Chapter 3:

  Armison was the first one to reach Shogai afterwards, and Shogai immediately knew that he'd seen them. The Nexeans.

  "Armison... I'm so sor-"

  Armison silenced Shogai with a quick gesture as the rest of the village slowly filtered out of their homes. Questions erupted all at once.

  "What was the alarm about?" "Did you see how many Aberrants there were?" "What happened?" "Where did they go?"

  Shogai cleared his throat to tell them about his discovery-that Nexeans were real, and they'd saved him - but Armison spoke up first.

  "Shogai happened! He single-handedly drove away the Aberrants from every side of the village, without even a scratch on him!"

  Armison clapped, much to Shogai's confusion, but the rest of the village joined in before Shogai could correct him. How did they fall for that? Armison was acting weird, and beating every Aberrant was impossible for him. Some adults showed signs of suspicion, but he heard others talking themselves into Armison's lie.

  "Hmm, I guess that makes sense." "Yeah, it probably wasn't that many after all."

  Soon, all doubt was gone, and the people were cheering for Shogai for the second time that night. Armison raised his hand for silence.

  "Give him a rest, everyone. He's exhausted. Come on, boy. Let's have some tea."

  Armison led Shogai away from the noise and bustle of the village, and Shogai listened as they calmed down.

  Armison lived in a small house with a bottom floor and a tiny attic. Shogai hadn't visited very often, and he noted how simply the old man lived - a bed in one corner, a small kitchen in another, sparse furniture. He even kept all his old boxes downstairs. The attic door was shut, but Shogai could tell it had been used often. If not for storage, what was it for?

  Armison sat down on a chair, pulling up one for Shogai. He had two cups of tea on the small table between them.

  Shogai stared at the cups. He’d prepared a cup for Shogai in advance?

  He took the second cup and sipped. It was still warm, freshly made, but cooling. Armison must have been drinking alone when the alarm went off. But then why make two cups?

  The old man said nothing about it, and Shogai decided not to ask.

  Once he was comfortable, Shogai erupted into questioning.

  "Why did you lie back then? The Nexeans are real! Actual human fighters against the Aberrants! Just like you told us about. Everyone thinks you're crazy. I never believed it, but I didn't believe in Nexus either. Why would you let them think you're crazy?"

  Armison waited, taking a slow sip.

  "Done?"

  "Yeah."

  He cleared his throat.

  "The Nexeans can't do everything. We've been safe because we can fight the Aberrants that Nexus is too occupied to keep away from us. If the village knew there was a group of fighters rescuing us, how would they react? They'd let their guard down. Then we'd all be dead."

  Shogai was stunned. He was expecting some kind of roundabout, mysterious tale of folklore. Instead, Armison was speaking in direct terms. He was being objective. And he was completely right.

  "But then... why tell the stories at all? Wouldn't it be safer to remove the risk of people believing you? What's the point?"

  "It's my duty," Armison said, sipping his tea. His voice carried a weight Shogai had never heard before… Something heavier than mere conviction. "I'm the elder who's senile to most. My tales are folklore. But it's people like me all over Tenebris that are necessary to Nexus. After all, only the people crazy enough to believe us are crazy enough to fight Aberrants as a Nexean."

  Shogai pondered what he was saying. The stories of Nexus needed to be out there, but they couldn't be genuinely believed by the people. Otherwise, they'd get too comfortable.

  Armison stared into his teacup, and for a moment, he appeared much, much older. Very tired.

  "I've been doing this for a long time, boy. Longer than you've been alive. Every night, I tell the same stories. Every night, they think I'm mad." He paused. "There are worse things than being thought a fool, if it keeps people safe."

  "So you want me to keep them a secret. Got it. But if you're telling the stories, surely you have people in mind? Want me to become a Nexe-"

  "No!"

  Armison stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. He checked around, as if someone might be listening, then regained his composure and sat.

  "It's not worth it. I know it sounds like an honour, but you're fine with the way things are. Don't throw it away."

  There was an undertone to Armison's voice, as if he wasn't really speaking to Shogai at all. As if he were speaking to someone else.

  "Just let me tell my stories and keep the rumour out there. One of you can do the same when you get older. Let's just keep the word circulating. The Nexeans are only human. They grow old and die. Spreading the story of them is my duty, even if..." He trailed off, staring at nothing. "Even if I don't want anyone to listen."

  The silence that followed felt heavy. Shogai wanted to ask more - wanted to know what Armison wasn't saying - but something in the old man's expression stopped him.

  Armison put out the candle by the window, and Shogai took it as a sign to leave.

  "Thank you, sir."

  He left in silence, and it began to rain. He rushed back to the bakery.

  Baker Thomas was already asleep, and Shogai collapsed into bed. That was a long night.

  It felt odd waking up to a normal day after such an eventful night, but Shogai wasn't surprised. Nomun was strong. With how many attacks they'd persevered through, it was just the norm. No need to bring it up.

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  Thomas had left a piece of bread by Shogai's door, along with a note.

  "My family will be visiting tomorrow and staying for a week. The weather seems okay. I hope you don't mind if I reclaim the room - you should be fine."

  Shogai walked downstairs to see Thomas busy in the bakery. There weren't nearly enough customers to warrant that much attention, but Shogai knew him well enough. He felt too bad about kicking Shogai out and didn't want to face him.

  Shogai smiled and called out to him.

  "Don't worry about it, Thomas! I needed some fresh air anyway. Good day!"

  Thomas's expression softened, and he waved as Shogai left.

  Shogai didn't have a single job besides Aberrant defence, but his relationship with the village was good enough that he was fine. He knew everyone, and everyone knew each other. If he needed a favour, they'd grant it. In exchange, he helped out in his free time.

  Most people could handle themselves fine as Shogai wandered about. He occasionally helped a builder carry a log or a lumberjack cut down a tree. They smiled at him, which filled Shogai with warmth.

  This was his family. His real family.

  A door from one house burst open, and a group of four children ran out screaming and laughing. After them came Heidi, a middle-aged woman who was mostly seen as the village babysitter. The kids loved her, and she loved them in return, but they were getting far too energetic for her.

  "Oh, Shogai, honey," she called out when she saw him, "would you mind entertaining the kids for a while? I need to make them lunch without them spilling boiling water on each other."

  Shogai nodded, and Heidi sighed in relief. Shogai clapped his hands to get the attention of the kids.

  They all said hello and gathered around him. One boy had curious eyes and messy hair - no older than seven.

  "Today we're going to be playing hide and seek. Give Auntie Heidi a break, right?"

  Shogai covered his eyes as the children giggled, whispering to each other.

  "One..."

  He heard them shuffle away. Shogai counted more deliberately.

  "Two..."

  He could clearly hear the kids even as they scurried off.

  "Three..."

  He waited a while, then decided to scare them.

  "Eight, Nine, Ten! Ready or not, here I come!"

  Shogai immediately scanned the area. They were terrible at hiding. Three of them were behind the same tree, pushing each other for space. One had hidden behind a corner, peeking at Shogai.

  They would have died if he were an enemy.

  Shogai slowly walked toward the tree, ominously making his footsteps loud and deliberate. The kids behind it panicked and squealed. Two of them shoved the third out from under the tree, presumably as bait. Shogai stared.

  At least they sort of had survival instincts.

  Shogai tapped the bait child on the head before scaring the two behind the tree. Three down. One to go.

  Shogai heard the last one still hiding from him by following from behind. He entertained him for a moment, walking around in wide arcs, listening to the poorly executed tiptoes behind him.

  All of a sudden, he whipped around, surprising the boy, tapping him on the head and whispering, "Found you."

  The boy burst into laughter, and the rest of the kids cheered. It was the curious one who had asked Armison about Nexus last night. The boy with messy hair. Garen.

  They all gave him high-fives and farewells before Heidi called them in for lunch.

  Shogai waved goodbye and turned to leave. He needed to get back to his shelter before-

  He stopped.

  A woman was staring at him from across the street. Her expression was cold, unreadable. When she noticed he'd seen her, she turned away sharply and walked off.

  Shogai's stomach twisted.

  An older man leaning against a building watched him pass. The man didn't say anything, but his eyes followed Shogai with something that wasn't quite hatred - more like caution. Distrust.

  Another villager - someone Shogai had helped carry lumber just this morning - glanced at him, then quickly pretended not to see him when their eyes met.

  Shogai kept walking, but the warmth from earlier had faded.

  Shogai excused himself to leave the village. He said it was for scouting purposes, but really, he just needed to get away. Even the guards at the boundary gave him tight smiles - polite, but not warm.

  Crossing the boundary river, Shogai carefully navigated the terrain. Nomun was in quite a mountainous region, though the entire island was mountainous for that matter. Nobody was meant to go past this river, but Shogai had done it before. There was a beautiful spot overlooking the southern valley that was quiet, peaceful, and most importantly, calming.

  Shogai sat down at the edge of the cliff, kicking his feet over the edge. He wouldn't fall, but it would upset no one if he did. The love he receives from Nomun is conditional.

  After all, he was Shogai. Chaos.

  He'd never known his father, and his mother had died when he was too young to remember her properly. The villagers took him in afterwards, being the pure souls they were. They asked for his name.

  He couldn't remember what he'd tried to say. He must have been one, maybe two years old, barely able to speak properly. Too young to understand what words meant. Too young to know what he was saying.

  Whatever his mother had named him was lost now. Forgotten. All that remained was what the villagers heard when a grieving, confused child tried to form words he didn't understand.

  Shogai.

  Chaos.

  A child identifying himself as a harbinger of destruction. Of panic. Of death. There was no worse omen. By the time he was old enough to realise something was wrong, it was too late. The name had stuck.

  Mothers kept their children away from him. Nobody wanted to risk letting him near their families. As soon as Shogai was old enough to care for himself - maybe seven or eight - nobody would take him in anymore. He became a wandering ghost. The child of chaos.

  He was alone.

  It wasn't that hard, getting by on his own. He could hunt and make shelter. Plus, the villagers hadn’t known his mother well. But as much as they feared him, they wouldn't let him starve. Shogai owed them for that. He owed them a life debt.

  So he worked. Hard. He helped wherever he could. Things got better when they found out he could fight Aberrants. He went from an outcast to irreplaceable. People apologised to him. People forgave him.

  At the end of the day, he'd been a stupid child who didn't know what he was saying. Shogai had proven he wasn't a bad omen at all.

  But that didn't mean he wasn't bitter.

  Everyone may have apologised, and yes, he did forgive them. But he couldn't forget their faces when they first heard his name all those years ago. The sheer... disgust.

  And he couldn't forget that some of them still looked at him that way. Last night, Shogai had failed to defend Nomun. If the villagers ever found out… if they ever realised that he can’t do the only thing they kept him around for anymore…

  Shogai had been sitting there longer than he'd realised. The sun was setting. He stood and started heading back before anyone worried. He didn't want anyone to worry about him. Well, they wouldn’t worry about him, but having him back before sundown was a preference for the sake of safety. Their safety. No one would chew him out for it, but he was late. Hopefully, he could sneak back in before people realised he’d been out for so long.

  As he crossed the bridge back to Nomun, there was an aura in the air.

  Cold. Hungry.

  The first thing Shogai noticed was smoke.

  Then screaming.

  He went into a sprint. Some villagers ran past him in the opposite direction, fleeing. He asked them what was going on, but their faces were filled with terror.

  Shogai finally made it to the village.

  The entire place was encompassed in a raging inferno. Nomun was ablaze.