When Aiden woke up, barely a couple of minutes had passed since he'd drifted off.
After an all-night study marathon, he'd thought sleep would come easily, but nightmares had other plans, wrecking his rest.
Aiden had dreamed of the destruction of the small town he called home, a destruction unleashed by a human-shaped demon, oozing malice with zero mercy.
Rattled, Aiden rolled out of bed and flicked on the light. He glanced at the desk, buried under books, and quickly scrapped the idea of cramming more.
Instead, he grabbed the pouch hanging on the wall and checked his funds:
'Three gold coins. Should be enough to cover tomorrow's groceries,' Aiden thought.
He hooked the pouch to his pants, threw on a jacket to fend off the night's chill, and stepped out of his house.
Save for a few shops glowing in the distance, the town was mostly asleep, so Aiden was caught off guard when he heard some all-too-familiar, grating voices:
"Look who's wandering around at this hour."
'Damn it, not them again,' Aiden thought, trying to keep walking, but someone grabbed his wrist, stopping him cold.
When Aiden turned, he couldn't help the surge of anger at the sight of those three smug, ugly faces.
"What's wrong, Aiden? Why you ghosting your lifelong pals?"
With a sharp yank, Aiden freed himself from his bully's grip.
"You're not my friends."
"Don't say that. You should be thanking us for being the only ones in this town who bother talking to you. You know how painful it is to chat up the cursed orphan? Bet you love your solo pity parties every day."
Aiden clenched his fists, a move one of his tormentors clocked instantly.
"What, you wanna throw hands? Don't make us laugh. If you couldn't save your parents, no way you're saving yourself."
"Hey, what's that in your pouch?"
Before he could react, another one of the goons snatched the pouch from him.
"Just three gold coins? For someone with your parents' rep, this is chump change, don't you think? Oh well, guess it's one coin for each of us."
Aiden's rage was hitting its peak, but just as he was about to let it rip, a weird pressure in the air froze him.
"Hey, guys… what's that over there?"
Aiden glanced back and saw, in the distance, a ring of fire flaring up from the ground.
After a couple of seconds, the flames roared higher, stretching and shaping into what looked like a human—but was anything but.
"That's… a demon!" one of the bullies yelped in panic.
When the fire faded, revealing the demon in full, Aiden's blood ran cold.
It was the exact demon from his dream a few hours ago.
Baring its razor-sharp fangs, the demon let out a bone-rattling roar and charged at Aiden and the bullies.
All four of them managed to dive out of the way, dodging the creature's first attack.
As it geared up for another go, it locked its eyes solely on Aiden, giving the bullies the chance to bolt, screaming, from the scene.
The demon barreled toward Aiden, who dodged again but tripped in the process, leaving him a sitting duck for the monster, which looked dead-set on nabbing him.
But just as those flame-wreathed hands were about to grab him, an arrow shot down from the sky and slammed into the demon's chest, staggering it back a few steps.
"Get out of the way."
Aiden looked up to the roof of a nearby house, where a female voice had come from. Her hooded outfit hid her face, but he caught the delicate curve of her lips and features, plus the long black hair spilling out.
The girl leaped down, landing smoothly on her feet, and nocked another arrow in her bow, ready to fire.
Aiden scrambled aside, and another arrow buried itself in the demon's body. It roared its fury with a deafening RRAAAGH and, flames flaring hotter, lunged at the mysterious archer.
She dodged several of its swings, but as the seconds ticked by, the demon picked up speed, finally landing a brutal hit to her stomach that sent her flying.
Furious, Aiden wasn't about to just stand there, but the girl, still sprawled on the ground, signaled with a hand to hold off. Then, from her cloak, she pulled out a crystalline orb and tossed it to him. Aiden caught it.
"Squeeze it with everything you've got!" she shouted, wincing as she tried to stand.
The demon charged at her, ready to claim a life with its bare hands.
Aiden was confused, but the bullies' words, the hazy memory of his dead parents, and the girl who now needed his help burned away his doubts, igniting a fire inside him. He gripped the orb with every ounce of resolve he had.
A blinding light poured from the orb, dazzling Aiden for several seconds until he heard a voice—one that felt strangely familiar.