Chien Dai [1]
"What do you mean?" I ask in a threatening tone.
"I'm Chien Dai... Quint Rauss... Death Stalker," the boy answers, then smirks. "Who are you?" he asks in a mocking tone.
"I am the owner of this body who is about to kill you," I answer coldly, then grab his neck, ready to twist it when he shouts,
"No!! Don't kill me!! You cannot kill me!!"
"Why not?"
"Because if you kill me, you'll die too," he says.
I smirk. "I doubt that."
"It's... it's true!!" the boy shrieks, this time full of fear as my grip tightens around his neck.
"I can live without my past. I've done it before—obviously, I can do it again," I say nonchalantly.
"I... I am not just your past," the boy quickly replies. "I am YOU. Let me show you."
I don't respond.
"Please... I know I've been erased from your memory repeatedly since you were young. But I'm still here because I am not just a memory. I am you," the boy continues, then tries to persuade me. "Don't you want to know who you really are?"
As I battle inwardly, my hand slowly releases its grip. The boy stands, then grabs my hand. "Come on," he says with a wide grin.
-
"Chien Dai... Chien Dai!!" A woman's voice echoed through the air as she hurried into the woods. Relief flooded her face when her gaze landed on a three-year-old boy squatting on the ground with his back facing her.
"Chien Dai, come... God!!" The woman's words halted, turning into a fearful shout when she saw what the boy was playing with. "Chien Dai... a... what... what are you doing, son?" she whispered in fear.
The boy lifted his head toward her. "Mother, I met a new friend!" he said excitedly, gently lifting a tiny snake from the ground and cradling it like a baby. It was actually a baby snake—but not an ordinary one. It was a king cobra.
"Boy... boy... you... you should leave it here. Its mother must be looking for it right now," the woman whispered, goosebumps rising at the thought of an enraged cobra attacking her son for stealing its child.
"But, Mother... its mother is dead," the boy said sadly, pointing to a mound of soil a few meters away. "I found this tiny thing under its body when I was about to bury it," he explained, then looked at his mother with teary eyes. "Can I bring it home, Mother? He has no one in this world."
The woman was speechless. This wasn't the first time her son had brought animals into their humble home—and they were never ordinary ones. Instead of kittens or rabbits, he brought home wild creatures. A large spider, a lizard... and now a cobra.
"Please, Mother..." the boy pleaded again.
The woman sighed, then nodded heavily. "Okay. Just make sure it doesn't leave the house."
A wide smile spread across the boy's face.
"Come, let's go home. Father will be back soon," his mother urged him once more. This time, the boy didn't resist. He walked beside her, his entire attention on the baby cobra in his arms.
-
Almost a year later, in the dead of night, the boy was in deep sleep when his mother suddenly shook him awake.
"Chien Dai... Chien Dai... Wake up, my boy!!"
Chien Dai groggily opened his eyes. "Mother...?"
"Wake up, quickly!" she hissed, dragging him to his feet.
"They're he—" His father's words were cut off as the front door burst open with a violent kick.
"Run! Now!!"
The crashing sound jolted Chien Dai fully awake, fear instantly gripping his small body. His mother yanked him toward the back of the house. They had barely reached the kitchen when a barrage of gunfire erupted, followed by his father's short, pained cry.
His mother's hand trembled violently.
Chien Dai was too young to fully understand what was happening, but the terror in his mother's grip told him enough.
"Quick, hide there!!"
Before he could react, she shoved him into a hollow pit in the ground. The lid slammed shut above him.
Less than ten seconds later, footsteps stormed into the kitchen.
His mother screamed—raw and filled with horror. Then something heavy crashed onto the lid of the pit, blocking him in.
Kneeling in the darkness, Chien Dai clutched his own trembling body. Tears streamed down his face, but he bit his lip, forcing himself not to make a sound. His mother had hidden him here to protect him.
Something sleek and cold slithered over his arm.
He stiffened, then reached out instinctively. It was the cobra. The baby snake he had rescued a year ago... except it wasn't a baby anymore.
The pit was actually an old trash bin, a place where his mother discarded kitchen scraps. Over time, it had become the cobra's home.
The snake coiled around his small fingers. Chien Dai gently petted its smooth scales, whispering silently in his mind, Stay down... don't go out.
Above him, the men erupted in laughter.
Something tore.
His mother's screams followed—shrieks of agony, desperation, and despair. The men's groans mixed with the sickening sounds of wet slaps, muffled sobs, and struggling limbs. The longer it went on, the weaker her cries became.
Until, in those final moments, there was no more screaming—only the repeated, rhythmic sound of flesh against flesh and the vile grunts of men.
Chien Dai squeezed his eyes shut, his tiny fingers clenching around the cobra's body.
A single gunshot echoed through the house.
Directly above him.
His whole body went numb. His heart felt as if it had been ripped from his chest. He didn't even notice when the cobra silently slipped from his grasp.
"Check what's under her," a man ordered.
Someone grunted, then dragged something aside—the weight that had been covering the lid.
The pit was about to be discovered.
The lid shifted slightly—
A sharp hiss erupted from the darkness.
"Argh!! Something bit me!" a man screamed. "No—it's a cobra!!"
Panic exploded.
Gunshots rang out.
"Shit!! Something's crawling up my back—AARGH!!"
"No! What is this?! It bit me—!!"
Screams, curses, and chaos filled the air. The gunfire continued wildly, but the screams only grew more desperate.
Then, after several agonizing minutes—
Silence.
The four-year-old Chien Dai curled into himself, arms wrapped around his knees. The pit was deep, too narrow for him to climb out.
Though he barely grasped the true meaning of death, he understood one thing—
His mother and father were gone.
No one was coming to save him.
Fear kept him frozen. He didn't dare make a sound, terrified the men might still be there.
So he sat in the dark and cried.
He didn't know how long he wept before exhaustion claimed him.
-
Slowly, Chien Dai opened his eyes.
A ceiling he didn't recognize came into focus. The air smelled different.
Confused, he tried to sit up.
A little girl's face appeared above him, smiling widely.
"Good, you're awake," she said.
Chien Dai blinked. "Where... where am I?"
The girl stared at him, then glanced to her left.
"Shelter. Bootcamp. Orphanage." She shrugged. "Call it whatever you want. It's home for me, though."
Her casual tone only deepened his frown.
"Anyway," she continued, "the elders brought you here three days ago. They said your village was destroyed... and you're the only survivor."
The words struck like a blade through his chest.
Chien Dai couldn't stop the sob that escaped him.
The girl sighed, patting his shoulder awkwardly. "Sorry."
Then, with unsettling indifference, she added, "If it makes you feel better, my parents were killed four months ago. That's why I'm here too."
Her detached tone only made Chien Dai cry harder.
"Ssshhh... don't be so loud. The elders might hear—"
Footsteps sounded outside.
The girl stiffened. Her face paled.
She grabbed the thin sheet covering the bed and pulled it over Chien Dai, hiding him completely.
The door creaked open.
"Has the boy woken up, girl?" a deep voice demanded.
The girl's voice trembled. "Y-Yes, Elder Brother. But... but he's still—"
"Good."
Heavy steps approached the bed.
Chien Dai lay still, breath shallow beneath the sheet.
A rough hand yanked the cover away.
A man loomed over him, cold eyes scanning his face.
Then, without warning, he slapped Chien Dai's cheek—twice.
"Prepare yourself for training tomorrow, boy."
He turned and walked out.
The girl remained standing there, watching Chien Dai with pity.