Chapter 3: Dreamy fox

Morning light had not yet reached the village near Mount Jaiga when the boys began their game of chase. Dust rose from the narrow dirt roads as they ran between wooden houses, laughing and shouting while trying to tag one another. The village was alive with its usual rhythm. 

Women gathered near the well filling buckets of water, merchants called out from small stalls, and farmers carried baskets of vegetables from the fields beyond the houses.

Chickens wandered through the streets while a dog barked lazily from a shaded porch. It was noisy, lively, and wonderfully ordinary.

The boy ran faster than the others, cutting sharply around a fence before sprinting across the small open square at the center of the village. His lungs burned and his legs ached, but when he looked behind him he saw that his friends were far behind.

 He slowed down, grinning proudly, raising both hands in the air in celebration of his victory.

For a brief moment he enjoyed the triumph, breathing heavily and smiling to himself. Then he heard something strange. It was his heartbeat. 

The sound echoed loudly in his ears, far louder than it should have been, as if the world itself had gone quiet just to make space for that single rhythm.

The boy frowned slightly and looked around. The village had fallen silent.

The voices were gone. The merchants were no longer shouting. The chickens had stopped clucking. Even the wind seemed to have vanished. The only sound left was the pounding inside his chest, steady and heavy like distant drums.

A thin gray mist began to creep through the streets, curling around the corners of houses and sliding slowly across the ground. 

The boy stared at it in confusion, unsure whether he should run or simply watch. His eyes followed the drifting mist toward the main road ahead. That was when he saw them.

Villagers stood along the road in a long straight line. Men, women, children, every familiar face in the village pressed shoulder to shoulder with no space between them. 

Their bodies formed a perfect line stretching down the street like a strange human wall that slowly moved forward step by step.

At first the boy thought they were marching somewhere together, but something about it felt terribly wrong. Their movements were too perfect, too synchronized, 

as though they were puppets being pulled by the same invisible string. Fear crept into his chest as he stepped closer. Then he saw their faces.

Their expressions were empty, completely void of emotion, yet their eyes trembled with a terrible desperation. It was as if their minds were still awake, trapped behind those wide eyes while their bodies continued walking without permission. 

Tears rolled down some faces. Others blinked rapidly as though trying to wake from a nightmare.

The boy felt his stomach twist. “They can’t stop,” he whispered to himself, the words barely escaping his lips.

Before he could think of running, his fingers twitched. His arm lifted slightly without his command. Panic shot through his body as his legs stepped forward on their own. He tried to stop but his muscles ignored him.

“No… no, stop…”

His feet continued walking toward the line of villagers. Every step felt heavier than the last, as if the same unseen force controlling the others had reached him as well. Then he saw her. His mother stood among the villagers.

Her face was blank like the others, yet tears streamed down from her trembling eyes. When she saw him approaching, those eyes widened with a silent warning she could not speak. The boy’s chest tightened painfully.

“M… Mom…”

His body reached the line. Without his control, his hands pushed gently between two villagers, forcing a narrow gap. He stepped inside, and immediately the line closed again around him, restoring its perfect shape. Now he walked with them.

Their bodies moved together in slow, identical steps while the gray mist thickened around the silent village. Somewhere behind those trembling eyes, their minds continued screaming for freedom while their bodies marched deeper into the fog.

Far from the cursed village, beyond the forest and across the hills, another morning was beginning.

Nao watched the sun rise from behind the distant mountains, its golden light spilling slowly across the sky. The first rays touched the treetops and painted the world in soft shades of amber and pale orange. 

For a moment she simply stood there, letting the quiet beauty of the morning wash over her. After everything that had happened, the calm felt almost unreal.

She walked down the gentle slope from her camp toward the river below. The water flowed peacefully over smooth stones, its quiet murmur blending with the awakening sounds of the forest. 

Nao knelt beside the river and dipped her hands into the cool current. The cold water felt refreshing against her skin as she splashed it across her face.

She exhaled softly, wiping the droplets from her cheeks before drawing her sword.

The blade reflected the rising sunlight as she carefully cleaned it in the flowing water, running a cloth along the steel to remove the stains of travel. 

The motion was slow and deliberate, almost meditative, as if she were honoring the weapon rather than simply maintaining it.

While she worked, something on the opposite side of the river caught her attention. A fox stood quietly among the tall grass.

Its fur glowed softly beneath the sunlight, but its body seemed weak. One of its legs was wounded, and dark stains marked the fur along its side. 

Nao studied the animal carefully, and as she looked closer her eyes widened in disbelief. “Is that… a Dreamy Fox?” Her voice was quiet, filled with wonder.

She had heard stories about them when she was younger, tales whispered by travelers and old storytellers. 

Dreamy Foxes were said to be rare creatures blessed by nature itself. Some people believed that anyone who encountered one would receive mysterious powers.

That belief had nearly wiped them out. Hunters had chased them for generations.

Nao slowly stepped across the shallow stones of the river, careful not to startle the wounded creature. 

Normally a wild fox would run the moment a human approached, but this one remained still.

Its golden eyes watched her calmly. Nao knelt beside it, her expression softening with sympathy.

“Poor thing,” she murmured gently. “You must have escaped from hunters.”

She placed her palm lightly against the fox’s belly and closed her eyes. “Goddess of Nature… hear my voice.”

A faint green glow formed around her hand, spreading slowly across the fox’s injured body. The aura shimmered softly like leaves touched by morning light. 

Suddenly a strong gust of wind rushed through the forest, bending branches and sending leaves swirling through the air as if the world itself had responded to her prayer. Then just as quickly as it came, the wind vanished. The forest became still again.

Moments later the quiet chirping of birds returned, slicing gently through the silence like the first notes of a song. Nao opened her eyes. The fox’s wounds were gone.

The dried blood had vanished and its fur looked whole and healthy again. The fox carefully stood, testing its legs before taking a few light steps.

Its long tail flickered softly behind it, glowing faintly in the sunlight. Nao smiled in quiet amazement. “How gorgeous,” she whispered.

The fox walked to the edge of the river and lowered its head, drinking from the flowing water while the morning light shimmered around it. For a moment the two simply shared the peaceful silence of the forest.

Then the fox lifted its head and looked directly at Nao. Its eyes lingered on her, studying her as if recognizing something hidden deep within her heart.

After a few seconds it turned away. With a graceful leap, the Dreamy Fox disappeared into the forest, vanishing among the trees like a fading dream.

Nao remained beside the river, watching the place where it had gone. The rising sun warmed the forest around her while the gentle sound of flowing water continued its endless song.

Far away, beyond the mountains and forests she had yet to cross, a silent line of villagers walked deeper into gray mist. And the Helibian Curse continued to spread.

*Additional information*

The race that resides in the Jaigan Range is Enbozekus, they are just like humans but with crimson tails, they are peach loving, mostly farmer, merchants and gatherers, etc