The cave glowed with the warm light of a small fire crackling near its center. Dry branches fed the flames, filling the air with the scent of smoke while flickering shadows danced across the stone walls. Outside, the desert had fallen silent. The heat of the day was gone, replaced by the cold bite of night.
Master Hound sat beside a flat rock, cleaning the fish he had caught earlier. His movements were slow but precise despite his injuries. A sharp stone blade slipped behind the gills, then traveled neatly down the belly. With practiced hands, he removed the insides and tossed them well away from camp before rinsing the fish with river water from a leaf cup.
The boys sat nearby, watching every step.
Nobody had to tell them to pay attention.
One mistake out here could mean going hungry.
Soon the fish were skewered on sharpened sticks and held above the flames. Fat dripped into the fire with a hiss while the skin crisped and turned golden. The smell filled the cave immediately.
Lorenzo's stomach growled.
Zyon's answered a second later.
For the first time that day, Hound almost smiled. "Good," he said. "Still alive enough to be hungry."
The fish disappeared quickly once they were cooked.
Nobody complained about the lack of seasoning.
Nobody complained about the bones.
They simply ate.
For a while, the only sounds were the crackling of the fire and the survivors chewing their food.
Eventually, Hound looked across the flames, locking eyes with Lorenzo. "Lorenzo."
The boy swallowed and then looked up.
"Tell me about light powers. Tell me their different forms and how they can be used."
Lorenzo barely had to think. "Solidified light. Healing light. Illusions. Support techniques like flashbangs and disorientation tricks. Normal illumination too."
He counted them on his fingers.
"Most people can do simple light constructs or flashes. Stronger users can form weapons or cast beams, but that burns through Heka ridiculously fast."
Hound nodded. "And Zyon's light?"
Lorenzo glanced at his friend. "His is different."
Zyon was already paying attention but now stopped eating to listen in.
"It has that gold tint," Lorenzo continued. "And it gets hotter than normal light. Remember the training dummy? Also, for some reason he can't manipulate it the way we do. And what is strangest to me is that he weakens at night."
Hound chuckled, thinking about the training dummy incident.
Hound's gaze shifted to Zyon. "What can you tell about Heka?"
Zyon swallowed the last bite of fish before answering. "It's like an energy inside of us we use for our powers. But Heka isn't just used for channeling super-powers. By channeling it through your body, you can reinforce your muscles, harden your skin, increase your strength, and even boost your speed and jumping ability. Different places call it different things. Chakra, Mana, or Ki."
He poked at the fire with a stick. "When it runs out, so do we."
"Correct," Hound answered.
Hound leaned back against the cave wall. "Then here's my next question."
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Both boys looked up.
"What kind of light user do you want to become, which style fits yours best?"
Lorenzo answered first, "Illusions." No hesitation. "I want enemies chasing things that don't exist while I blind them with flashbangs."
"That sounds exactly like something you'd do," Zyon muttered.
Lorenzo grinned.
Hound shook his head before turning to Zyon. "And you?"
Zyon stared into the flames.
A fist slowly clenched. 'I only have one option anyway.'
"Solidified light. I want to fight up close using my martial arts."
His gaze drifted toward his hands.
Hound nodded. "And a secondary focus?"
Zyon was still looking down at his hands. "I don't know."
The words tasted bitter. "Everyone else can do things I can't. Flashbangs. Beams. Basic light tricks. Even the kids can do basic manipulations."
The fire cracked softly.
"My light never behaves the way it's supposed to. It's just useless," Zyon said softly.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Hound laughed.
Actually laughed.
Both boys stared at him.
"What?"
Hound shook his head.
"Zyon, your problem has never been weak Light."
The boy blinked.
"What do you mean, Master?"
Hound folded his arms and considered his words carefully.
"I think your Light is different."
"Different how?"
"Maybe only one of your parents was a Light User and the other carried a different power. Or maybe your Light simply has a different composition than the one we're familiar with."
Zyon frowned.
"So... there's something wrong with me?"
A small smile appeared on Hound's face.
"No. If anything, I think there's something unique about you."
The answer only left Zyon with more questions.
Silence.
Zyon simply stared.
Hound pointed toward the flames.
"When other light users create a spark, it costs them a spark."
His finger shifted toward Zyon.
"When you create one, it costs much more."
The older man tapped his chest.
"Your Heka reserves can't keep up with what your light demands."
Hope flickered across Zyon's face.
"What do I do?"
Hound smiled. "Training Heka is one of the hardest things for any power user," Hound explained. "Some build it through deep meditation, which is why we always meditated before classes. Others gain Heka through endless physical training or life and death battles. It also grows naturally with age."
Hound paused before speaking again. "But the simple answer is training."
Lorenzo groaned. "Of course that's the answer."
For a while, they discussed training.
Meditation.
Combat.
Survival.
The future.
For a moment, the tension eased and the three of them almost felt normal again. Then Lorenzo's expression shifted as something from their lessons at school came back to him. "Remember when Rommel fell asleep during meditation in school."
"School," Zyon repeated.
Silence settled over the cave.
Nobody spoke after that.
The fire continued crackling.
But the warmth felt weaker somehow.
Less than forty-eight hours earlier, they had been worrying about sparring matches and homework.
Now they were planning how not to die.
Hours later, the fire had burned down to a bed of glowing embers.
Zyon woke to a quiet sound. At first, he thought it was the wind.
Then he heard it again.
A muffled sob.
Slowly, he sat up and slipped outside.
The stars stretched endlessly across the sky.
A few meters away, Lorenzo sat alone on a flat rock with his knees pulled to his chest.
When he noticed Zyon approaching, he quickly wiped his face. "Hey bro." His voice sounded terrible. "Couldn't sleep as well?"
Zyon sat beside him.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then a tear slipped down Zyon's cheek, followed by more. "No need to act tough," he whispered. "Not around me, brother."
Lorenzo laughed, a broken sound.
Then his own tears returned. It cost him almost all his strength to say the next words. "I keep seeing them. Mom hanging lanterns."
He swallowed. "Dad yelling at me for blinding myself with flashbangs."
A shaky smile appeared and disappeared just as quickly. "Now I only think about that night. The screams."
The night grew quiet again.
"Why them?" Lorenzo asked. "Why us?"
Zyon looked up at the stars. The same stars that had watched it all happen.
"I don't know." His voice cracked. "I keep thinking about how fast it happened."
His fingers dug into the rock beneath him as he took a shaky breath. "One moment everyone was laughing. The next..."
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Lorenzo understood anyway. "My mom used to tell me something."
Zyon glanced over.
Lorenzo wiped his face again. "She always said light doesn't disappear."
A faint smile formed at his lips. "She said it returns to the greater light."
The stars reflected in his eyes. "The sun. The sky. Whatever's beyond all this."
While looking at the sky, he then said, "Like we're all just sparks from the same fire."
For a long time, Zyon said nothing. But the words spoken by Lorenzo comforted him.
Then he nodded. "I hate it."
Another tear fell. "I hate that they died for us."
His voice strengthened. "But if their light is still out there..."
His hand slowly closed into a fist. "...then we can't waste what they gave us."
Lorenzo looked at him.
Really looked at him.
Then he extended his fist. "No more freezing."
Zyon bumped it with his own.
"No more freezing."
"We get stronger."
"We find answers."
"Together," Lorenzo summed up.
Zyon nodded. "Until the end."
The two boys sat beneath the stars a little longer.
The grief was still there. The pain hadn't gone away.
But it no longer felt like something they had to carry alone.
Inside the cave, Master Hound listened quietly from the entrance.
A small smile touched his weathered face, a few tears dropped before he closed his eyes.