Fangs in the Dark

Chapter 2: The Village of Shadows

Lysander's legs moved on instinct as he walked, the weight of the old book tucked under his arm. The last light of the day filtered through the trees, casting everything in long, uneasy shadows. The forest, which had always been a source of quiet solace for him, now seemed hostile, its rustling leaves and creaking branches unnerving in the twilight.

The memories of his father's lifeless body and the sudden disappearance of his mother were vivid in his mind, replaying over and over as if his thoughts were stuck in an endless loop. He had no clear idea where he was going—only that staying in the house, in that blood-soaked ruin of his past, was not an option. His heart still raced, driven by fear and confusion, but more than anything, a burning need for answers.

The silence of the village lingered in his mind. It was unnatural. Empty. People didn't just vanish like that. Not an entire village. Something had happened—something tied to his father's murder and his mother's disappearance. His instincts screamed at him to run, to leave this cursed place behind, but he couldn't. Not yet. Not until he knew what had happened.

As he moved through the forest, Lysander's thoughts turned to his parents. His father, Thalon, had been secretive his entire life, constantly working with strange alchemical mixtures, never explaining the true purpose of his work. His mother, Elyra, had been gentler, but she too had her secrets, always speaking in hushed tones, always warning him about the dangers that lay beyond the village.

It had always seemed like an overprotective mother's paranoia, but now, in the shadow of his father's death, everything felt different. The puzzle pieces of his life—the unexplained distance his family kept from the rest of the village, the cryptic warnings, the strange book—were slowly beginning to fall into place. He couldn't ignore the truth any longer.

He knew now that his parents had been hiding something from him, something tied to their race—the Nirvathri. The book he had found described the Nirvathri as an ancient people, feared and revered for their mastery of poisons and toxins. But the book offered little more than fragments—cryptic references to rituals and lost cities, but nothing that explained why his father had been killed. Nothing that told him where his mother had gone.

Lysander reached a small clearing in the forest, a familiar spot where he had often gathered herbs for his father's work. He leaned against the rough bark of a large oak tree, taking a moment to catch his breath. The cool evening air filled his lungs, but it did little to calm the storm in his mind.

He had so many questions. Who were the Nirvathri? Why had his parents kept this from him? And why now, after all these years, had someone come for them?

He stared down at the book, its leather cover worn and cracked with age. The serpent coiled around the flower—the symbol etched into the cover—felt like it held some deeper meaning, though Lysander couldn't grasp it yet. His hands trembled slightly as he opened the book again, flipping through the pages. The symbols, the strange languages, the diagrams—they were all so foreign to him. His father had never taught him about poisons, never spoken of their people's heritage. Lysander had always assumed his father's alchemy was just a trade, a way to make a living. Now he knew better.

His mother's warnings echoed in his mind. "You must always be careful, Lysander. There are things in this world you cannot understand. People who would harm us if they knew who we really were." At the time, he had thought she was just being overly cautious, maybe even paranoid. But now, standing alone in the forest with his father dead and his mother missing, those words took on a new weight.

She knew. They both did.

The forest felt colder now, the wind cutting through his clothes. Lysander closed the book and stood up, his mind racing with possibilities. If his parents had known about their people's past, about the Nirvathri and their poisons, why hadn't they told him? Why had they kept him in the dark?