Kain dragged himself from the muddy floodplain, his stomach growled, as hunger hit.
The first real sign since he woke in this brutal world. Back home, he'd grab leftover pizza or a soda from the fridge without thinking.
"I have to leave here," he muttered.
Staying in this open place was begging for trouble.
As his bare feet felt the ground, Vaelor's instincts kicked in, a quiet nudge in his muscles, guiding his steps smoother than a guy new to blindness should manage.
It was like borrowing reflexes from a life he hadn't lived, letting him dodge deeper puddles where water gurgled softly or step over roots that tried to trip him.
He reached out, fingers brushing rough bark, when strange cries cut the air. But his stomach growled even harder.
"Why me?," he uttered, forcing himself forward. "Berries, roots… maybe some magic fruit like in those comics I used to read."
But how can I find them?
He knelt once, hands digging through leaves, feeling for anything edible perhaps soft, round, anything.
Time slipped away in the darkness.
Hours?
Days?
He couldn't tell.
As thirst hit hard now, he followed the water's sound, hands outstretched, until his fingers dipped into a cool flow.
He cupped it and drank from it.
"Better than nothing," he said, splashing his face.
The cold shocked his skin, clearing the fog in his head for a moment.
But the hunger came again.
He moved quickly, continuing his search only for him to trip over a root and crash to the ground. Pain shot up his arms, but the tattoo on his chest warmed and eased it, closing the small cuts with a strange tingle.
He didn't acknowledge it, just let its quiet presence linger, a strange ally or a hidden threat, he couldn't decide.
However, exhaustion weighed him down, he leaned against a tree and slid to the ground.
"Just a second," he thought, closing his eyes, a pointless habit, but it felt normal.
Then suddenly a voice broke through, low, careful murmurs drifting on the breeze. Smoke filled the air, smelling of burning wood and the mouthwatering smell of roasting meat.
Kain's stomach twisted even harder as he salivated.
"Who's out there?"
Kain froze, heart thumping, then stood slowly, hands raised to show he meant no harm. "Easy. I don't want any trouble. , I'm lost." He said.
Footsteps approached, the air shifting as someone moved closer.
"Oh shit—you look half dead," the voice murmured, gentler now. "Come to the fire."
Kain blinked in confusion.
"You're… also blind?"
"How have you been surviving in here?" the stranger asked, sounding torn between concern and disbelief. "Sorry just come quickly. And be careful."
Kain nodded, letting a firm hand guide him forward. He sat on a log, and someone pressed a skewer of meat into his hand.
The heat stung his fingers, but the smell was smoky, rich with herbs that made his mouth water so fiercely he nearly dropped it. He bit in, the flavor bursting, tender, savory, with a faint saltiness that felt like a miracle.
"Hollyyyyy this is so good!" Kain thought.
He chewed reverently, eyes half-closed, soul ascending.
Then faster, faster, until dignity was but a memory and sauce dripped down his chin.
"This," he told himself between bites, "This is worth living for."
It reminded him of greasy late-night burgers back home, the kind that made you question your life choices but in a good way.
And for a brief, blissful moment, this world didn't feel so bad. It felt… seasoned.
"Thanks," he said, swallowing hard as he remembered there were people around him. "Haven't eaten in… forever, feels like."
The leader introduced himself as Renn, his voice gruff but steady, like a man who'd seen too much to be surprised. "I'm Renn. This is Lira, Garr, and Thom."
"We're scavengers. What's your name?"
"Kain," he replied.
A brief silence, then Lira spoke, her voice calm and even. "You can rest here till morning."
"Thank you," Kain said.
"Those robes of yours are shredded, we've got spares if you want."
They handed him a coarse wool cloak, heavy but warm, then a pair of boots came next.
The group settled around the fire and began to converse.
"I snagged it scale from the muck and traded it for a month's food."
"Those were really good times, man, I can't lie."
Thom spoke of scavenging old ruins, finding bits of carved stone or rusted metal to sell in outlaw markets.
"I found a broken statue once," he said, almost shy.
Kain listened while the smoky scent of meat lingered in the air. He smiled faintly, letting himself relax.
The food filled his stomach, the cloak's warmth soaking into his bones. For the first time since waking in Ecliptica, he felt almost human again, not just a lost soul in a blind prince's body.
As the flames burned, Kain settled onto a borrowed bedroll, exhaustion pulling him toward sleep. The forest sounds wrapped around him crickets chirping in waves, the soft rustle of leaves in the breeze.
He was out, breathing steady, unaware of the people moving a few steps away, their voices dropping to whispers too soft for him to hear in his sleep.
Lira spoke first, her tone low and careful, like she was measuring each word. "I heard there is a nexus ground, half a day's walk from here, and the aether crystals there are enough to buy us out of this life. What do you say we do with it guys?"
Garr sucked in a breath, "You mean that place?"
"You people are kidding right? That suicide." Thom blurted.
"Mission impossible! Suicide." He added, if they hadn't heard him well enough before, he hoped this would do.
The nexus grounds were a tear in the world, endless night, the air inside crackled with raw aether, walls pulsed, shadows moved with intent, hiding traps that could a full-grown man.
At the heart lay aether crystals, gems of pure energy, some said they could spark rare aether elements, others that they held the world's old power.
But guarding them were nexusborn creatures, a nightmare of fluid shadow, bodies weaving through the dark, claws sharp as void itself, and eyes that were devoid of emotion.
One could rip a man apart before he screamed.
Renn grunted, his voice heavy with caution. "Then you must have also heard of what those places are and what they do to people."
"We would be playing with fire, one wrong step and we are either dead or trapped in the darkness forever."
Garr leaned in, his voice buzzing with greed. "The crystals, though—Have you seen them?"
"I saw one once, it glowed so bright." He added.
"One sack of those, and we're not scavengers anymore. We're kings!. Who cares about the risk when the reward's that big?"
Thom's voice trembled, barely above a whisper. "The creature."
"The creatures care. Stories say they are massive, shapeless, just… shadow that moves. Attacks out of nowhere, that place is a burial ground."
"A friend went in one last year, I heard his scream, then it was total silence. We're not ready, Garr."
Lira's laugh was sharp, cutting through the tension. "Not ready? We've got aether affinities, Thom."
"Renn and I wield Flame Aether, I can light the place like a bonfire, keep those creatures in sight. Renn's flames can push them creature back."
She snapped her fingers, and a tiny spark flared in the dark, casting a brief glow that warmed the air.
Renn grunted, a rare smirk in his voice.
"She's not wrong. My Flame Aether can blast any creature if it gets too close. But fire alone won't cut it. Garr, your Tide Aether, you pulled water from a dry creek bed last month. Can you do that there, flood the floor to slow the creature?"
Garr's chuckle was wet, eager, like waves on a shore. "I should be able to. I'll turn the ground into a river. If those creature tries to come at us, they won't know what's coming for them. And this will give us time to snatch the crystals and bolt."
Thom shifted, his boots scuffing nervously. "Since it has come to this, I can freeze the air, make ice walls to block its path, maybe trap its claws for a second. But that thing's fast, faster than anything I know."
"If we slip, it's over."
"Then we don't slip," Lira said, her voice like a blade, sharp and sure. "We move like a unit, Flame to light the way and burn the shadows, Tide to slick the floor, Frost to shield us. We hit them, grab the crystals, and get out before the eclipse hits."
"The eclipse?" Thom's voice cracked, fear creeping in. "That makes it worse, doesn't it?"
Renn's tone tightened, urgent but steady. "It's just the lunar eclipse this time, so we should still stand a chance. We go in, act quickly, and we're out."
Garr's voice was all hunger now. "Picture it, the crystals in our hands. We'd be legends, the city will sing our names and we get any women we want. Who's with me?"
Lira's answer was instant, fierce. "I'm in. We've got the power, let's use it and stop being cowards for once in our lives."
"We make no mistakes. Let's change our lives with this."
Kain stirred in his sleep, the tattoo on his chest pulsed, a faint throb that sent a shiver through his blood.
He didn't hear the conversations, his dreams were muddled flashes of Vaelor's palace, empty plates, mocking laughter, mixed with his old life, rainy streets, and comic books. But the tattoo on his chest throbbed even harder, warm and insistent.
It matched something distant, a rhythm in the sky he couldn't see but somehow felt.