The sun disappeared behind the gray buildings when Kikoshin heard a knock at the door.
He wasn't expecting visitors.
No one ever came to see him.
He slowly rose from the couch where he had sat since the night before. His knuckles were still wrapped in bandages. Still aching.
He opened the door.
Standing before him was a tall man, dressed in a dark cloak that seemed to absorb the dying light of the sunset. His face was serious, his eyes marked by invisible scars. He wore black gloves and a chain around his neck, from which hung a small plate bearing a strange symbol: a Shadow curling around a dying flame.
"Are you…?" Kikoshin started.
"My name doesn't matter now," the man interrupted. "I have something you need to know. About your mother. And about yourself."
Kikoshin studied him.
He didn't know this man.
But something in him said he should listen.
He stepped aside and let him in.
The man walked to the center of the room. Stopped right where she had fallen. Where she had died.
"This wasn't an accident," he said. "Not even a normal murder. Your mother wasn't the target. You were."
Kikoshin frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your mother was struck by a Shadow… but that Shadow wasn't after her. It was after you.
Its name is Shivak, a creature sent by Dark-Sack , one of the Dark Kings of the Shadow World.
He's looking for you."
A chill ran through Kikoshin's body.
"Why me?"
"Because you are special," the man answered. "You don't know who you truly are. But they do.
And they want to destroy you before you find out."
Kikoshin lowered his head.
His hands trembled.
Not from fear.
From rage.
"I want to kill him," he said, voice low but firm. "The one who sent that Shadow. I want him to pay for what he did."
The man watched him in silence.
Then he nodded.
"Then come with me."
"To the other side of the shadows."
"There, you can learn."
"Prepare."
"Become stronger than any Shadow."
Kikoshin looked him straight in the eyes.
"What kind of power do I have?"
The man gave a small smile.
"That… you'll have to discover for yourself."
Night Falls Fast
Kikoshin packed what little he had.
A backpack with clothes.
A notebook full of shadow sketches he had drawn with his mother.
A photo of them together, taken long ago.
When he was done, he stood at the front door.
He looked around.
At the house that had been his only refuge.
That now was just a reminder of what he had lost.
The man waited outside.
"It's time," he said.
They walked together back to the room.
Right to the place where his mother had fallen.
The man raised his hand.
His fingers traced an invisible circle in the air.
And then…
The darkness began to split open.
A tear. A rift. As if the world had been sliced by an unseen blade.
A black light shimmered within.
Cold.
Deep.
Filled with whispers.
"This is the Gate," the man said. "It will take you to the Shadow World.
Where Kings are born.
Where warriors are forged.
Where you will find your truth."
Kikoshin looked at the rift.
Then behind him.
At the house.
At his past.
He didn't say goodbye.
He couldn't.
Because he knew that even if he returned…
He wouldn't be the same.
He took a deep breath.
And stepped forward.
Side by side with the man in the dark cloak, he crossed the rift.
And vanished