Rave sat on the back of the glowing horse, still in disbelief.
He glanced down at the soft light pulsing from its mane, and the way its hooves barely made a sound against the forest floor, like it was too divine to disturb the earth. His fingers rested gently against its neck, feeling the faint hum of life underneath. This wasn't a normal beast. Not in the slightest.
He tapped the cracked glass of his bracelet, the screen flickering before displaying the scan results:
| Entity: Angelic Horse |Grade: ???Affinity: Holy LightInfo: ??? (More data required. Unable to analyze full attributes)
Rave stared at the screen for a few seconds longer than necessary. He bit his lower lip in frustration.
"Great. Another mystery I can't solve," he muttered under his breath.
Still… he couldn't deny it. The horse had saved him from a sleepless night, from the weight of loneliness. For just one night, he didn't feel like prey — he felt like a rider. Like someone going somewhere.
But that feeling was quickly replaced by a creeping sense of dread.
The buzzing words of his Curse Signature echoed in his skull:
"Everyone he loves will die."
And the bracelet didn't lie. It never lied.
He glanced down at the creature he was sitting on — its glow still gentle, the bleeding wound from the night before entirely healed. Not a trace of pain in its expression. Just calm, obedient stillness.
He didn't know what it meant to love. Not truly. But the fact that the horse hadn't left… that it still followed him, accepted him — it meant something. And that meant danger. To it.
He tightened his grip on the reins. The fear wasn't of monsters, or curses, or even the kingdom.
It was himself.
What he brought.What followed him.
This curse will kill everything I care about.And I'm starting to care again…
The jungle changed around them.
As they moved northward, the lush green began to fade into a darker, thicker forest. The air grew heavier, humidity clinging to his skin. The terrain sloped downward in parts, forcing the horse to take careful, deliberate steps. The sky was half-hidden by branches that tangled like reaching arms above him. Strange calls echoed through the trees — animals or monsters, he didn't know.
But none dared approach.
Not with the glowing creature that carried him forward.
Still, the tension never left him.
Each snap of a branch in the distance, each rustle of a leaf… his hand hovered near his blade. He was always waiting. Always expecting the world to take something from him.
His eyes shifted constantly, scanning.
And all the while, that thought gnawed at the back of his mind.
What happens if this horse dies because of me?
Three days passed since he left his home.
They traveled mostly at night and rested during the day, using the horse's subtle glow to light their path. Rave grew to recognize the horse's small cues — when it slowed, when its ears twitched. It wasn't just a mount. It was aware. And maybe… even intelligent.
He gave it a name, though only in his mind.
Noctis.
A creature of light that walked beside darkness.
It felt appropriate.
On the fourth night, something did attack.
Rave had just dismounted to gather water from a nearby stream when a shriek tore through the quiet forest. A shape lunged from the shadows: A massive panther-like creature stood before them: Fur like shadows, claws like daggers, eyes burning with bloodlust.
Grade 3 Beast Detected
It was a Grade 3 direpanther. Its fur was a deep obsidian, shimmering like oil. Scars crisscrossed its body. And its eyes were glowing red and locked onto Rave with a kind of murderous hunger.
The beast snarled and bolted.
Rave's blade was in his hand in seconds. Steel clashed with claw. He ducked under the first strike and rolled aside. The beast was fast. Too fast.
He slashed...missed.
The panther's tail whipped into his ribs, sending him flying into a tree.
Pain exploded through his back. He coughed blood.
His body trembled, but he stood up.
The panther was circling him now. Rave studied its gait. It limped slightly on its back leg. He'd find the weakness.
It lunged again.
This time Rave met it with a parry and countered, his blade slicing its shoulder. Blood sprayed the forest floor.
The creature howled in fury and tackled him. They hit the dirt hard, the monster on top. Its fangs were inches from his neck.
He grabbed a rock and slammed it into its head, dazing it. Using the moment, he wriggled out, gasping for breath.
This isn't like the mutant wolf. This thing didn't hesitate. It hunted to kill.
Rave staggered to his feet, blood running down his cheek, one arm barely responding.
He charged.
Sword in both hands, he dodged low and thrust the blade upward into its jaw. The creature screamed. He twisted the blade, black ichor poured down his arm.
It bit him.
Not hard enough to rip, but enough to crush muscle.
Rave yelled, kicking it back.
He fell to his knees, panting, sweating, shivering.
The beast stood wounded but not dead.
And it was still coming.
Noctis, from the sidelines, shone with a sudden pulse of light. A gentle, holy glow enveloped his body, and for a moment the jungle seemed to hush.
The beast growled at the horse, blinded.
"NO!" Rave screamed.
He ran forward and slammed into the panther, using all his weight to push it sideways before it could charge.
They wrestled again.
Claws tore at his side. He screamed and stabbed upward.
The sword pierced through its skull.
The beast twitched.
Then went limp.
Silence.
Blood dripped from his blade, his hand, his mouth. His vision swam, and the trees tilted in a dizzy haze.
The beast collapsed atop him, claws digging into the earth beside his face. He pushed, struggled to breathe, his shoulder slick with blood. He could smell its foul breath, feel the heat of its dying body.
With a final push, he shoved it off. Panting, trembling, he lay there. The jungle was silent again.
Noctis slowly approached and stood beside him. As if guarding him.
Rave looked up.
"I... didn't even win. I just... didn't die."
He laughed once: Dry and bitter and closed his eyes. The jungle whispered above them. He didn't know how long he lay there.
Eventually, he stood.
His entire body ached. His shoulder was torn, ribs possibly cracked, blood staining his shirt like spilled ink.
He limped forward and leaned on Noctis for balance.
"We're almost there," he whispered. "Almost... home."
They walked.
Hours passed.
The trees began to thin. The jungle floor gave way to gravel and grass. Rave could see smoke in the distance. The curve of a city wall.
Crimson Fall.
He froze.
Noctis stopped beside him, as if sensing what he was feeling. Rave turned to the horse, confused, fearful. There was a problem now.
He couldn't bring Noctis into the city.
Too radiant. Too rare. People would notice. He didn't want that kind of attention. He couldn't risk the wrong eyes spotting something so divine and mysterious.
"I don't know where to put you..." he murmured.
As if in answer, the horse stood up.
Its glowing eyes locked with his.
Then, with slow deliberate motion, it stepped forward… and pressed its head against Rave's chest.
A faint warmth pulsed outward: Not physical, but spiritual. His bracelet buzzed weakly. His vision blurred. Symbols flashed across his mind like ancient memories returning from exile.
> Angelic Familiar Seeks Bond with Host Core> Warning: Core Integrity 99.6% – High Compression Detected> Permission Granted? [Y/N]
His hands trembled.
"What… are you doing?" he whispered.
The horse didn't move. Just waited.
Rave hesitated. But… he nodded.
"Yes."
The world shattered into light.
His vision went white, then black, then something deeper — he wasn't in the jungle anymore. He was inside something else. Inside himself?
A vast space of swirling silver clouds surrounded him. Floating stones. Broken ruins of thought. And in the center, a sphere of dark glass: His sealed core. Cracked, chained, silent.
The horse stood beside it now. Still glowing.
And without hesitation, it stepped into the glass.
Merged with it.
Became part of him.
> Angelic Familiar Successfully Bound> Entity Noctis Has Entered Core Realm> Host May Summon Entity at Will> Note: As long as host lives, Noctis will not die.
Rave gasped as he snapped back to reality.
The fire had burned low. The jungle was quiet.
And the horse… was gone.
He shot up in a panic, eyes searching the clearing.
Then a flicker of light in his palm. He opened his hand.
A faint white feather rested there.
Still warm.
"...You're inside me now," he whispered, voice trembling. "You're safe."
For once… something might actually be safe around him.
He clenched his fist gently, holding onto the feather as if it were life itself.
The journey wasn't over. But he wasn't alone anymore.
Hours passed.
Rave pushed through the thinning forest, his wounded shoulder wrapped in cloth. The trees grew sparser. Dirt turned to gravel. And then, finally, the terrain dipped and the wall of Crimson Fall City came into view.
High towers, stone battlements, and massive iron gates loomed in the distance. Banners fluttered in the wind. Guards patrolled the perimeter, unaware of the lone figure approaching from the wilds.
Rave stood still for a long moment.
There it was.
His hometown.
The place that raised him.
The place that hanged his parents.
He stepped forward, the wind brushing against his torn cloak.
It was time.
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