I froze.

The shadow didn’t move, yet I could feel its presence pressing down on me. My body refused to obey me. My heart raced, each beat louder than the crackling of the fire.

“W-Who’s there…?” I asked, my voice barely audible.

No answer.

The fire flickered, and the shadow shifted slightly. It wasn’t huge, nor terrifying in shape—just… unknown. That made it worse.

I tried to stand, but my legs trembled and gave up. I fell back onto the cold stone floor, breathing heavily.

“Am I dead?” I muttered.

“Or… is this another illusion?”

The shadow finally moved.

It stepped closer to the fire, and for a moment, light touched its form. I couldn’t see a face—only a vague outline, like a human figure wrapped in darkness.

“You are alive.”

The voice was calm. Not cruel. Not kind. Just certain.

Those words sent a strange chill through me.

“Then… where am I?” I asked.

The shadow paused, as if thinking.

“Between an end and a beginning,” it replied.

I clenched my fists. “I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want to live like this. I just wanted to be useful… at least once.”

The cave fell silent.

The shadow lowered itself, sitting across the fire from me, like someone who had all the time in the world.

“Then you should not have survived,” it said plainly.

My chest tightened. I looked away, biting my lip.

“…But you did,” the voice continued.

“And survival is not an accident.”

I looked back.

“For someone who wished to disappear,” the shadow said, “you are standing at a place where wishes still have weight.”

The fire crackled louder.

I swallowed hard. “What do you want from me?”

The shadow stood up slowly.

“Nothing,” it said.

“Not yet.”

It turned away, walking deeper into the darkness of the cave.

“Rest,” the voice echoed.

“When you wake again, your question will change.”

The fire dimmed.

And before I could say another word, darkness swallowed everything.