Chapter 16: Through the Shattered Pass

The fog swallowed every sound.

Only the frantic crunch of their footsteps echoed through the forest as the three children ran.

White mist drifted between the black pine trees like restless ghosts.

In the dense fog, the branches looked enormous.

Twisted.

At times, they almost resembled faces staring back at them.

But this time...

...nothing was chasing them.

No demons.

No shadows.

Only fear.

Kaien ran at the front without a word.

His breathing was heavy.

His blue eyes were empty.

Almost lifeless.

Snow clung to his blond hair.

Yun Yun held tightly onto his hand.

As though she feared he would disappear the moment she let go.

Behind her, Lyra held firmly onto Yun Yun's hand.

She frowned slightly.

"Do you even know where you're going, Yun Yun?"

Yun Yun kept running through the mist.

"No."

"Of course not."

An icy wind slipped between the trees.

Branches snapped beneath their feet.

Kaien didn't say a word.

Since the death of his parents...

...something inside him had changed.

Not just grief.

Something worse.

As though a part of him had died with them.

Yun Yun glanced at him.

His eyes were completely empty.

Not even anger remained.

Only shock.

Lyra breathed heavily.

"Yun Yun... slow down."

At first, Yun Yun ignored her.

Only after several more meters did she finally stop.

The fog drifted silently around them.

Like smoke.

Lyra bent forward slightly, resting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

"Can't you see? We can barely see anything."

Yun Yun stared into the white haze.

She could barely see more than two meters ahead.

Then Lyra looked at Kaien.

Her expression immediately turned more serious.

"Besides..."

"...I don't think Kaien can keep going much longer."

Kaien swayed slightly.

He probably hadn't even noticed.

His body was moving on instinct alone.

Like someone who kept walking because stopping would make everything real.

Yun Yun immediately let go of his hand and stepped in front of him.

"Kaien."

No response.

His gaze drifted past her.

Somewhere into the endless fog.

A sharp pain tightened in Yun Yun's chest.

Slowly, she took his hands.

Ice cold.

"We're taking a short break."

Kaien didn't respond immediately.

A few seconds later, he gave a faint nod.

The three of them sat beside a large black boulder beneath a pine tree.

The snow was thinner there.

Lyra immediately pulled her coat tighter around herself.

"I hate this forest."

Yun Yun let out a faint breath.

"Funny. Everyone says that."

"Because everyone's right."

Yun Yun tried to smile.

It never reached her eyes.

The forest felt different now.

Silent.

Far too silent.

No animals.

No birds.

No wind.

Only fog.

Kaien sat motionless in the snow.

He could still see it.

The blood.

His parents.

His body began to tremble.

Yun Yun noticed immediately.

Slowly, she sat down beside him.

Very close.

"Kaien..."

He didn't react.

Even Lyra remained silent.

For once...

...even she didn't know what to say.

Kaien suddenly swallowed.

"I..."

His voice broke at once.

He pressed his lips together.

Yun Yun saw his hands trembling even harder.

"I couldn't do anything."

No one spoke.

The fog drifted slowly between the trees.

Yun Yun remained silent.

There were no words for something like this.

Kaien lowered his gaze.

"I just stood there."

His voice sounded empty.

Almost like someone else's.

"I watched them die."

Yun Yun felt her chest tighten.

Slowly, she took his hand again.

"It wasn't your fault."

Kaien didn't answer.

Because deep down...

...he believed exactly the opposite.

Lyra quietly looked away.

Snow drifted soundlessly through the branches.

After several minutes, Yun Yun slowly stood.

"We have to keep moving."

Lyra let out a weary sigh.

"And where exactly are we going?"

Yun Yun slowly looked around.

Fog everywhere.

The same black pine trees in every direction.

Then Lyra suddenly noticed something on a stone beside the path.

She stood up and walked over to it.

She knelt beside the stone.

Dark green moss.

Growing on only one side.

Lyra blinked.

Then she looked into the fog.

"Wait."

Yun Yun stepped closer.

Lyra pointed at the moss.

"This points toward the village."

Yun Yun frowned.

"Moss grows more thickly on the damp side."

"How do you even know things like that?"

Lyra gave a small shrug.

"Books."

Yun Yun sighed.

"Of course. Books."

Lyra ignored the comment.

She pointed in the opposite direction.

"If that's where civilization lies..."

Yun Yun slowly nodded.

"...then we go this way."

Kaien silently got to his feet.

The three of them continued deeper into the forest.

North.

Time lost all meaning beneath the trees.

Minutes felt like hours.

More than once, Yun Yun thought she saw movement between the trunks.

But whenever she looked again...

...there was nothing.

Gradually, the fog began to thin.

At first, none of them noticed.

But before long...

...they could suddenly see much farther ahead.

The black pines grew thinner.

More of the gray sky appeared overhead.

Lyra stopped.

"The fog is getting thinner."

Yun Yun looked ahead.

Then she froze.

Something enormous loomed through the fading mist.

A mountain.

No.

Two mountains.

Massive black walls of stone rose before them like ancient guardians.

Between them...

...lay a colossal pass.

The mountain itself had been split apart.

As though something unimaginably powerful had once torn it open.

Kaien slowly lifted his head.

For the first time in what felt like forever...

...something returned to his eyes.

Wonder.

Here...

...the fog had almost completely vanished.

A cold wind rushed through the vast stone pass.

Yun Yun slowly stepped forward.

The towering cliffs reflected in her crimson eyes.

Even Lyra was speechless.

She had never seen anything so immense.

The passage vanished into darkness between the mountains.

Yet beyond the great rift...

...they could see light.

Almost as though another world awaited them on the other side.

Lyra swallowed.

"This..."

Yun Yun turned toward her.

Slowly hope returned to her eyes.

"Maybe there are people beyond it."

Lyra studied the passage uncertainly.

"Or monsters."

"Maybe."

The wind roared through the mountains.

Kaien stood in silence, staring ahead.

Yun Yun stepped closer to Lyra.

"We can't go back anymore."

Lyra already knew.

Yun Yun was right.

Behind them lay only Asterveil.

Death.

Demons.

Everything they had lost.

At least the unknown still lay ahead.

Slowly, Yun Yun held out her hand.

"Come on."

Lyra looked at Yun Yun's hand.

Then at the enormous passage.

Then she let out a weary sigh.

"If we die..."

Yun Yun gave a faint smile.

"Then at least we won't die in that village."

Lyra let out a quiet snort.

Then she took her hand.

The three children stood before the shattered mountain pass.

Small.

Lost.

Yet they kept moving forward.

Together.

The wind rushed through the dark passage.

Somewhere beyond it...

...an entirely new world awaited them.

Lyra stared ahead, wide-eyed.

The distant light reflected in her crimson eyes.

"I... I can't believe it."