'Where am I?'
A tight knot coils deep inside my chest, squeezing so hard my breath catches like it wants to run away somewhere but couldn't.
I try to speak, but no sound comes. My mouth opens and closes as if it has forgotten how to work.
My throat feels dry, just as sand scraped through my larynx.
'What's going on?'
The edges of my vision begin to shimmer and pulse, blurry and broken.
Suddenly — a flash. A chilling touch, too close, almost there…
'Ah… I remember now.'
That piercing cold spread like ice through my veins when his fingers neared me.
And the cold barrier that rose, locking me inside.
My chest tightens again.
The ringing in my ears keeps swelling, sharp and endless.
'... Make it stop. Please. '
The world around her broke apart like glass caught in slow motion, shards folding in on themselves.
There, barely more than a whisper, was a little girl.
She looks like someone that is around 3-5 years old and wore a white gown — simple and soft, the kind you never expect from a commoner.
That gown is stitched up neat with ribbons trailing lazily down her back.
Her silver hair spilled in long, tangled strands.
Her face never quite came into focus.
It was always hiding, blurred under a veil of mist, like something you try to remember from a dream but just can't hold on to.
The air around her was heavy, pressurized with a strange atmosphere that pressed down on everything.
No sound, no movement, and just a breathless stillness that made the setting feel both ominous and fragile.
The faintest breeze teased the hem of her gown, but no leaves rustled; since no voice answered.
'Who…'
The little girl didn't move — didn't blink or breathe.
Just stood there in the silence, white gown hanging loose, ribbons trailing in her back.
I wanted to reach out,
to call her name,
but something kept swallowing my voice before it could even form.
Even as the edges of the vision trembled and faded, that stillness clung stubbornly, haunting every space she stood.
"Hey…what are you doin — arghhhgh?!"
But before I could reach her everything tilted,
shaken loose,
and the nightmare edged closer.
When a place that feels fragile, broken, and distant, seem familiar...
But…
Why..?
******
Flames clawed at the crumbling walls, red and orange light casting jagged shadows that danced with life.
The smoke choked the air, thick with ash and soot that burned my lungs every time I dared to draw a breath.
Screams that once again tore through my ears, raw and ragged.
All around me, bodies flopped and twisted in agony, caught in the grip of panic and pain.
Some clawed desperately at the shattered stones underfoot, others convulsed, faces frozen in terror.
Right in the heart of this madness, he stood — a man with a face painted like a clown, but twisted beyond any joke.
Those eyes... they glittered with cold amusement, like watching his playthings danced with all their effort.
My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it hurt.
My breath caught and rattled in my throat like it was stuck, each inhale shallow and desperate.
My hands shook uncontrollably, fingers twitching as if trying to hold onto something steady.
Suddenly… I gained clarity…like I become enlightened,
Or is it just that I become so numb..?
Around me, faces dissolved into shifting blurs — broken shapes bent and twisted into Xs.
The people weren't people anymore — more like ghosts slipping through cracks in my vision.
No matter how hard I tried, their features slipped away, leaving behind only mists.
'...'
That fear inside me deepened, filling my bones with a dull ache.
Piper's cruel smile never wavered.
His gaze was still sharp, calculating — like a scientist examining his most intriguing experiment.
Watching,
waiting,
enjoying every flicker of panic that danced in my eyes.
He leaned back slightly, the corners of his mouth twitching into a slow, deliberate smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Hmm... that's it?" he murmured, voice low and almost amused. "You haven't even come close to realizing your power yet. Such a shame — I was really curious about what might be hidden beneath that shield of yours."
He tapped his fingers lightly, considering a puzzle in front of him looks too simple to be interesting.
"Seems like a common barrier... nothing more or less."
His eyes gleamed with a flicker of disappointment before sharpening into something colder.
Without warning, the grim smile faded.
He moved swiftly, slicing through the chaos as he prepared to end it.
However — cutting through the tension with a blade — another figure appeared.
"That appearance…"
it was impossible to ignore, even for someone like me who has seen horrors and violence beyond imagining.
That guy — no, a monster stepped fully into the dim light, and every detail about him sharpened with a harsh clarity that drilled straight through to my core.
His outfit wasn't just clothing — it was sleek armor made out of the carcass of a wyvern, designed less for decoration and more as a second skin molded not just to defend but also to reflect someone's energy.
The long, flowing coat that draped him was the color of a moonless night, absorbing every flicker of light, swallowing it like a void.
It moved with him almost independently, the fabric concealing its powers as it fluttered softly around his lithe but muscular frame.
There was nothing loose or careless on him; each seam, each panel seemed cut with geometric precision, creating a perfect form and almost unreal.
Truly, is in its perfection.
The collar of his coat stood up high, framing his head like some dark halo but wielded less for honor and more for menace.
Beneath this shadowed rim, his face remained partially hidden behind a matte black mask, smooth and featureless except for the piercing, almost unnatural emerald of his eyes.
They were cold and sharp, flashing with an unsettling presence that held an atmosphere far beyond my reckoning.
That mask was flawless, swallowing any reflection and hiding the muscles beneath from betraying even the slightest flicker of expression.
His jawline was the kind of sharp that could cleave steel — angular and unyielding.
Pale skin peeked out just above the mask's edges, almost luminous, like it could glow from the dark with some internal energy that defied the massive aura he exerted to others.
His hair was a contradiction of form — it looked wild and untamed, unruly strands cutting jaggedly across his forehead and between the edges of his mask, yet it was clear that every inch was deliberately arranged to frame his face in a way that made him look more beast than man.
His dark locks absorbed all light, turning nearly as black as his coat, giving him the aura of a werewolf stalking in twilight.
His stature commanded respect and noble; standing just over six feet two inches, every move he made spoke of measured control.
His lithe form was trained, muscles taut beneath the perfectly fitted layers, every inch a testament to battles fought and won.
Beneath the coat, his attire was no less imposing.
A sleek, skin-tight ensemble hugged his torso and limbs, dark as obsidian and woven with subtle streaks of lighter shadow threading down his arms and sides.
The fabric rippled just faintly with his movement, engineered for stealth and durability.
Gloves covered his hands with reinforced fibers for gripping weapons or striking lethally without hesitation.
Even his boots carried that same dark sheen, supple but sturdy, designed for silent steps across any terrain.
His presence twisted the night's air, cold and absolute, as if shadows themselves bent and breathed with him.
He appeared less a man and more an embodiment of night's merciless will, a walking monarch of eternal darkness.
Each breath was held taut beneath his mask, shoulders squared with the weight of countless budeens.
To stand before him was to face more than a foe: it was to confront the inevitability of judgment.
His striking appearance was not just a shield against the world but a weapon in itself — fear and awe converging wherever he turned, making the air crackle with apprehension.
In that moment, even the twisted grin of the Pied Piper faltered, unsettled beneath the crushing weight of his silent appraisal.
"That outfit... You are Kaelen of the family Ashcloak!?"