After staring at the sight in front of him, Alaric started to move. His bare feet pressed against the cold ground.
It was strange. The air around him was hot, burning. But the ground was freezing cold.
He walked forward slowly, his legs weak.
The small creatures he had seen from far away were now right below him. They crawled everywhere, moving in a hurry across the ash-covered ground. Their bodies were dark and twisted, like insects made of shadow.
Then they noticed him.
One bit his ankle.
Then another.
Then more.
They swarmed toward him, their teeth sharp as needles. They climbed his legs, biting into his flesh, trying to tear pieces off him.
But Alaric didn't stop. He didn't try to shake them off. He didn't even look down.
He just kept walking.
The iron chains attached to his wrists dragged behind him, scraping against the ground. The sound echoed in the empty wasteland.
By now, dozens of the small creatures covered his body. Most of them clung to his lower half, biting and tearing. Blood ran down his legs, mixing with the ash and dirt.
He walked toward the volcanic mountain in the distance.
The closer he got to the mountain, the more creatures bit him. They seemed desperate, frantic. But Alaric felt nothing.
No pain registered in his mind anymore.
As he came closer to the mountain, something strange happened. The atmosphere changed. It wasn't as hot as he expected. Instead, the air shifted between warm and cold, like two winds fighting each other.
He was only a few kilometers away from the base of the mountain when suddenly, all the creatures stopped.
They froze for a moment.
Then, all at once, they released him. They dropped from his body and scattered in every direction, as if something had frightened them away.
Alaric didn't wonder why.
He was covered in blood now. His whole body dripped with it, mixing with the black blood still seeping from his torn forearm.
He limped forward, his legs barely holding him up.
Then he saw it.
A hole in the ground.
It was perfectly circular, like a giant crater carved into the earth. The edges sloped down toward the center, and at the very bottom, in the middle of the crater, sat a large rock.
No.
Not a rock.
Alaric stopped at the edge and looked closer.
It was a meteor.
A real one.
Meteors were rare in the real world. Most people never saw one in their entire lives as huge as the rock infront of him. most rocks were shattered into fragments which were used in magical artifacts.
but they were fragments. This was a whole one
On a normal day, Alaric might have found this interesting. Fascinating, even.
But now, he felt nothing.
His hollow eyes stared at it for a moment. Then he started down the slope.
He slid down the side of the crater, his feet barely catching the ground. The chains dragged behind him, kicking up ash and dust.
He took a step closer.
Then another.
His legs trembled. His vision blurred. Everything hurt, but the pain felt far away now. Like it was happening to someone else.
He reached the meteor.
When he reached the bottom, he stood in front of the meteor.
It was almost as tall as him. It came up to his chin.
The surface was strange. It looked transparent in some places, like glass. But in other places, it was solid stone, grey and rough. The whole stone sparkled, reflecting the black sky and red clouds around it.
Alaric stared at it.
His reflection stared back. Sunken eyes. Cracked lips. Blood and dirt covering every inch of skin.
He looked like a corpse.
For a long moment, he just stood there, staring at his reflection in the translucent stone. Sunken eyes. Cracked lips. Blood and dirt covering every inch of skin.
He looked like a corpse.
He took a step closer.
His hands reached out and gripped the sides of the meteor. The stone was cold under his palms. Colder than anything.
He stared at it.
Then, slowly, deliberately, he pulled his head back.
And smashed it forward against the stone.
CRACK.
Pain exploded through his skull. Sharp. Immediate.
Blood ran down the meteor's surface.
But Alaric didn't stop.
He pulled his head back again.
And smashed it forward.
CRACK.
The sound echoed through the crater. More blood poured from his forehead, mixing with the old wounds.
he didn't stop he smashed his head again. and again. and again.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Until he stopped moving.
Alaric's legs gave out.
He collapsed against the meteor, his body sliding down to the ground. His eyes stared at nothing.
Blood pooled beneath him, soaking into the ash.
His chest stopped moving.
He was dead.
Thin red lines spread across the meteor's surface like a spiderweb. slowly the meter started to such the blood inside it turning the crystal clear color into a red one.
but something changed that red colored stoned was now darkning rapidly. now the meteor became black like an obsidian stone
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then the meteor shattered.
Pieces exploded outward, scattering across the crater floor. Black shards, each one sharp as glass, lay everywhere.
The body lay still.
Until it twitched.
---
Pain.
'Ah—'
Pain.
'What—'
PAIN.
His chest jerked. Air rushed into his lungs. It burned.
Everything burned.
'Hurts—'
His thoughts couldn't form properly. They scattered like broken glass.
'Can't—breathe—'
But he was breathing. His lungs moved. In and out. Each breath felt like swallowing fire.
'Stop—make it—'
He couldn't finish the thought. The pain tore it apart.
His eyes snapped open.
Black sky. Red clouds.
'Where—'
He tried to move his hand. It wouldn't respond at first. When it finally moved, it felt wrong. Heavy. Broken.
'What's—happening—'
He couldn't think. Every time he tried to form a thought, pain ripped through his head and scattered it.
'My body—'
'No.'
'This body—'
No, that wasn't right either. Was it his body? It felt like his. He could feel it. But it felt... wrong. Damaged. Destroyed.
'Hurts so much—'
He tried to lift his head. The movement sent lightning through his neck. He gasped, the sound wet and broken.
His vision swam. Everything was blurry. Red and black shapes. Nothing made sense.
'What happened—'
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh"
the pain was unbearable . the whole body was ripped fully wounded unable to move and unable to thunk properly.
But then the body jerked again. His hand moved on its own, fingers scraping against the ground. They touched something sharp.
A black shard.
The moment his fingers closed around it,
He slowly started to stand up. Though it hurt, he forced himself to his feet while gripping onto to the black shard in his hand.
He brought it up to his head and stared at it. It was like a black obsidian stone, shining through the surface.
But just then—
Red lightning.
It erupted from the black skies above him, shooting directly to the black shard in his hand. it spread from the shard to his hand and all over his body.
He screamed.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh"
The sound tore from his throat, raw and animal. He couldn't control it. His body convulsed, back arching off the ground.
The lightning spread. Across his chest. Down his legs. Up his neck. Into his face.
'STOP—PLEASE—STOP—'
But it didn't stop.
It burned through every wound. Every cut. Every broken piece of flesh. It felt like being ripped apart from the inside.
His thoughts shattered completely. There was no thinking anymore. No understanding. Only pain.
Pure. Absolute. Endless.
He couldn't remember who he was. He couldn't remember where he was. He couldn't remember anything except the burning.
His body thrashed. His fingers clawed at the ground. His screams echoed off the mountains.
'MAKE IT STOP—'
'PLEASE—'
'I CAN'T—'
But no one was there to hear him.
He collapsed onto the ground.
His body twitched. Smoke rose from his skin. The smell of burned flesh filled the air.
For a long time, he couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't do anything but lie there and gasp.
His lungs burned with each breath.
His skin felt raw. Like every inch of it had been scraped away.
His head throbbed. His vision swam.
All the shattered black shards on the ground started to melt. They turned into liquid and moved across the ground toward the boy who lay there, unable to bear the pain.
The liquid slowly entered his body through his wounds, his mouth, his skin.
The boy didn't even notice. His mind was drowning in pain.
All the shards entered his body except the one he was holding in his hand.
Slowly—so slowly—thoughts began to form again.
What... was that...
He couldn't finish. The effort of thinking made his head pound.
'Where... am I...'
He forced his eyes open. Everything was blurry. He blinked. Once. Twice.
The black sky came into focus. The red clouds. The ash-covered ground.
'I don't... understand...'
He tried to remember. Tried to piece together what happened.
'There was... ugh... I can't remember.'
Pain.
Then... nothing.
Then... this.
'Am I... dead?'
No. He was breathing. He could feel his heart beating. Weak and irregular, but beating.
'Then... where...'
He tried to sit up. His arms wouldn't move properly. They shook. Barely supported his weight.
When he finally managed to push himself up slightly, he looked down at his body.
And froze.
It was covered in wounds.
Deep cuts. Burns. Bruises that had turned black. His wrists had iron cuffs locked around them, chains trailing across the ground.
'This isn't... my body...'
The thought came slowly. Painfully.
'This isn't... me...'
But it was. He could feel it. Every wound. Every ache. Every broken piece.
'What's... happening...'
He couldn't think clearly. His thoughts kept slipping away. Every time he tried to focus, pain pulled him back.
He looked at his hand.
The black shard was still there, clutched in his fingers.
He stared at it.
'What... is this...'
His gaze moved past the shard.
His head felt full of fog. Thick and heavy. Like he was trying to think through water.
'I need to... remember...'
But remember what?
Who he was?
Where he was?
How he got here?
Nothing made sense.
He let his head drop back down to the ground. The effort of holding it up was too much.
His chest rose and fell. Each breath hurt.
'Just... rest...'
His eyes started to close.
'Just... for a moment...'
But as his consciousness faded, one thought managed to form.
One clear, certain thought through all the pain and confusion:
'Where am I .'