The Cracked Egg

Far in the East lay a small village where the inhabitants lived off farming.

The villagers and their spirits spread across the fields, tending to their work. An ox plowed the earth; rabbits played with children, and others went about their tasks.

Beneath a beautiful green tree sat a small boy with black hair, flipping through an old-looking book.

Near him lay an egg covered in cracks.

An old man approached the boy and asked, "How much longer for you?"

The child answered, "Bath told me three days remain."

"I'm so excited! What will it be? A deer? An eagle? Or what?"

"Hahaha!" laughed the old man. "Don't joke, son. The legendary Five Spirits don't appear for just anyone. Besides, what need do you have for a mythical spirit?"

" I need it because I want to travel the kingdom."

"Very well, son. Don't get your hopes up too high. Also, your spirit type will manifest after hatching, won't it?"

"Yes, son. It will appear after hatching."

The boy remained studying the book until night drew near.

He headed home and slept.

He opened his eyes to see a colossal tree burning with flames. Beneath it lay piles of corpses—some charred, some still smoldering, some twitching with life. Moans and screams echoed from all directions.

Focusing on the tree, he recognized it—it was the very tree he always read beneath. This was his village, burning.

Suddenly—the scene changed. He found himself in a room where a black-haired youth was bound to a chair, a cloth sack over his head. His chest was bare, bearing a tattoo of a viper so uncannily lifelike it seemed drawn by an inhumanly talented artist.

Beside the youth stood a table strewn with torture tools, drenched in red.

His eyes snapped open in shock. His heart raced. The stench of mold and blood invaded his nostrils.

A black dog stared at him beside a man with a thin mustache. "Hello, Drake."

*Drake*—he heard his name.

Then, abruptly, he found himself screaming in his bed. Beside him, his spirit egg trembled from within. He felt—or saw—a black mist seeping from the cracks.

Black smoke? Or am I imagining things?