Age: 15.
Lucen had lived one year in the city.
By now, he had a rhythm—school by morning, work by night, rooftop by soul. He didn't have friends. Not real ones. But he had one person he trusted.
Tariq.
A local food stall boy. Orphan. Sharp-tongued, honest, loyal. He called Lucen "Mountain Ghost" and joked that he probably trained with kung fu monks.
He wasn't far off.
Lucen sometimes dropped his food early just to talk to him. They laughed. They shared burnt noodles. Tariq reminded Lucen that the world still had heartbeats in it.
Until that night.
---
The Alley
Rain fell like knives.
Lucen heard screaming behind the shop. He dropped the delivery box and ran—fast, too fast for a normal human.
He turned the alley corner and saw it:
Tariq, on the ground, blood from his mouth.
Three men, older, drunk, angry. One held a knife. One laughed.
Lucen didn't ask why. Didn't think.
He shouted—once.
The men turned.
Then the one with the knife stabbed Tariq again.
And Lucen broke.
---
The First Kill
He didn't remember running. Only the impact.
One man's neck snapped on the wall. The second was thrown into the dumpster hard enough to dent it.
And the third—the killer—Lucen grabbed by the jaw, lifted him, eyes burning silver.
The man begged. Screamed. Said it was a mistake.
Lucen didn't speak. His hand ignited.
He burned him alive.
Someone screamed again—a bystander with a phone.
A click. A flash. A video.
---
The Flame Unleashed
Hours passed. The city exploded online:
> "DEMON BOY MURDERS MAN IN ALLEY."
"Who is this freak?!"
"That wasn't justice. That was slaughter."
"He's a monster!"
Lucen read every comment.
His hands shook.
He tried to explain. He tried to breathe.
But the guilt mixed with rage. Rage with grief. Grief with something else.
Something ancient.
And then…
His skin began to crack.
---
The Transformation
It wasn't fire this time.
It was void.
Lucen screamed, but no sound came out. His muscles twisted. Bones stretched. Veins turned black like ink. Horns half-formed, then shattered. His eyes split into four, glowing pale white.
His soul tore open—not devil, not human.
Eldritch. Unnamed.
He phased through walls. Burned through streets. Streetlights exploded as he passed. Glass melted. Air rippled with dread.
Half the district turned to ash.
And then—
He collapsed.
---
The Awakening
He woke in the woods. Clothes torn. Body cold. Hands… human again. But the city burned in the distance.
He screamed. Not with power—but with pain.
> "What am I?!"
---
The Call to the Mountain
He sent one message.
To one man.
Eshun.
They met on a cold train bridge at dawn. The monk looked older. Sadder.
Lucen dropped to his knees.
> "I lost control. I killed again. I destroyed…"
Eshun sat beside him.
> "Now you understand. Power is not the burden. Choice is."
Lucen whispered, "Am I evil?"
Eshun didn't answer. He only said:
> "You are not finished."
---
The Change
Lucen disappeared from public life. No more school. No more jobs. No more clubs.
He lived in the shadows now. In hoodies and alleys. On rooftops and sewers.
Saving lives. Silently.
People still called him monster.
But he didn't care.
> "Let them fear me. I'll save them anyway."
He wasn't the devil's child.
Not anymore.
He was Lucen. The fallen flame. The silent light. The watcher in smoke.
---
Next Chapter:- CHAPTER 5: ASHES NEVER Sleep 😴