Dark Door

Kaien looked up, his fists clenched tight. "I want two things. The first… I want you to get me out of this desert alive."

He had already thought it through—survival was paramount. Everything else could be dealt with later.

"I accept," the Mirami said. Her voice groaned like a wind howling through ruins.

Kaien frowned, thoughts racing as he searched for a second request. He glanced around, shuffling through the scattered pieces of his mind, but nothing surfaced. Nothing worth asking for—not yet.

"Can... I ask for the second one later?" he said, narrowing his eyes as the storm around them roared louder. "When I know what I want, I'll let you know."

The swirling storm began to quiet, as if the land itself acknowledged his request.

"As you wish," she said.

Her toes touched the ground with the grace of falling petals as she landed, and with a fluid motion, she pulled out a jade pin. Without hesitation, she sliced her palm open, and thick black blood began to pour.

Before Kaien could process what was happening, she seized his wrist. Her fingers were cold, unshaking. She scrawled a symbol across his skin, and the inscription ignited with a sinister glow before seeping into his flesh.

"Wait—" Kaien's voice was a whisper before panic overtook him. "Wait! You never said anything about a Blood Lock!"

He rubbed at the glowing mark, his voice rising in alarm. "No, no, no—why a Blood Lock?!"

Her gaze remained tranquil as she tilted her head. "Why are you afraid? Were you planning to go back on your word?"

Kaien held his breath, caught in the weight of her words and the shimmer in her teary eyes. "I wasn't going to break it. But isn't a Blood Lock too extreme—for a child like me?"

"You told me to come back when I learned everything about you," he said. "What if something delays me? If even a day passes beyond the limit, if the contract activates, Won't I be died"

Her eyes flicked up. "stop acting like a child."

Kaien tilted his head, flashing a crooked grin. "I am a child. I'm just an eight-year-old boy, remember?"

"Is that so?" she murmured, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway," she said sharply, brushing her robe aside, "let's get down to work. The more time you waste on this useless conversation, the less time you'll have before the world resets."

With a flick of her finger, a darkened doorway appeared in midair—its outline wreathed in sinister, pulsing Qi.

"There's less than two days before this tower resets," she warned. "And if you don't get out before that happens… you'll be trapped here forever."

Kaien's eyes flickered between the Mirami and the eerie door. "You remember my first wish, right?" he said warily. "You have to get me out of this desert alive. No tricks."

"My second wish requires you to leave here and return," she replied with a smirk. "So I won't be foolish enough to kill you... yet."

Kaien gulped, his throat dry as he stared at the black door. It thrummed with a quiet menace, its metal edge alive with dark energy. A thousand thoughts rioted through his young mind.

What lay beyond that door? What exactly was he supposed to find—something even a powerful Mirami hadn't dared to retrieve?

Why wait for someone else if it wasn't a trap?

He had only heard stories about such things—tales of demons and vengeful spirits. But none of those stories had prepared him for this.

"So... what do I need to find?" he asked, voice low.

Qingxin's lips curved into a smile—a twisted blend of anticipation and challenge. "You need to find a silver spear."

"A spear?" Kaien echoed.

She nodded.

His thoughts flashed to the hourglass she had shown him earlier. Time was slipping through his fingers. He had to return before it all vanished.

Determined, Kaien stepped forward and placed his hand against the door. He braced for heat, for pain—something. But the surface felt oddly... normal.

He pushed gently, and with a long, groaning sound, the door creaked open—like it hadn't moved in decades.

Qingxin's eyes widened slightly at how easily he opened it, but her surprise vanished behind a cold, unreadable expression.

"Just remember one thing," she said. She reached out, fingers hovering near his shoulder—but the moment she saw his hand on the door, she quietly pulled back.

"If the spear refuses to come with you... tell it my name."

Kaien nodded.

Before him lay nothing but an abyss—an empty, black dimension that seemed to swallow all light. The moment he stepped forward, he felt as though he'd fall into endless nothingness.

Qingxin watched his hesitation.

"Don't worry," she said, her voice calm, nearly gentle. "It's dark only to those outside the door. The moment you step in, you'll see it clearly."

Kaien wanted to believe her. He truly did. But his heart was pounding—louder than reason. No matter how rational her words sounded, the shadow of death loomed large before him.

"Wait," Kaien said suddenly. He untied the knot at his waist and gently placed a small pot on the stone he had woken up on.

"It's my mother," he said quietly. "Please take care of her until I return. I don't want anything to happen to it."

For a fleeting moment, hesitation flickered in Qingxin's eyes. But she buried it quickly.

At that moment, both of them had their own burdens—and their own pasts.

Kaien took a deep breath, steeling himself. The dark Qi around the threshold pulsed like a living heart, beckoning him forward with silent threats and unanswered riddles.

He stepped closer, his hand brushing the cool surface of the door. It was like touching the calm before a storm—silent, still, and brimming with invisible fury. The moment his foot crossed the threshold, the darkness began to shift. Faint shapes stirred inside, and a cold breeze whispered past his cheek like the breath of something ancient.

Behind him, Qingxin remained silent. Her arms folded, her face unreadable.

Kaien took one last glance at the stone where the small pot sat, safely cradled in a bed of moss. "Please," he murmured under his breath. "Let me come back to it."

Then, without another word, he stepped through.

The moment his body passed the veil, light exploded into view. The darkness peeled away, revealing a landscape unlike anything he had ever seen. Twisted ruins floated in midair, suspended by chains of light and shadow. The sky pulsed a deep violet, and shimmering particles drifted through the air like snow made of stardust.

Kaien paused, breath caught in his throat. His instincts screamed at him to run—but there was nowhere to go. He was inside now. There was no turning back.

Behind him, the door vanished with a soft snap of air, sealing him in.

Meanwhile, Qingxin stood silently, her gaze fixed on the spot where he'd disappeared. Her hand hovered near the small pot, fingers twitching faintly, then curling into a loose fist.

The wind rustled the edges of her lilac robe.

She whispered something too faint to hear, her eyes shadowed with emotion. For a moment, the hard shell cracked—and within it, something weary and human flickered across her face.

But just as quickly, it was gone.

She turned away from the stone and the pot, her expression once again as distant and sharp as a blade. Above her, the sky remained locked in its eternal twilight, and the hourglass of this world continued to drip its final grains.

"You must come back" she whispered