Was this a dream, or something else?

"Mother, my sister!"

There was a dark space in front of his eyes, but this darkness was the most vivid and shadow-like darkness he had ever seen.

Black smoke was rising from the ground. Everything was burning intensely.

Among the things he saw in the darkness, besides his mother and sister, there were also spirits with red eyes, surrounded by smoke. The darkness was filled with the red flames in their eyes.

They were all moving wildly, spinning around as if searching for someone.

Teyat was shocked by what he saw, but he wasn't afraid because this place felt peaceful and safe to him, as if it belonged to him…

His mother and sister were about thirteen steps away, looking at Teyat and smiling.

Seeing the people he loved more than his own life, Teyat suddenly wanted to stand up and run towards them, but it felt like something was holding his right hand.

He pulled his hand once more, but he still couldn't move forward.

When Teyat turned to his right and looked at his hand, he saw a thick chain tightly bound to it.

The chain was gray, stretching toward the sky with no visible end, as if it extended endlessly.

While Teyat stared at the chain on his hand in astonishment, he suddenly heard his mother's voice.

"Don't blame yourself for being weak, my son. If you stay weak and don't strive to become stronger, only then can you blame yourself."

When Teyat looked forward, he saw a dark smoke rising from his mother's feet to her head.

"Focus on getting stronger, and if you use your strength wisely, the freedom and happiness you desire will come along with it. That would make me happy."

His mother smiled warmly.

"This is a mother's advice and... maybe you could give me a grandchild as well; I'd really love that."

She giggled. The dark smoke had risen to Teyat's throat, but for his sister, the smoke had only reached her waist and was not rising any further, as if it were waiting for something.

Teyat watched all of this in amazement.

His mother turned her back to Teyat and began to walk forward. As she did, his sister, who was half-surrounded by smoke, suddenly took their mother's hand and said:

"Mom, I'll come in a little while. You go ahead."

A smile appeared on their mother's face.

"Okay, sweetie, I'll wait for you."

Suddenly, his mother turned her head to the right and looked at Teyat.

"You…"

Another voice echoed her words.

"You are the spirit of the darkness, Teyat..."

•

Teyat's mother was enveloped in dark smoke, her eyes burning with crimson flames. Suddenly, she turned wildly and vanished among shadowy figures with red eyes.

Teyat couldn't comprehend what was happening; he felt as if something had entered his soul, filling him with an indescribable sense of wonder. His brother sat alone on the ground, arms wrapped around his knees, resting his head on them as if waiting for something.

As Teyat reached out to his brother, he heard a voice behind him.

"Strengthen, the spirit of darkness…"

Teyat turned around, unable to believe his eyes. In an instant, he woke up.

When Teyat awoke, the first thing he saw was his sister, tied to a chair with her mouth and hands bound; she was looking at him and crying. By the door stood his father, holding three fearsome-looking dogs on chains. The dogs were greedily devouring a headless body…

Teyat's eyes fixated on the body the dogs were tearing apart. Suddenly, he vomited.

It was the corpse of a sacrifice…

A great panic overtook Teyat as he feared that the body the dogs were consuming could belong to his mother, and he searched the room for her.

But he couldn't find her…

Teyat's gaze returned to the dismembered body being devoured by the dogs.

His eyes widened in horror.

In that moment, he could hear his sister's muffled screams and sobs. Traumatized, Teyat stammered, "M-Mother…"

His father had beheaded his mother and fed her body to the dogs.

That was why his mother had initially been enveloped in dark smoke and crimson flames before disappearing.

Seeing that Teyat was awake, his father held up two fingers.

"Second rule: Witness the death of someone you love."

Fate's unfortunate slave, Teyat released his hands in deep despair, staring at the dogs feasting on his mother's mangled corpse with a face frozen in trauma.

Teyat was profoundly traumatized by what had transpired.

'Ha?'