The child was wrapped in his only blanket that he had cherished since his earliest memories. His bed was too short for him. He had grown so fast, so suddenly. He was aware that it wasn't normal. He didn't dare complain about it, but he slept poorly and since that morning, he had been suffering from pain in his eyes and in his head.

At first, everything was calm. He could only hear the owls hooting outside. For once, he had had a good day without being scolded. He always asked for too much, according to his parents. From his point of view, he didn't get enough. He had no friends and only interacted with a few specific individuals. It was hard. He didn't understand why they were so fearful, so strict. And there was never any explanation.

He closed his eyes, satisfied with his comfort.

“It will never be time!” thundered his surrogate father.

On the other side of the time-worn wooden door, the voices grew to be aggressive. The little one buried his face in his dirty pillow hoping to muffle their voices.

“He's going to have to live his life,” his mother replied. “One day, we won't be here anymore!”

Silence reigned for a long time.

“He’s coming tonight,” replied the man, his tone unforgiving.

“I don't like it,” confessed his lover.

“We don't have the luxury of time. Don't try to stop me. You know this is bigger than us. It's important.”

The cabin was so poorly insulated that the boy heard a slap as clear as if he was next to it. A growl echoed and the sounds of heavy boots became more and more distinct.

Someone had stopped in front of his bedroom door. It was his father; he knew it. He knew the way he walked, the cadence of his steps. He had never been violent. On top of it, the man could handle his mother's fiery temper.  Krûnan sighed, desperation seething out of his vocal cords. He opened a door, but not the one the boy had anticipated, but the one that led outside. 

He had ignored his lover's concerns, again. As usual, he probably believed he was making the best decision for the family.

“Don't go,” she begged. 

It really wasn't like her to stoop. In fact, she claimed that it was her flame that had enticed Krûnan. 

“I don't know him. You don't…”

She had interrupted herself in a grunt as pitiful as it was angry. He probably signalled to her that he did not want to hear anything more. His decision was made. He continued his way and closed the door quietly behind him. 

“Krûnan!” she barked.

He did not answer.

Argoshin hated it when his mother was upset and that, for any reason. She had always been there for him, unlike Krûnan who had shown up four winters ago. Admittedly, this was more than half of the boy's life and he had generally behaved well with them, but the youngster could not help but favour his mother. She was stuck in suspicion and so was he. 

Krûnan was doing something she did not like at all. He was going to talk to... a stranger? 

Argoshin relaxed and closed his eyes. Little by little, a new world around him took shape. He could feel the flow of life of all the creatures nearby. His energetic mother was healthy, but like everyone else, he could feel her life slowly fading away. It was like an hourglass, hundreds of hourglasses, that never stopped, and such knowledge made him anxious.

He didn't understand why he could feel this, and when he confided to his parents two winters ago that it was getting too overwhelming, they reacted with worry, but also irritation. They wished for him to be normal, for his sake they claimed. Since then, the topic kept returning. It tormented them all, for they didn't understand any of it.

Thus, against his wife's wishes, Krûnan had discreetly sought help and finally, one had responded.  Argoshin detected the intruder’s presence in front of their humble house. He had never met anyone so old and yet so young. Who was he? 

The door of his room opened and there stood his mother, her eyes moist, but also fueled by determination.

“Go.”

The boy winced as he closed the connection to his strange power. He couldn’t focus on his mother's words otherwise.

“Ma?”

“Go listen to them. Quietly.”

It was the first time he was allowed to learn more about his power, about himself. He leaped up in joy, and nearly screamed. He gave his mother a hug and opened his window. That let the fresh scent of pines, grass and humidity overflow his senses and energized him. He adored the freedom, the wild side of it all.

“It's cold outside,” his mother said, placing the blanket over his shoulders like a cloak.

“Thank you,” he whispered shyly.

He stepped over the window and dropped on a barrel to finally jump down. On the ground, he sneaked to the corner of the house and saw a pair of imposing silhouettes, one of which was his surrogate father. 

“Why are you so interested in the boy?”

The hooded stranger took a moment to answer. 

“Everyone has their secrets,” he said, his voice soothing like a lullaby. 

“By Elysia, excuse me, but you are here to support us.”

“Yes, I am. But not in the way you assumed.”

“If you don't give, we don't give, either,” Krûnan growled. 

“Noktow is also looking for the boy, but not only him.”

“There are others like him…”

“If we’re strictly talking about his power, yes. As for the rest, it's hard to say.”

For a long time, none of them spoke.

During this heavy silence, the boy felt his curiosity swell. He wanted to know more. He wasn't the only one? Was he really not alone? He stopped himself from jumping out of his hideout to ask more questions.

“What is going on here…? Where is all of this leading? And please, speak plainly.”

“Noktow hides a great vulnerability. I don't know what it is, but something is unnerving him. I'll figure it out, eventually. Anyway... we are here for…”

“The boy,” ended the surrogate father, his expression darkening. “I suspected that your support was not going to come so willingly, but we are so desperate that I took the risk.”

“I was watching you. I was waiting for an opportunity.”

“And I gave it to you. Why didn't you just come and get the boy?”

“We are neither barbarians nor bandits. We want to help him, but to do so, he will have to train for a long time under our wing.”

At these words, Argoshin felt his chest squeeze his lungs. He took in long breaths like when he panicked. But the possibility of it, it was like insects crawling under his skin. He had never been without his mother, and he refused to leave her.

“Can I see him?” the stranger whispered, but Argoshin had keen hearing.

He turned and a long strand of hair, pale and cold like the snow of the forests, fell from underneath the hood. He promptly rectified the situation. 

“No,” said Krûnan.

“I understand that you are suspicious and that our request is sudden. As such, we are prepared to accommodate you for the inconvenience caused.”

He offered him a plump leather pouch. Argoshin thought his father would refuse it, but the adult estimated the weight of the object with interest. 

“Mmmm…”

“How is he doing?”

“The kid?”

His interlocutor nodded.

“He's... unruly. He's aware that he's different. It's... difficult.”

“Describe how he feels.”

“Like he's important. Like he's close to the whole world. Sometimes it overwhelms him.”

Argoshin crossed his arms and growled softly. No one could know how he felt except him. No one could bear witness to his experiences, and no one could decide about his future. Who did these two think they were? As his rage bubbled inside, the insects nearby scattered away.

The intruder pursed his lip in a grimace.

“It's understandable. Especially without a mentor, it's a complex and emotionally tough technique.”

“Is it going to get worse?”

“It always does.”

Who was he? Argoshin couldn’t place his accent at all. But it confirmed he came from a faraway land to obtain him. The youngster hissed like an angry snake. He knew it was a mistake, but he didn’t care. The stranger reacted by lifting his chin and seeming pensive for a moment.

“Something wrong?” asked the surrogate father.

The strange man fixed his charming gaze on him.

“He could easily become important to Aerinda as a whole.”

Krûnan averted his eyes. It was as if he did not want to face the reality. He sighed and kicked a barrel.

“He could just as easily go down a dark path without guidance,” the stranger explained, his voice showing a speck of sadness. “Animancy is less rigid, more emotional, unlike the other elements. It can prove to be the most powerful as well as the most treacherous.”

Krûnan waited but grew impatient swiftly.

“Tell me more about it.”

“I'm afraid I've already revealed too much. He needs to be shown the way.”

“W-we have no mentor for him,” Krûnan whispered, his voice breaking. “Could y-you train him here? Please!”

“The ones he needs don't come out of hiding so easily. I can't help him from here.”

He repeated "easily" so frequently that Argoshin, disgusted, turned red with anger every time he heard it. He wanted to tear him to pieces for manipulating his surrogate father into trading him for a simple bag of coins. How dare he?

“If he doesn't come with us…”

Argoshin wrapped his head with his arm as if it would help him find some serenity. He reminded himself that things always returned to normal. All the same, he could not help but squeeze his blanket, which he imagined as a shield enchanted by the deities themselves. It would protect him; he was certain of it.

Father Noktow. Mother Elysia. Give me your blessing on this night.

His heartbeat was so frantic that he felt like his veins were about to burst. Something was deeply wrong, and he couldn’t ignore it.

“He will become a violent being, dominated by rage and bitterness.”

He extended his arm and pushed back the sleeve of his coat, revealing scars in the shape of fangs and claws. 

“She was... more than a good friend,” he ended, his tone drowning in his repressed emotions. 

“I'll go and tell him,” Krûnan muttered, looking down as if he was ashamed of his decision.

An intense heat crashed upon Argoshin's frail body. It felt like his blood was boiling. It was unbearable. It had happened in the past, but not like this. He obeyed his instinct to roar his agony. He could not understand why he had been sold like a domestic beast. He hated the stupid power that was ruining his life. He deserved better. He was bigger than that!

The two men turned to him, just in time to see him get enveloped in a purple aura, his eyes gleaming in the dark, his lips rolled up like a predator to reveal fangs. The world turned into a million shades of purple around them. They we’re also surrounded by this strange aura.

The stranger reacted without hesitation. He drew his long bow, but when he nicked an arrow that glowed as if enchanted, he fell softly to the ground. 

“I will not be separated from Mother!” Argoshin shouted.

His father took the opportunity to kneel and hold out his hands.

“Argoshin, no! Son, stop this!”

But it only had the opposite effect.

Upset, the little one made an abrupt movement with his arm and, like the stranger, Krûnan collapsed.

Argoshin froze, unsure of what had just happened. His blood froze, and he was shaking, too cold to bear.      Quickly, he realized that he had made a big mistake and yet he had difficulty feeling guilty. He was both ecstatic and horrified at the situation, unsure what to make of it all.

A short time later, his mother stormed out of the house and at the sight of the scene, turned pale. 

“We are leaving!”

“M-ma?”

“Now!”