Chapter 04

Chapter 04

The Girl with the Auru Eyes

The mountain road twisted downward like a long serpent carved into stone. Accura moved faster than any trotro could dream—his boots barely touching the ground, the green aura trailing behind him like a comet tail. He didn’t stop until he reached the outskirts of Ahwerase, the first village in Kai’s path.

Smoke rose from behind the market square.

Screams followed.

Accura’s eyes narrowed beneath his mask.

He sprinted toward the chaos.

The Attack

Stalls were overturned. Food scattered across dusty ground. People ran in every direction as Kai’s armored soldiers surged through the village, scanning faces, kicking down doors, tearing apart anything that moved.

One soldier grabbed a young mother. “Where is the girl!?”

Accura dropped from a rooftop like a stone falling through water.

Thunk!

His foot slammed into the soldier’s helmet, sending him crashing into a wooden cart. Three more turned toward him, rifles raised.

Before they could fire, Accura’s swords were already out.

Green arcs flashed.

Bullets ricocheted off aura-coated steel. The thugs fell one by one—disarmed, disoriented, unconscious. Accura struck with precision, not cruelty.

He wasn’t here to kill.

But he was here to end this.

The villagers began fleeing past him. An older woman grabbed his arm.
“Please! They’re looking for a small girl—she ran toward the school!”

Accura nodded and bolted in that direction.

The Child

He reached the edge of the schoolyard just in time to see a small figure—no older than ten—scrambling under a broken fence.

Her hair was wild and dusty, and she held a small carved wooden box to her chest.

Two soldiers spotted her.

“There! Grab the child!”

Accura moved.

In three silent steps, he was between them. His green aura exploded outward like a shockwave, knocking both soldiers off their feet.

The girl froze, staring at the masked warrior.

Her eyes…
glowed faintly green.

Not a reflection.
Not a trick of the light.
Auru—pure, concentrated, alive inside her.

Accura knelt down slowly and extended a hand.

“It’s okay,” the girl whispered before he could gesture anything. “I know who you are.”

Accura paused.

She took a shaky breath. “You’re like me.”

Before Accura could respond, a deep mechanical humming filled the air.

The ground trembled.

A massive armored vehicle rolled into the schoolyard, crushing swings and benches beneath its treads. Mounted on top was a heavy cannon glowing with sickly yellow energy—the same corrupted Auru Kai wielded.

The vehicle hatch opened.

And General Kai stepped out.

His serpent mask gleamed. His gauntlets crackled with unstable power.

“Well,” Kai hissed, his voice amplified and cruel,
“the little survivor finally earns his name.”

Accura stood, pushing the girl gently behind him.

Kai continued, pacing like a predator.

“You hide in ruins. You play hero in the dark. But look at you now—guarding a child you don’t understand.”

He raised a glowing gauntlet toward the girl.

“She is the last piece I need. The key to the Auru Wells. And you—”

The gauntlet sparked violently.

“—are in my way.”

Kai fired.

A tidal wave of corrupted yellow energy roared toward Accura and the girl.

Accura crossed his twin swords.

The aura around him erupted.

BOOM!

The blast slammed into his blades, sending ripples of green and yellow energy crashing through the schoolyard. The shockwave shattered windows, flattened walls, and shook dust from the sky.

Accura slid backward, boots carving twin lines in the dirt.

The girl held onto his arm, eyes wide and glowing brighter now—as if the energy was reacting to her.

Kai lowered his gauntlet, surprised to see Accura still standing.

“Hm. Stronger than before,” he muttered. “Good. I want your last moments to be interesting.”

Accura tightened his grip on his swords.

The girl tugged his arm. “Mister… he wants my box. You can’t let him have it.”

Accura looked down at the wooden box—old, carved with the same symbols from his temple.

An Auru artifact.

A key.

A secret.

Before he could examine it, Kai snapped his fingers.

“Take them both.”

Dozens of soldiers advanced.

The girl pressed the box into Accura’s chest.
“I’ll run. You fight. That’s fair.”

Accura shook his head sternly.

She frowned. “You don’t talk, do you?”

He shook again.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Then follow me!”

She grabbed his hand and ran.

Accura exhaled once—

—and the two of them vanished in a streak of green light as gunfire erupted behind them.

Kai watched them escape, unbothered.

“Oh yes,” he growled.
“Run. Run far. Run fast.”

He turned to his troops.

“Because the hunt has begun.” With a menacing grin on his face.