Emberfall

Millennia have passed since yokai and spirit guides walked among humans. It is said that once, humans could form contracts with these spirit guides, unlocking powers that defied the natural order. But power is a dangerous thing.

In their arrogance, humans brought chaos and destruction. Villages burned, rivers ran red, and yokai, with their insatiable hunger for fear and suffering, turned on the mortals they once coexisted with. To end the madness, the great warrior Nioh rose from the ashes of war. With strength and wisdom unmatched, he sealed the yokai—and the awakened humans who had abused their gifts—into a realm of torment now known as Hell.

Legends say that the sealing took place here, in Emberfall Village, beneath the ancient stone altar that still stands in the heart of the forest.

"Doesn't that scare you, Azare?" Edmond's voice cut through the stillness, breaking the boy from his thoughts.

Azare grew up without his parents and only had Edmond to raise him.

Azare glanced up, his dark eyes meeting Edmond's. The older man leaned against a twisted oak, arms crossed, a sly grin on his face. "What if the yokai are still watching, waiting for someone foolish enough to disturb their prison?"

The sixteen-year-old shrugged, his expression carefully neutral. "Legends are just stories," he said, kicking at a stray rock on the dirt path. But he couldn't shake the weight of the words.

Edmond chuckled, the sound low and warm like the crackle of a distant fire. "Maybe. But stories often have a kernel of truth, don't they?" He ruffled Azare's tightly coiled hair, the gesture equal parts affection and teasing.

Azare stepped away, brushing off his tunic. "You tell me this every time we walk by the forest. I'm not a kid anymore, Edmond. You can stop trying to scare me."

The older man raised an eyebrow, his grin fading. "Who says I'm trying to scare you?" He turned his gaze toward the trees. "It's not the story you should be afraid of—it's what people forget. What they bury."

For a moment, the wind stilled. The forest around them grew unnaturally quiet, as if it, too, was listening. Azare shivered, though he didn't know why.

"Come on," Edmond said, breaking the tension with a wave of his hand. "We've got chores to do. The chickens won't feed themselves."

Azare followed, but his gaze lingered on the path leading into the forest. The old stone altar wasn't far from here, nestled deep within the shadowed woods. He'd never seen it himself, but every villager knew the stories.

Some said the yokai could still whisper through the cracks of their prison. Others claimed that anyone who ventured too close could hear them calling out, begging to be released.

As they walked, Edmond's voice grew softer, almost as if speaking to himself. "The past has a way of catching up to us, Azare. Even when we try to forget."