Night enveloped the forest in a heavy black veil, broken only by the intermittent barking of wolves and the sound of the cold wind passing through the dry trees.
Eren raised his head toward the dark sky, contemplating the meteors that pierced the blackness with threads of white light. He whispered a silent prayer, asking the heavens to save him from the life of poverty and helplessness he had lived since birth.
But at that moment, he didn't know that the heavens had already heard his prayer.
A muffled explosion echoed deep within the forest, the ground shook beneath his feet, and birds flew from their nests, screaming.
He hesitated for a moment, but then he dragged his weak leg and rushed toward the source of the orange light that had emerged from the darkness.
When he arrived, he found a small, smoking hole, and at its heart... a girl.
She was lying there, her red hair glowing like a quiet flame amidst the smoke, her tattered blue dress clinging to her mud-drenched body. Her skin was pale, but it exuded a strange warmth despite the cold night.
He approached cautiously, his heart pounding. He raised his hand to make sure she was alive, and when he touched her forehead, he felt a warmth seep into his skin, a warmth he'd never felt before.
She opened her eyes slowly.
Her eyes were like molten gold, glittering in the darkness, looking at him as if she were seeing right into his soul. She couldn't speak at first, just staring at him as light raindrops began to fall on her face.
Then she whispered hoarsely, as if she didn't know how to pronounce the words:
"Where... am...?"
He took a step back, but pulled himself together, swallowed, and then extended his hand:
"You... are in my village... in the forest... are you okay?"
She weakly grasped his hand, her eyes welling with tears, as she whispered,
"My name is... Lilin..."
But before she could finish, a red flash ignited in her eyes. The next moment, he felt a burning sensation on his skin, and a strange inscription appeared on the back of his palm, glowing blood-red and quickly disappearing.
He cried out in pain as the heat faded, and the girl fell unconscious again into his arms.
His breath caught, as he looked at the vanished inscription, his eyes widening in horror, while deep inside he knew:
His life was no longer his own.