Pakh. Dhak. Dich. Dhumph.
"P-Please…"His voice cracked, thin and breathless, like he'd forgotten how to cry."It hurts…"
A boot slammed into his stomach.
"You better not try to steal from us next time, brat!" one of the men shouted, the words as sharp as his kick.
They were soldiers of Heklor—the noble slumlord who ruled over Drachin like a greedy fat pig.
Another soldier grabbed the boy by the collar and threw him against the alley wall, his body hitting the stone with a sickening crack.
"Little rat. Always crawling out for crumbs," the man spat near his face. "Should've let the snow take him."
"Hurry it up," muttered a third. "Winter's harsher than last year. I want to sleep in a warm bed tonight."
They turned and left, boots crunching over the snow—now stained red.
He didn't cry.
He didn't scream.
His ribs felt like splintered sticks. Blood painted the corner of his lips. His breath came in short, desperate pulls, like the world itself was trying to choke him out.
The snow around him began to soak through his rags. It bit his skin like needles, each flake a cruel whisper of how the world didn't want him.
They didn't care if I lived, he thought.Maybe I don't either.
Most of his friends were already gone.
Tarin's cough got worse until one day he just stopped waking up.Lilo had vanished last week—just a tiny shoe left behind near the river.
Maybe this was peace.
Maybe this was what came after.
Sleep, or something deeper, crept over him—cradling him, whispering in his ear.
Death didn't seem cruel. It felt like a mother's touch. Not that he knew what that felt like. Only heard stories of how they held you... whispered your name like it mattered.
And just as the dark closed in—
Something stirred.
A shimmer. A flicker of motion.
Soft strands of violet hair drifted above his face, swaying gently like they didn't belong in this world.
He blinked. Eyes heavy. Lungs slowing.
A girl?
A ghost?
Her face hovered just out of reach, blurred by light, as if the snow had decided to dream.
She didn't speak.
She only watched.
Calling to him, maybe. Or just there to see the end.
But he didn't care.
He welcomed her.
Because for once, he wasn't afraid.
He finally felt... warm.