The flames kept spewing Alex's runes broke free.
The very cave walls emitted a disgusting yellow glare in response to Alex's force.
For a brief moment, the world around him had turned into liquified charcoal, a formless abyss, corrupting his body
Soon his—no, they were not his anymore—flames turned into a beautiful white light, annihilating everything in their path. Even the cave itself started to rot and sift into ashes.
Thoughts surged in his brain, hunger ran its course through his body, he hadn't eaten once since coming west.
Then the cave suddenly rearranged itself, its dark obsidian replaced with a dull limestone.
But Alex's clarity did not return.
Only fear remained.
— — —
Crunch Crunch.
Growl.
Cough.
Knees faltered.
Arms throbbed.
Soot defiled.
Tongue gagged.
Blood bubbled.
Organs rose.
Stomach lining charred.
Dilitrio metabolized.
Alex persisted.
"Water," escaped from Alex's throat before his consciousness faded
— — —
Thunder crackled.
Ice caps encircled Alex's vision.
Alex's mind was reinforced with a dream-like clarity.
Below him wooden boards creaked
"Where the hell am I?" Alex muttered
Fear threatened to steal his fragile awareness, no rather it should've but something was holding it back.
The smell of blood and salt burned itself onto his nose.
On the blue ice, lie dozens of black, immobile birds, seemingly awaiting their fate to be consumed by the tides below them.
Their bodies were unusual for birds–stocky, and one solid mass, lacking feathers, and pectoral muscles that fused into arms rather than wings. They waddled at a dumbfounding pace.
"Sea, Ice, and animals?"
"Am I back on earth? Did I clear that nightmare?"
"Are you telling me I was supposed to consume ashes? ASHES FOR GOD'S SAKE?"
"Well atleast im back home–-well not really, but it's close enough though."
Alex tried to open his status system.
No response.
Alex attempted to activate ascension.
No response.
A startling disharmony coursed through his runes, as clicks and hums settled in.
The source of the clicks lie right in front of Alex, their black homogenous bodies, resembling the flightless birds only more aerodynamic and terrifying. Their tremendous acrobatics, goading the birds.
"Wait a minute… is that a killer whale? Am I in Antarctica? Then… are those birds penguins?"
"None of this makes any sense, am I still in the night–?"
Alex's thoughts were cut off, as one of the whales approached Alex, it uttered clicks as if it were speaking, yet somehow Alex was able to understand.
"Watch," the whale said.
Not a request. An instruction.
The whales circled the ice sheet. Slow. Patient. Their movements synchronized without visible communication—just understanding. Instinct refined over generations into perfect cooperation.
They didn't rush.
They didn't waste energy.
The lead whale dove, disappearing beneath the surface. Then another. Then three more. The remaining ones held position, blocking escape routes that didn't exist yet but would.
Alex felt his perspective shift—not his body moving, but his awareness lowering until he floated at the waterline, eye-level with the hunt.
The whales surfaced together. They swam in formation toward the ice, building speed, and at the last moment dove as one. The wave they created rolled forward, lifting the ice sheet, tilting it just enough. One penguin slipped. The whales converged. The penguin disappeared.
"Do you see?" the whale asked.
Alex couldn't answer.
"We do not hesitate," it continued
The hunt continued. Another wave. Another penguin. The pattern repeating with mechanical precision.
"You failed." the whale said.
Alex wanted to respond, to defend himself.
Suddenly, the sea froze. Stagnant. The world turned bleak. White.
A cacophony of voices pierced Alex's brain.
There is no mercy.
There is no reason.
There are no gods.
Alex tried to speak—to argue, to beg, to understand— But his mouth was full of ash. And he was swallowing.
— — —