He opened the door to the house and stepped inside. The lights had already been turned off as everyone had to go bed, it was already past 1 am.
But that wasn't something out of the ordinary for him, he truly was a master at moving around in the dark. Somehow he'd just always had an easier time seeing in the dark than others. Whether it was because of the practice he had with it, or just something else, he didn't know.
As he climbed up the stairs and got into the room the kids shared, he felt a bit of deja vu. This was already the second time in two days that he'd done this, he had to be careful not to make it a habit.
He got into his bed and tugged into the blankets. It was so comfortable to lay down after such an exhausting day.
The combination of the exhaustion from his workout and the long walk home made it easy to fall asleep. He suspected that there would be many days in the future like this. Now that he had made some progress, he felt a renewed hope along with a new source of motivation.
He almost couldn't wait to go back and continue training tomorrow. Maybe he would even try meditating again, something which he hadn't done for a long time.
It wasn't long before he was snoring away like the rest of the room's occupants.
*****
Fire raged through the land, conquering houses, trees, and fields as it burned through a village.
Giant flames roared towards the sky, blotting out the night stars. Despite the havoc it was causing, there was a beauty to it all.
Inside the village, it was a scene of bloodbath as people lay dead on the ground with missing limbs and bloods flowing from various orifices. The ones that were still alive ran around in a panic, trying desperately to find their loved ones.
Amid it all stood a man who was clearly not a man, serenely watching it all without a care in the world. His calm demeanor was so out of place in the middle of this carnage.
A pair of black horns sprouted from his head, but his menacing red eyes were what really drew people's focus. It made him look like the devil as he stood among these roaring flames.
"M-Monster! DEMON!" A man yelled in fear.
He was lying on the ground with a missing leg, bleeding from his missing leg as he tried to crawl further away from the demonic looking man.
The man was clearly in shock, and his wound was bleeding heavily onto the muddy ground.
The demonic man just watched, his lips curling into a smirk before he took a step forward.
The crawling man grew even more panicked, now desperately clawing at the ground to get away. He didn't care about the mud, this was just a frenzied attempt at survival.
But there was no way he could ever get away and the demonic man just calmly followed. He wasn't in a rush as he trod lightly on the ground, his every step light and fluid, almost like the wind dancing atop the clouds.
"P-please! Have mercy, I-I beg you." The crawling man knew it was hopeless and gave up, instead clinging to the demonic man's legs, his eyes brimming with tears.
But the demonic man did not seem to care, and didn't give his pleas any regard. With his other leg, he kicked the crying man and sent him tumbling to the ground. Like he had just wanted to get rid of an insect.
The crying man on the ground sat up and closed his eyes, aware of his impending death he started praying. Praying for something to save him, anything.
But it was no use, the demonic man unsheathed his sword.
It was a beautiful work of art that would attract everyone's attention when it was uncovered. Even the crying man stopped his prayer, and opened his eyes a smidge to watch.
A shimmery black sheen covered the blade, drawing in the light around it and capturing it, just like a black hole.
"There is no mercy for your people." The demonic man only spoke this one sentence, like he was doling out a judgement. Then he raised his sword and sliced the head off of the other man.
It was such a horrific sight that should've repulsed him, but instead it was nothing but a beautiful sight in his eyes. He felt himself drawn in as he watched the magnificent sword curve through the air, drawing an arc through the night sky before passing through the man's neck unobstructed.
So clean, so fluid. It was almost hypnotic.
The head fell down on the ground and rolled, getting covered in mud. At the same time, from the man's neck that was now missing a head, the last vestiges of his blood began spurting forth.
Through it all, the giant ferocious flames continued to eat through the village, burning it all to the ground and erasing the village.
The empty lifeless eyes of the dead man found his and appeared to look right through him. There was an unsaid accusation hidden in those eyes. Like they were blaming him for everything that had happened.
But he hadn't done anything? It was the demonic man who had murdered the village, he had just been watching?
*****
"Ahhh!" Kaden woke up with a jolt, cold sweat covering his entire body.
The room was still completely dark, which meant it was still in the middle of the night.
What happened? He couldn't remember much, but it seemed that he had a nightmare. And it had to have been a very bad one, it had been years since he had last woken up covered in cold sweat.
He tried to remember the nightmare, but he had already forgotten most of the details.
Vaguely he remembered something about flames, and a man with black horns and red eyes. And then… There was a sword attack which he for some reason could recall very clearly. He remembered how he had felt seeing it, almost in awe at the display of technique and power. But nothing else from the nightmare came to him.
Phew, he breathed out a sigh of relief, relaxing slightly. At least it was just a nightmare, and it was already over now. It didn't matter any longer.
His nose wrinkled and he suddenly got a whiff of a very bad smell.
It was horrible and made him gag, the mix of sulfur and citrus was almost enough to make him vomit.
Where was that horrific smell coming from? It was so incredibly clear and potent, it was a wonder that it hadn't made everyone else wake up.
The sticky feeling of cold sweat covering him, made him wonder if it was coming from himself. He looked down and noticed he was covered in a black fluid like and sticky substance.
He had no idea what it was, but it was clear that it wasn't just could sweat covering him. Now he was sure that the smell could only be coming from him. He rushed out of bed and went to go take a shower, this couldn't be put off.
After turning on the hot water, he went to go take a look at himself in the mirror. What he saw confused him more than anything. From head to toe his entire body was covered in the black substance. And since the smell had followed him into the bathroom, it was clear that he was the source.
He wanted to find out what it was, but didn't have much to go on. Besides, for now he just needed to get clean. He stepped into the shower and felt immediate relief as he saw the black substance begin to rinse off. It was amazing that it wasn't too hard to get rid of, considering how sticky it had felt.
When he looked down, the water spilling into the drain was almost a pure black. Whatever this was, there was a lot of it and it made him very dirty.
He was glad that he could get it off easily, but it irked him that it had even happened in the first place. He'd never heard about anything like this happening to people before. There was no one out there that he could ask for help or information, nobody that he could go to for advice.
He scrubbed himself extra hard with soap, wanting to make sure that he was completely rid of it all.
When he finally felt like he was clean enough, he got out of the shower and began drying himself. The smell was gone, which was a good sign.
It was now that a wave of tiredness struck him. Earlier he had been to distracted to be tired, but now that he was calm again, he felt it. He had probably only slept for a few hours after all.
He went back to his bed and lay down again, utterly hoping that this wouldn't happen to him again. It was doubtful that he would ever be able to get used to that horrific smell, probably nobody could.
Thankfully no one had woken up, he didn't think he would've been able to explain that to anyone.