"169. Ember"
Story :-
In a quiet village nestled deep within the mountains, there was a legend that had been whispered for generations. The elders spoke of a mysterious girl with eyes like molten fire—eyes that glowed red like embers in the dark. She was known as the Red-Eye Girl, a figure both feared and revered, who was said to appear only when the world was on the brink of great change.
Most people dismissed the tale as just another folktale, a story to frighten children or amuse the curious. But for Aiden, the legend was something more—an enigma he could not ignore.
Aiden was a young man with a restless spirit, always searching for something beyond the mundane life of the village. He had heard the stories of the Red-Eye Girl from his grandmother, who would tell him of the old days when the mountains were alive with magic and mystery. Though he had never seen anything to make him believe in the supernatural, there was something in the way his grandmother spoke that made him wonder if the stories were true.
One night, as the village lay under a blanket of snow and the full moon cast an eerie glow over the landscape, Aiden found himself unable to sleep. He felt a strange pull, a compulsion to venture into the woods. Wrapping himself in a thick cloak, he slipped out of his house and followed the trail leading up into the mountains.
The air was crisp and cold, the silence broken only by the crunch of snow beneath his boots. As he ascended, the feeling of being watched grew stronger, though he saw no one. The deeper he went, the more he felt that he was not alone.
Finally, as he reached a clearing bathed in moonlight, he saw her.
She stood at the center of the clearing, her long, dark hair flowing like a river of midnight, and her eyes—those eyes—burned with an intense red glow. Aiden felt a shiver run down his spine, but it was not fear that gripped him. It was awe.
The Red-Eye Girl looked at him with a gaze that seemed to pierce through his very soul. There was an ancient power in her presence, something that felt both terrifying and beautiful.
“Why have you come?” she asked, her voice a soft whisper that carried on the wind.
Aiden struggled to find his words. “I…I don’t know,” he admitted, his breath visible in the cold air. “I felt…drawn here.”
The girl’s eyes softened, and she stepped closer, her bare feet leaving no prints in the snow. “You seek answers,” she said, “but you are not yet ready to hear them.”
Aiden felt a pang of frustration. “Then why am I here? What are you?”
“I am the Awakening,” she replied, her voice taking on a melodic tone. “I appear when the time is right, when the world needs to be reminded of what lies beneath the surface—of the power that flows through all things.”
Aiden’s mind raced. “What does that mean? What power?”
The Red-Eye Girl smiled, a sad, knowing smile. “The power of change, of renewal. The power to shape your destiny, to see beyond the veil of the ordinary. But such power comes with a price, and it is not one to be taken lightly.”
Aiden’s heart pounded. “What do I have to do?”
She reached out and touched his forehead with her finger. In that moment, Aiden’s vision blurred, and he felt a surge of energy course through him. Images flashed before his eyes—visions of the past, the present, and possible futures. He saw the village, the mountains, the entire world, all interconnected by threads of light. And then he saw darkness, a shadow looming over everything, threatening to consume it all.
The vision faded, and Aiden collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath. The Red-Eye Girl knelt beside him, her eyes now a soft amber.
“You have seen what is to come,” she said gently. “The choice is yours—embrace the change, or let the world fall into shadow.”
With that, she began to fade, her form becoming translucent, as if she were a mere figment of his imagination.
“Wait!” Aiden called out, reaching for her. “What should I do?”
But she was already gone, leaving only the echo of her words in the cold night air.
As Aiden made his way back to the village, he knew that his life had been irrevocably changed. The Red-Eye Girl had shown him the truth, and now it was up to him to act. The power of awakening was within him, and with it, the responsibility to guide his people through the coming darkness.
He didn’t know if he was ready, but he knew he had to try.
And so, the legend of the Red-Eye Girl lived on, no longer just a story to frighten children, but a reminder that in the face of great change, there is always a choice—and the power to awaken lies within us all.