within him.

Grisel broke the silence.

"You know... when you were the only one who talked to me in the square, I thought you were some kind of nice fool."

"Thanks for the compliment," he replied ironically.

"But then I saw you training. 

Then I saw how they made fun of you.

And I thought: this guy is stronger than all of us. Only no one sees it."

 Well, now they did. And you know what?"

"What?"

"Let them look at you, Luahn. It's about time."

We stayed there a little longer.

Without saying another word.

Just sharing that space in the world where, at last, the three of us were breathing the same air.

We were strange.

A priestess who skipped classes.

A warrior with a tense relationship with her father.

And a boy who harbors mysteries within himself.

And yet...

We were still here.

*

POV - Narrator

Deep within the continent, where even the light of the Hypnos Tree does not reach,

Where roots cease to be life and become bone,

Something stirred.

It was not an earthquake.

Nor was it an explosion.

It was the kind of change that only the very old wise men could sense in the silence.

The kind of whisper that pierces the sleeping earth and finds a crack through which to breathe.

1. Caverns beneath the Outer Forest – Near the city of Sephros.

Formerly sealed by a network of containment symbols, the forgotten caverns beneath the northern edge of the forest had remained dormant for over a thousand years.

The oldest wolf tribes spoke of them as the place where whispers were buried.

But now, those marks had worn away.

A dark root, swollen inside as if it had been accumulating poison for centuries, broke with a wet sound.

And from the crack... mist emerged.

It was no ordinary mist.

It was blood suspended in the air.

Dark, slow, and with a will of its own.

Through that mist emerged a creature.

Small.

Deformed.

But alive.

Its skin was a mixture of shadow and old scales. It had claws that did not yet know how to kill, and completely empty eyes.

Its first breath was a moan.

Its first movement, a tremor in the earth.

Around it, other figures began to emerge from the mud.

There were not many. Not yet.

But enough to form a latent legion.

At the bottom of the cavern, in the deepest darkness, grotesque energy beats could be heard.

Something that seemed not yet ready to be what it would one day become.

And with it, the rock cracked as if the world were afraid.

"It is not yet time," it whispered in a voice no one heard.

"But soon... it will be inevitable."

2. Ruins of the Cliff – Southern Border of Relfort

Where scholars once erected an observation lighthouse to study the sky, now only ruins and wind remained.

But that night, the wind ceased.

From the heart of the cliff, covered by years of dust, salt, and forgotten prayers.

A rust-red mist began to emanate.

A pair of birds fell dead in mid-flight.

Then, the water turned red.

And finally, it emerged.

Not a demon.

Not yet.

But a figure covered in black robes, face hidden, barefoot. It walked slowly over the rocks without leaving a trace.

It had eyes... but did not open them.

It spoke... but only in whispers that made the stones vibrate.

"Hypocrites. Trees that sing in the name of purity...

And yet you still do not see that your light is rotten from within?"

It stopped.

The mist swirled around its feet.

"The King awakens.

The first children have already returned.

And you... still sleep."

Then he vanished as if he had never been there.

But the crack in the rock...

It continued to ooze darkness.

3. Metis – Shores of the Crystal Sea

The fishermen of the small port of Lynea told stories of lights at the bottom of the sea.

But no one believed them.

One night, the water simply... stopped reflecting.

The moons were high, but the Crystal Sea no longer reflected their image.

Only shadow.

And then, the song.

A melody. Sad. Unnatural.

As if someone, or something, were crying from the bottom of the ocean.

The elders sealed the doors. The children stopped sleeping.

And on the shore, footprints began to appear.

But they weren't human.

Nor were they animal.

They were marks of long claws... but of footsteps that made no sound.

No one spoke of it the next morning.

Not because they had forgotten.

But because they feared that saying it out loud would make it more real.

4. Mountains of Saurus – Sealed Temple

Amidst the perpetual snows, where ancient monks guarded relics that were not to be seen, a rusty bell rang.

Although no one touched it.

The echoes awakened a lonely old man.

The last guardian of the Silent Temple.

He stood up, his eyes filled with horror.

"It can't be..."

But it was.

The great obsidian door, sealed by blood, word, and time, had a crack.

And from it flowed a whisper.

Not of words.

But of intentions.

"One has awakened.

The balance has been broken.

The song of the Tree... is no longer pure."

The old man fell to his knees.

"...It has begun again."

5. Beyond the veil – Where the King sleeps

In a place where time does not move forward, where light is neither born nor dies,

Something breathed.

Space trembled.

Not a form.

Not a body.

A will.

Like an eye that, even closed, already observes.

Like a wound that, even unopened... bleeds.

There, on the edge of the unreal, a deep, distant voice

Began to whisper through the dreams of the damned.

"Hypnos no longer sings with one voice.

The Tree has allowed the roots to mingle.

And the guardian... has been born incomplete."

A silence.

Then, a laugh.

Soft. Like a child's. But broken.

"Perfect.

Let him grow.

And when he is ready...

My king will take what is his at last."

Thus begins the new cycle.

Not with armies.

Not with fire.

But with echoes.

And footsteps.

And fog.

Because darkness does not return screaming, it returns when we stop watching.