Ashes And Dawn

The battle was over.

Smoke curled into the morning sky, carrying the scent of burnt wood and blood. The village, once full of life, now stood in eerie silence. The dead lay where they had fallen, their weapons still clutched in lifeless hands. The survivors moved between the wreckage, their eyes hollow with exhaustion and grief.

Lee Byung Hun sat at the edge of a collapsed house, his sword resting across his lap. His body ached, every movement sending sharp pains through his bruised ribs. His tunic was torn, stained with blood—his own and others'. He had won. He had survived. But the victory felt empty.

"How many did I save?"

His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword.

"How many did I fail?"

The forgotten god's presence stirred within him, warm and steady.

"You did what you could, child. That is all anyone can do."

Byung Hun closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. The whispers of the dead still lingered in the back of his mind, but they had quieted. The souls he had taken—the drowned—were waiting, bound to him now. He didn't know what that meant yet. But he would learn.

A gentle voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"You should rest."

Byung Hun opened his eyes to see her—Seo Yoon.

She knelt beside him, her hands wrapped in bandages, her face smudged with dirt. She had been one of the few villagers who had fought back, wielding nothing but an old blade and sheer determination. Now, she looked as exhausted as he felt.

"You saved us," she said, her voice quiet. "Without you, we would all be dead."

Byung Hun didn't answer. He wasn't sure what to say. Instead, he looked past her, toward the small group of survivors tending to the wounded. The cries of the injured had softened, replaced by murmured reassurances and quiet weeping.

"Some lived," he murmured.

Seo Yoon nodded, her expression unreadable. "Some did."

A long silence stretched between them before she sat beside him, pulling her knees to her chest. "I saw what you did at the end. When you stood there… the air felt different. What happened?"

Byung Hun hesitated. How could he explain? That in that moment, when the battle had ended, he had felt something shiftinside him? That he had taken the souls of the fallen, binding them to his very existence? That he could feel them now, lingering in his shadow?

"I don't know yet," he admitted. "But I will."

She studied him for a moment before sighing. "You always act older than you are."

He let out a tired chuckle. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No," she said softly. "But it means you've had to grow up too fast."

The words settled between them, heavy and unspoken.

Byung Hun looked up at the sky. The sun was rising, its golden light casting long shadows over the ruined village. For the first time in what felt like forever, the air was still.

The battle was over.

But the war had only just begun