The moon hung high in the sky, casting a silver glow over the ruins of the old city. Rin stood at the edge of a crumbling cliff, his dark cloak billowing behind him in the cold wind. The city below was a patchwork of decaying buildings, some leaning at angles that made them look as though they'd collapse at any moment. The streets, once alive with merchants and wanderers, were now empty, save for the occasional rat skittering across the cobblestones. Yet, despite the desolation, the air hummed with something else—something ancient and restless.
"Why does it always feel like the world is about to collapse around me?" Rin muttered to himself.
He wasn't the type to brood, but ever since that fateful day when he was just a child, his life had been a series of increasingly bizarre and dangerous events. The forbidden power coursing through his veins, the death of his mother, the cults, the gods, and, of course, the constant reminders that he was no ordinary person. Sometimes, he wished he could just wake up and find that none of it was real. That he could go back to a simpler time when his biggest problem was how to sneak extra bread into his room without his aunt noticing.
But reality was far from kind, and Rin was tired of pretending otherwise.
With a deep sigh, he pulled his hood lower, obscuring his face. "Let's get this over with."