Prologue

The relentless northern weather shifted once again, the wind's mournful howl echoing through the desolate landscape as thick, heavy snowflakes spiraled down from a sky veiled in iron-gray clouds.

In a secluded corner of a frost-bitten road lay a boy, his small frame barely noticeable beneath the steadily falling snow. He softly sang a melody that wove together four sorrowful tales.

The leading tale in his song was one of deep grief, a gentle, muted lament that spoke of loss and absence. The snowflakes seemed to heed his sorrowful tune, twirling gracefully around him as if in reverence of his solitude. They left a pristine patch of earth untouched, starkly contrasting with the turmoil within the boy's heart.

Had there been a crowd, their voices would have risen in a collective wail, a single, anguished question echoing in the cold air: "Why?" A friend, had he not been alone, would have stood paralyzed. The words they longed to offer would have been choked by the unspeakable pain reflected in the boy's eyes.

Anyone nearby would have heard the boy speak, uttering phrases both strange and unexpectedly profound for a child.

Amidst his overwhelming sadness, an unusual sight could be seen. His small, chapped fingers danced across the lute's strings, conjuring a rhythm that blossomed into a mesmerizing, haunting melody, each note echoing the surrounding desolation.

Despite occasional fumbles, the boy played with a dreamlike detachment, creating what his father once called a 'twilight melody.' Unaware of its haunting beauty, he was lost in the ethereal sound resonating through the barren landscape. This was the second tale, a story of a dream buried in darkness, emerging in the twilight of a fateful day.

The third tale was subtle, almost imperceptible at first. However, those who listened closely long enough would begin to grasp its meaning, a realization that brought regret and dread.

Words forged from raw, unrestrained fury would pierce their hearts, compelling them to flee. Yet, if they chose to remain, they would do so in silence, not for lack of words, but out of a deep-seated fear of confronting the boy's torment.

As long as they stood still, they believed they would be safe. They remained, not in reverence of the boy's fragile form, but because his tale gnawed at their very souls with each word, dismantling their delicate self-perceptions. They would later swear, with teeth clenched in conviction, that the image of the boy and his song was their very essence, the core of their existence.

The boy's jet-black hair, as dark as polished obsidian, stood in utter difference to the white expanse around him. His swollen, weary eyes glimmered with a haunting emerald light, reflecting the depths of his sorrow. He moved with quiet determination, his body tense with the unspoken resolve to defy the tragedy that had befallen him.

This fourth tale was his own — a culmination of the others, a grand tapestry of lament that wove his story into its depths.

It was as heavy as the betrayal of a loved one, the anguished voice of a young person waiting to die not from illness, but from a lack of will to live.

As if answering his cries, the boy's frail body collapsed into the snow, a serpentine trail of crimson tracing its way through the pristine white. His arms lay shattered; his feet were swollen and bruised.

A broad, dark line of blood stretched across his chest, and his once stunningly long hair was now tangled and marred by missing strands. There he lay, a solitary figure in a sea of white, lost to the world, with no one to hear his silent pleas.