"L-Lumin?"
"K-Karu!"
"Where are you guys?!" Uru’en shouted with all her might.
No sound came out. The words died in the thick, silent dark. She couldn’t even hear her own voice.
Her surroundings were pitch black. No light, no shapes, no movement. She waved a hand in front of her face and saw nothing. She was buried in perfect, suffocating nothingness.
’What do I do?’
She gritted her teeth until her jaw ached.
’What can I do?’
Her mind flashed back to their capture.
The Red Envoy materialized from the air in front of them. He hadn’t even drawn a weapon. A mere flick of his fingers, a wave of his crushing aura, and her muscles had locked. Lumin and Karu had collapsed without a sound. They were powerless. Hopeless.
The memory was a fresh wound.
’...It’s all my fault! I should’ve stayed!’
Her heart ached for her parents facing that monster, for her tribe, for the two who were now on death’s door with her.
Her hand flew to her neck, clutching the necklace her aunt Saya had given Lumin just before they left. She found out about it after Lumin gave it to her, before they got caught.
It was made of polished black teeth — Salom’s Legacy Relic, each from an ancestor who had faced a great beast and survived. It was only used by the chiefs. She naturally understood why her mother secretly sent her away with it.
’I’m sorry. I’m so weak.’
She clenched the largest tooth in her fist so hard the edges dug into her palm.
’Ancestors, please help me... Please... I want to save them...’
Tears began to fall subconsiously from her eyes.
’Hick... Please...’
’Please...’
’...’
Suddenly, the tooth in her hand grew warm.
Then it began to glow.
A soft, steady white light, like captured moonlight, pulsed from within the black enamel.
’H-Huh?’
Uru’en stared, startled and utterly confused.
’W-What’s happening?’
She held it up, the light pushing back the absolute dark around her.
In its gentle glow, the world shifted.
Though it was still dark, the surroundings slowly became visible.
"I-I can see?!" Uru’en exclaimed. The sound of her own voice made her jump. "I... I can speak too! I-I can hear!"
Overjoyed, she looked at the glowing relic in her hand.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice thick with gratitude. "Thank you for your help."
A glimmer of hope ignited in her chest.
She tightened her grip on her bone axe and started walking. She had to find the others first, starting with Lumin and Karu, who were here because of her. She had to make it up to them. And Lumin was smart, clever in ways her people weren’t. If they could reunite, they might have a chance to think of a way to escape this disaster.
She moved, relying on her hunter’s instincts to choose a direction in the maze-like dark. The relic’s light pushed back the void, creating a small, stable pocket of reality around her.
After what felt like an eternity of silent walking, a shape resolved in the gloom ahead. A silhouette, standing still.
Her heart leapt. "Lumin? Is that you?"
The figure didn’t turn, probably because they hadn’t heard her.
Gritting her teeth, she broke into a run.
"Lumin!"
"Karu!"
Calling out both of their names, she closed the distance quickly.
"Hey! I’m here!" she shouted again, now only a few paces behind.
The figure slowly began to turn.
Uru’en’s smile started to form. ’Finally!’
Based on the shorter, slender build, it must be Lumin, she thought.
"Lumin! Lum—!"
The word caught in her throat.
She stopped just a few steps away, her smile freezing.
’This... isn’t Lumin.’
The figure before her stood calmly in the relic’s pale glow, fully visible now.
A handsome young man, tall and well-built, with chestnut hair that fell just a little messily over sharp, gentle eyes. His features were clean, almost refined — nothing like the rough hunters of her tribe, nothing like brother Karu’s solid presence, nothing like Lumin’s familiar awkwardness.
Her fingers tightened around her bone axe.
"W-Who are you?" Uru’en asked, her voice cautious but laced with sudden, unexpected curiosity.
The young man finished turning toward her, surprise flickering across his face, then melting into an easy, charming smile.
"Me?" he said lightly, one hand touching his chest in an almost theatrical gesture. "I’m Bane."
The way he smiled, confident yet warm, hit her straight in the chest.
Her heart even skipped a bit.
"What about you, milady?" he continued smoothly. "What should I call you?"
"M–Me?" Uru’en blinked, suddenly very aware of herself, a strange fluttering in her chest. "I–I’m Uru’en! N–Nice to meet you."
’Why am I nervous?’ She mumbled inwardly. ’This is stupid. Focus.’
"Uru’en?" Bane repeated, his smile softening a little. "What a beautiful name. It really suits a lovely girl like you."
Uru’en’s brain froze. Her cheeks burned.
"Y–You think so?" she stammered before she could stop herself.
Heat rushed to her face, her ears, her chest. She hated it and yet couldn’t deny it.
’Weird... Why am I reacting like this? This has never happened before... even with Lumin.’ Her thoughts became tangled, messy, and unfamiliar. ’Or... Could it be...?’
She stole a glance at Bane’s face again, just for a second.
The calm confidence in his eyes. The gentle curve of his smile. The way he stood so naturally in the darkness, as if he belonged there.
’Did I finally find... my charming warrior?’
The thought lingered, then suddenly shattered.
The relic in her hand pulsed again.
The soft moonlight flared brighter, washing over her fingers and crawling up her arm like cold water. The warmth in her chest vanished, replaced by a sharp clarity that snapped her thoughts back into place.
Her eyes widened.
"...No—!"
Her grip tightened around the tooth as her breathing steadied.
’What am I doing?!’
Her surroundings rushed back into focus.
The endless dark. The danger. Lumin. Karu. Aunt Saya. Her parents. Her tribesman. And the others.
"Oh no!" Uru’en blurted out, panic cutting through the haze. "I have to save the others!"
She spun toward Bane, suddenly alert, suddenly wary again.
"What happened to you?" she asked quickly. "How are you here?"
Bane blinked, momentarily startled by the shift in her tone. He scratched the back of his head, his smile turning a bit sheepish.
"A-Actually, I am not sure myself," he admitted. "I was traveling. Made camp, started cooking for the night." He laughed weakly. "Next thing I knew, everything went dark... and I woke up here."
"I see..." Uru’en nodded slowly.
So he didn’t know.
Just like Lumin.
He was another victim who had never heard of the Night Devourer, never known the rules of this cursed phenomenon, and got dragged into today’s catastrophe by pure misfortune.
Her resolve hardened.
"Then you should follow me," she said firmly, lifting her bone axe slightly as the relic’s light expanded a fraction more. "I’ll protect you."
Bane stared at her.
Then burst out laughing.
"No way!" he said immediately. "How can I let a girl protect me?" He straightened, chest puffing out just a bit. "I’ll protect you instead."
For a heartbeat, she just looked at him. Then-
Giggle.
A soft, surprised sound slipped out of her before she could stop it.
"Alright, alright," Uru’en said, shaking her head with a small smile. "Just don’t slow me down."
She turned, starting forward without hesitation.
"We have to find the others first. Then we can figure out a way to get out of her."
Behind her, Bane followed, still smiling, still confident, and the relic in her hand glowed quietly, as if watching him just as closely as she now did.