Kyan was sitting on a rustic bench, still feeling the weight of exhaustion in his body. In front of him, a steaming bowl of simple soup, but with a comforting aroma, was placed roughly on the table by the old man. Krelan glanced at him briefly, his usual grumpy expression on his face.
"Eat already. I didn't spend half the day taking care of a passed-out kid for you to starve now."
Kyan didn't respond. He simply grabbed the spoon and began eating, feeling the warmth of the soup calm his battered body. The silence between them was broken only by the sound of the spoon hitting the bowl and the crackling fire in the hearth.
The door of the cabin creaked, signaling someone's arrival. Kyan lifted his eyes and saw a small figure enter without ceremony. It was a little girl, no older than seven or eight, with black hair and bright, almost curious eyes. However, what caught his attention were the small black wings on her back, similar to those of a raven.
She stopped in the middle of the room, watching Kyan intensely. Her gaze wasn't hostile, but curious, almost suspicious, as though she were trying to decipher something about him.
Kyan quickly averted his gaze, trying to ignore her, but couldn't shake off the uncomfortable thought. During the days he had been here, he'd noticed that everyone he met, even the old man with his white tail, had some animal characteristic. He, on the other hand, was... normal. Too human for this strange world.
He lowered the spoon and looked at Krelan, who didn't even bother to explain the girl's arrival.
"Is she your granddaughter?" Kyan asked, his voice hoarse and low.
Krelan grunted, fiddling with something on the counter. "If she were, do you think I wouldn't have said so?" He finally turned around, wiping his hands on his apron. "She's just a curious one who shows up when she feels like it. But today, she seems more interested in you."
Kyan raised an eyebrow, glancing at the girl again. She was still standing there, like a statue, her eyes fixed on him. It bothered him.
"Why is she staring at me like that?"
Krelan snorted, pulling up a chair to sit down. "Because you're strange, kid. Haven't you figured that out yet? You're just... human. You're a big anomaly."
Kyan gripped the spoon tighter than he intended, but didn't answer. Deep down, he knew the old man was right. He was the exception in a world where normalcy seemed like something extraordinary.
The girl slowly approached, her steps silent, until she stopped beside Kyan. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, expecting her to say something, but she simply continued to stare at him with that intrigued look.
"Does she not talk?" he asked, looking at Krelan.
"She talks when she wants to, but I think she prefers studying you before she opens her mouth. Maybe she thinks you're some kind of... monster."
Kyan let out a short sigh, returning to his soup. He wasn't in the mood for mysteries, especially when he was still weak and recovering. The girl, however, didn't leave, staying close like a silent shadow.
As he finished the bowl of soup, Kyan felt the strangeness of the place and the people around him weighing on him. Still, he couldn't stop thinking about what Krelan had said. Anomaly.
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to push away the discomfort. Maybe it was true. Maybe he was the mistake in this world. And, as much as he wanted to deny it, something deep in his mind whispered that being the anomaly meant more than he could imagine.
...
The days at Krelan's cabin passed slowly, each one dragging on as if time itself were testing Kyan's patience. Despite the old man's constant bad mood, he continued to provide food and care, grumbling about the extra work Kyan caused, but never actually asking him to leave.
Outside the cabin, there was a small makeshift garden, with herbs and plants that Krelan seemed to cultivate for his own purposes. It was there that Kyan, in between forced rests, began trying to understand his new gift.
Sitting on the dirt floor, he closed his eyes, breathing deeply as he stretched out his hands. He focused, trying to channel some energy, something he felt flowing inside him since the fight with Lyara. He visualized the power, feeling it pulse like a silent current ready to be released.
For a brief moment, a faint purple light appeared in his palms, as if something was about to awaken. Kyan opened his eyes, staring at the glow with anticipation. However, before he could even try to control it, it disappeared, leaving only emptiness.
Kyan let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing his face. He had tried this countless times over the past few days, but the result was always the same.
Behind him, the girl with black wings was watching everything in silence. Sitting on a fallen log near the garden, she seemed almost motionless, except for her eyes that shone with intense curiosity every time the faint purple glow appeared.
Kyan mostly ignored her, but it was impossible not to notice her presence. No matter what he did, she was always there, watching, never saying a word.
He tried again, extending his hands more firmly, focusing until he felt the tension in his muscles. For a few seconds, the glow returned, stronger than before, but once again, it dissipated before he could do anything.
"This isn't working," he muttered to himself, more to relieve the frustration than to expect any response.
Krelan, who was watching from a distance while tending to a spiny plant, grunted. "If you keep insisting like that, you'll end up breaking something inside you, kid. Power isn't like a tool you force until it works."
"Then how does it work?" Kyan turned to face him.
The old man raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "How should I know? If you can't control it, just don't."
Kyan frowned, dissatisfied with the answer, but knew it was useless to argue. He turned his attention back to his hands, breathing deeply and trying again.
The glow returned, weak but steady. This time, he tried not to focus on controlling it, but just on feeling it. It was like touching something unknown that pulsed gently in his palms. But once again, the glow vanished before he could understand more.
He looked at the girl, who was still watching him with eyes shining with interest.
"What's going on now?" Kyan asked, exasperated, breaking the silence between them for the first time.
She tilted her head slightly, as though considering her answer, but remained silent, her lips forming a neutral line.
Krelan chuckled, a dry, low sound. "Don't expect her to answer, kid. She probably knows as much as you about what you're trying to do. But for some reason, she finds it fascinating."
Kyan didn't reply, just leaned back against the ground, staring at the sky above. The feeling of being constantly watched was starting to irritate him, but there was something about the girl he couldn't ignore.
Even without words, she seemed to understand more than she let on. And those bright eyes, always watching, gave the impression that she knew something about him that he didn't yet understand.
Kyan watched the girl sitting on the log, her small raven-like wings fluttering slightly in the breeze. She didn't seem to blink once as she stared at him, her curiosity clear in her unwavering gaze. He turned his eyes away, frustrated by his inability to use his gift, and turned back to Krelan, who was fiddling with some herbs near the cabin entrance.
"Is she really your neighbor?" he asked, furrowing his brow. "You live in the middle of nowhere, and I haven't seen another house for miles."
Krelan let out a rough laugh, but didn't stop what he was doing. "Neighbor? That's how you see it? I think she's more like a raven who shows up whenever she wants. She comes, stays a while, and then disappears again, like the wind brought her and will take her away."
Kyan looked back at the girl, who now seemed occupied with drawing circles in the dirt with a dry twig but still cast occasional glances at him.
"And you've never asked where she comes from or why she shows up here?" he pressed, crossing his arms.
The old man shrugged. "I've tried. She doesn't answer, and I'm not one to insist. If she wants to stay, she stays. If she leaves, well, one less thing to worry about."
Kyan shook his head, still intrigued. "And that doesn't seem strange to you?"
"Kid," Krelan finally turned to face him, his expression tired but firm. "Look at you. The only human I've ever seen. Strange? You're the only thing truly out of place here."
Kyan didn't respond. He just turned his gaze back to the girl, but this time with a hint of discomfort. He didn't know what was worse: being treated like an anomaly or not being able to deny that, deep down, he was exactly that.