The jungle no longer breathed . It only listened.
The canopy above was dense, but not dense enough to silence the distant crunch of bone being pulverized. Something vast and broken was moving through the Initiation Glade - not stalking, not hunting - claiming.
Seven survivors huddled beneath the twisted roots of an overturned arboreal colossus . Their once - pristine uniforms were torn,smeared in sweat and spores. The test had turned into a massacre.
" He's still out there , " whispered by Jun Yamada , clutching a bleeding wound on his arm . " I heard him - it - tear through bone like they were leaves. "
Keal remained crouched at the edge , eyes scanning the dark beyond the vines. He didn't blink.
" That wasn't a test monster, " Sora Wei said, her voice almost inaudible. " That thing - it's not in the briefing.
" You saw it ?" Ren Takashi hissed, crouched low with a blade in hand .
Sora nodded slowly. " Only it's shape. And it's eye . "
The group fell silent as another distant roar rippled trough the tress - a deep , echoing sound sound that made the air itself feel heavier.
" Who is still alive out there ? " Tara Novàk asked , wiping mud from her cracked glasses. " Do you think any other
candidate - "
" They're gone ," Dara Ivanov interrupted, arms around her kness, face pale. " All communications are down. If anyone is left , they are hiding like us "
Kael slowly turned towards them. His voice was calm ,but the tremor in his his fingers betrayed.
" That thing.... It's not just another selection test monster. "
A pause
" It's a predator that lost its throne. And now it wants this place as it's new territory. "
" How did know " said Velin Shaan , sharpening the broken end of branch.
" The left forelimb... it's completely shattered. The bone - plates are torn open , and the limb itself is twisted at an impossible, unnatural angle." said by
Tara Novàk .
Another roar thunderd across the Initiation Glade, within the Azurewood Enclave .
" It came Twenty six year ago , " Keal said , low voice.
" That night sky cracked open . We thought it was falling star.... but it was a wound . And through it , something came ."
Twenty six year ago - Daung Yathi
The sky was still black when Nay htoo opened his eyes . He could already hear the water calling.
He sat up on the bamboo mat ,muscles moving from memory, and looked over to the far corner of their stilted hut . Their mother , quit in her sleep , was wrapped in a woven blanket. She had grown weaker since last flood . By her side , tangled in a mosquito net, was Mya htoo - his younger sister, still fast asleep with one hand curled around a handmade doll.
Nay htoo smiled to himself.
He tiptoed past her and paused at the doorway . Just as he reached for his fishing net -
" You always sneak out ," came a voice, barely a whisper.
He turned. Mya was peeking through her sleep - squinted eyes .
" You always wake up ," he replied.
" Because I worry you'll get eaten by river ghost. "
" If I do then I will drag one back for you "
She giggled and rolled over , tugging the blanket up to her nose .
Daung Yathi , their village, rose from the river like a drifting dream - wood and thatch homes on stilts , linked by narrow bridges . And the river fed them all.
Nay paddled his canoe into the morning fog . The air smelled of lilies and damp earth.
By midday, he returned with his net full and his arms sore. Mya ran barefoot to greet him at the the door .
" Did you bring me a silver fish ? "
" Only if you cook it better than last time ."
" That one still had bones !"
They bickered with warmth and laughter. She helped him gut the fish by the riverbank,
sleeves rolled, hair tied back.
" I heard someone saw a fish with two heads"
" Then I will catch it by tomorrow and make it your friend."
That night
The sky , the evening was unusually clear.
After dinner, Nay carried their mother to the porch and wrapped her in a shawl.
May prepared sweet tea . The stars blinked to life above them.
And then - the sky bloomed.
One firetrail. Then two . Then dozens. The meteorite streaked across.
The villagers stood on rooftops, cheering stunned.
" Big brother ! Look " May shouted , grabbing his wrist.
They both ran up to the hill near the edge of the village, away from the crowd , where the stars seemed closer.
Breathless, they collapsed into the grass , faces to the sky.
The sky filled with bright, beautiful lights.
" It's so pretty ! " someone shouted
" The stars are falling ! " a child said
" I've never seen anything like this, " Mya htoo said softly.
"It's like the sky is sending us a gift, " Nay htoo said.
They smilled. The stars slowly faded from the sky , and the village lights glowed gently in the dark.
That night, everyone slept with dreams of stars .
No one knew that something had fallen - something strange and quit .
But for now , the world was still full of peace and wonder