Leif’s eyelids fluttered open revealing an open expanse of pale blue sky. He felt the breeze as it rustled through vibrant, finger length grass, the warmth of a brilliant golden sun radiating down on him. He lay there, unmoving for what felt like an eternity.
The sun fell, the sky darkening and the breeze turning cold. Stars twinkled overhead in their thousands, and a moon with a cracked face and a crimson glow took prominence in the night sky.
But that too swiftly changed, the moon fell and the sky brightened. A golden sun in a perfectly clear blue sky, then once again it dropped below the horizon and the moon took its place. Again, and again, and again.
Blue, then black. Gold, then red. Over and over, a hundred repetitions, then a thousand. Each cycle passed faster and faster. The celestial objects would pass overhead in only a few hours, then minutes, then seconds.
The world blurred as the sun and moon chased one another, their eternal dance now a streak of colour in the sky. Leif watched the entire time, unmoving, unblinking, unbreathing. An infinite stretch of time passed in an instant.
Leif blinked, and time froze. The cyclone of multicoloured light that was the sky above slamming to a sudden halt. He took in a long, deep breath, his chest rising. Leif let the breath out, it released from his lungs in a long, shuddering sigh.
He held up a hand to shield his face from the overhead sun, an arm of tanned human flesh silhouetted against the golden light hanging far above. His arm and hand was criss-crossed in a thousand cracks and scars. Each aged wound emitting a dull amber glow.
Red leaves grew from the cracks, they fluttered in the wind as he stared up at his arm. It was a struggle to think, to remember. Leif let his arm drop, the limb fell down to cover his eyes and face.
He groaned and rolled onto his side, pushing himself up onto hands and knees he knelt in the endless sea of grass and panted for breath. Every inch of his body felt weak, worn, broken. Before he could try and stand Leif collapsed with a grunt, unable to muster the strength to move even another inch.
Another eternity passed, the sun and moon chasing one another across the constantly changing sky. Leif watched the passage of time, his face turned to the side, a cheek pressed into the ground.
He blinked, and the passage of time stopped. Again he took a breath and struggled to stand. Again he fell, and time spun into motion once again. A hundred times he tried to stand, and a hundred times he fell. But with each attempt the cracks in his body glowed brighter, the red leaves grew larger, and his skin hardened.
He groaned, reaching out to grab a fistfull of arm length grass. Using it as support he finally hauled himself up to a kneeling position. He looked around at the endless expanse of flowing emerald green grass. The hills rolling off infinitely into the distance.
Leif slowly turned, conscious of his weakness, and peered around at his surroundings. He was alone in a perfectly empty world. With herculean effort he staggered to his feet, his body trembling beneath him.
He took a single, shaking step. And something within him cracked. Leif’s vision blurred, his head spinning as the world shifted out of focus. He fell face first, disappearing into the forest of grass.
As he lay unmoving memories flitted through his mind. He recalled gaining awareness of himself as he grew over several years, what it had felt like to act on instincts he hadn’t truly understood. The confusion of being trapped in the still form of a tree, of not being able to see, smell or taste.
Leif remembered his first step after his class evolution. He had fallen back then in an almost identical way as to just now, collapsing into a bank of snow and struggling to regain his footing. He recalled the sheer, overwhelming joy of regaining senses he had gone over a decade without. The freedom of being able to move, of truly feeling alive.
He remembered his overly ambitious attempt at climbing a mountain. The collection of animal companions he had gathered along the way. Leif remembered the two deer, Bam and Lani. How they had been named, only for him to push them away. Push them away, because he hadn’t thought himself capable of protecting them.
If he was capable of moving, Leif thought he would have laughed into the dirt. Protect them… I wasn’t even able to protect myself.
His mind wandered to the events that had led to the battle at Far-reach. How he, and the first humans he had met had fled into the depths of a colossal underground structure called a Mythhold. How a battle had raged into the city above, and they had discovered the lowest levels of the structure were overtaken by undead.
Leif felt another pang of loss. He hadn’t considered it before, but he had gotten incredibly lucky that Sieg and Marcus had been the first people he had encountered. The two Academy students had been friendly, and more than helpful.
Just how differently would things have gone if they had been hostile, or even a fraction less accommodating? He hoped they survived, all the expedition members really. Well, most of them.
He realised then that he wasn’t sure if the death of the formian queen had ended the battle. Had Hera lived? Had the remaining skimmers made their escape? What of the humans that had been trapped on the bluff? Leif supposed the only thing he could do was hope, because he wasn’t going anywhere anytime fast.
Truthfully, he didn’t even know where he was. At least the grass was comfortable. He mused, his consciousness flickering. Then time marched on without him.
Seconds.
Minutes.
Hours.
Days.
Weeks
Months.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Years.
Decades.
Centuries.
Millennia.
It didn’t matter, incomprehensible and meaningless as it was.
===
A tree loomed overhead. The rich brown of its trunk outlined by glistening golden leaves that stood out against the night sky. Leif could barely make it out as he lay within the forest of grass, the vibrant green stalks growing three or so metres into the sky.
He pushed his way through the grass towards the new addition to the otherwise empty world, he was stronger now, more complete, more stable. And though every step threatened to tip him over and send him sprawling back down to the earth he persisted.
With every step towards the tree the more Leif comprehended its sheer scale. It stretched upwards, towering towards the sky, it was so large in fact that it may have been days, if not weeks away.
Leif pushed forward, partially out of curiosity, and partially out of trepidation. He didn’t know where he was, or what was going on, but as time passed the world in which he found himself became harder and harder to navigate.
There was a strange, almost otherworldly pressure that suffused the air. It pressed down on him, blurring the very edges of his vision. He knew he had to move, that something was very, very wrong. Leif forced himself forward, all curiosity having been replaced by an ever building sense of panic.
Whatever this place was, he didn’t belong. If he could just reach the tree maybe-
The world shook, Leif’s vision flickered, and the tree vanished.
===
He never stopped moving. Never let his attention or awareness falter lest the world spin on without him. But even still, time seemed to skip and jump. Day became night, then an instant later it was day again. The pressure built, this time it was accompanied by a dull buzzing that sent the still growing grass to vibrating and Leif’s bones thrumming.
The tree flickered back into existence, Leif snapped his head in its direction. He’d been navigating blind for what felt like days and had strayed off course. Luckily he hadn’t gotten more turned around, the tree in its towering glory was closer than ever.
===
The constant droning buzz that permeated the space was now a cacophonous roar. Like a million insects all voicing their displeasure at once. The grass was so tall and so thick that Leif was shrouded within constant shade.
He only caught glimpses of the sky once every hour or so, his destination barely visible through the emerald canopy that towered overhead. Every step was an exercise in agony, not because his body was weak, he had recovered what could have been an eternity ago.
The problem now was the pressure, it screamed down at him, violent, oppressive, all consuming. It felt like it wanted something, needed something. But Leif had nothing to give.
Leif clawed at the stalks of grass that barred his way. At some point his fingers had hardened, gaining claw-like tips. He used them now to rip a path through the vegetation, but even still every inch of progress was an upward climb.
Finally, blessedly, he burst out of the grass and into a clearing. It was like taking a deep breath after spending a lifetime drowning. Within the centre of the clearing was the crest of a hill, and atop that hill, the base of the tree.
Leif had thought that the tree was potentially him, that his bizarre nightmare world was some sort of representation of whatever damage he had sustained during his final stand. But looking at the tree, really taking it in, it wasn’t him.
His bark was ivory white, his leaves a bloody crimson. What was more, it just felt different. And besides, there was somebody else in the clearing with him.
She was facing him, her skin dark and compassion showing in a shimmering golden eye. She smiled, and it would have been comforting if the left side of her body wasn’t missing. Golden motes of light drifted away from where she had been split neatly in two, dispersing in the sky above.
She raised an arm as if to greet him, though with half of her body a mangled, golden mess it was a distinctly strange gesture, it didn’t even look like she was motioning to him, just in the general direction he had emerged.
Leif didn’t have time to feel relief, the pressure was still smothering him, straining not only his body and mind but the very world. The woman too seemed to be succumbing to the pressure, her form was flickering and shivering as if under the same weight he was.
“Welcome awakened.” She said, her voice was a mangled rasp. “I am so glad to see so many of you safe and eager.”
Leif only paid her words half of his attention, he had spotted a golden crack in the base of the tree and was making his way for it. As he moved the woman didn’t turn to look at him, instead she continued her speech as if he wasn’t there.
“You no doubt have many questions, fear not, for it is my p̴u̸r̶p̶o̶s̷e̵ ̴t̶o̸ ̷a̴n̴s̸w̷e̶r̴ ̶.” Her voice tapered off at the end, her entire form flickering in and out of existence briefly. “Y̶͉̆o̴͌͜u̴͉̎ ̷̮̂h̴̻̀â̴̞v̵̛͓e̴̡̐ ̶͇̎ť̵͈a̴̩̓k̸̘̂ê̸͙n̵̫̅ ̵̮̊t̷̟̍ḧ̷́͜ę̵̀ ̴̖̎f̷̫̽ḭ̴͝r̸̘̚ś̸̨t̷̥͝,̶̹̈ ̸̯̎b̵͎͝ỏ̸͙l̶̽͜d̷͚͠ ̴͓́s̸̨͝t̸̙̉ê̷̟p̵̲̓ ̷̥̆t̸̺̕o̵̳̽ ̷̩̉a̴̩͊ ̴̹͌f̵̫̽u̴̟͛t̸̝̄u̴̔ͅr̴̹̓e̵͕͠ ̶̝̓o̴̹͝f̷͜͠ ̴͔̉b̸̜̾ŏ̶͉u̵̼̇n̵͚̈́d̴̯͘l̴̺̊e̴͖̓ś̶̥s̸̟̒ ̴̖͐p̶͖̋o̶̧̒t̵̼͐e̶̠̊n̵̢̔t̵̠̀ï̶̮à̶̬ĺ̴̮”
The pressure was growing worse, Leif staggered up the hill and past the still speaking woman. Reality seemed to fuzz around the edges. Space twisted, his steps seeming to carry him miles at once, but also keeping him locked in place.
“F̸͉̥́̿e̸̲͛̿̏͘â̸̺͕̼̝r̷̤̋̍̎̈̂ ̴̼̥͐͂n̷̺͓͉̣̪̎͆o̸̩̔ṫ̵̨͗̏̏,̴͖̋̀͜ ̸̭̜̲͐̃̌t̷̨̺̹̱̀͌̍͆̓ḥ̴̼̻̆͌̃̍̚o̷̙̮͕̳̽û̸͍̯̲͒̓ͅg̴̣̳̖̎̐͛̒͠h̶̺̞̗̩̗̉ ̴̢̥̯̙͉͑y̵͎͆̄̓̊̈́ȱ̶̳̪̇̓͒u̵̡̱̙̎̏̚ ̴̡̤̞͐̈́̊ͅm̶̦̍̔̃̒a̵̪͇̲͕͌̾̀ÿ̸̨̖̤͇͌̃͘͝ ̶̤̏̅̍̂ḟ̸̣̝̙͓͙̋͌͘i̷̬̇͒̏̀͜n̷͚͗͒̈́̍d̶̠̗͌̿ ̵͙̟́͗y̸̧̘̾́o̸̢̠͚̭͑̀̓͊u̴͖̇͝͠ͅr̶̢̤̻̥̄̽̾͆̑ș̴̼͑ȩ̶̡̓́l̶̠͉̞̈́̈́̿̈̕f̷͖̳͚͖̒͑ ̵͒͛͆͂͘͜u̵̢̗͈̰͑̓̋̔n̸̰͙̈͒̾͘c̷͓̀̄͋́̚é̷̹͉̏̄͝͝r̶͍͔̳̲̠̃̚t̶̘̃͐͘a̶̛̪͔͖̬͊͗̚͘ì̵̹͈͙́ñ̴̙̲͓̱̎,̴̡̗͕͓̇ ̵̧̳͂̾́e̴͍̺̣̓̍̏͠͠v̶͉̞̩̿̍̇̄̍ë̵͙̓ǹ̷̹̠̗̤̑ ̶̗̪̹̋̿a̷͕͕͒́͊̾͜f̶̰͍̜̯̆͝͝ͅr̴͈̩̤̋ạ̵͓͌͊ͅī̷̖͔̚d̸̝͝͠.̷̦̝͊́́͜ ̵̤̦̮̲̹̂͛T̷̩̠̳̩͍̄͆̄̿͌h̶̡̙̭̬͆͂̊̔͜e̵͍͈̅̈̋̚͠ ̶̭̣̒̓f̵͚͎̹̹̏̈́͐̅͜ă̷͈̦͛̑̅c̵̡͉̥͖͇̍͆͐͐t̵̢̄̊̏͠ ̷̦̬̦͍́͜y̶̻͎͇̗̑o̸̘͉̎̂ǘ̴̜͙̞̤̘͆͛͠ ̴͍͖͉̘̀̈́̈a̷̻̣͇̎͆r̶̬͗̊̔͊͠e̸͇̼͉͛̈́̑̂̏ ̵͚͒h̵̞̓͂̚͜ê̸̮̽r̴̥͐̇͆͑̍e̸͎̪̼̣̹̿̑̋͊͆ ̷̹̘̳̜̀ḯ̵̡̟̌̂ş̷͎̤̻̜͛ ̸̜͕̹̼̪̎̈́̈̌̏p̷̨̩̠̫̣̅͑̅͂r̷̭̐̐̒̍ŏ̷̗̤̥͕͖͊̏͝ó̵͙̾̽̉̈́f̴̼͕͙͓̐͛̌͆͂ ̴̔̇͜ͅę̷̭͈̬̋͗̿̃ͅn̷̛͓͖̟̩͌o̷͖͔͊̒̅̊̾u̵̳͐́̀͑͝g̴͈̙̱͕̽͝h̴̠̳̻̬̒̆͛͘ ̷̯̐̎̌͝ţ̸͔̤́h̷̨͙̬̓͝a̵͍͕̞̗̪͂t̷͍̖̻̂̋̒͜͜͠ ̵̖͙̃̕y̴͈̘̘̹͐̈́͜ỏ̵ͅu̴̹͎͐͛͜ ̶̢̛̣̰̮͑̓͊̆a̸̢̓͗́̚r̸̳̻̙̳̜͑́̌͊͘ĕ̸͙͎̫̱̹̈́͑̍ ̷̡͗w̴͙͖̩͇͒͐o̵̡͛r̷̯͆͊͑́̇t̸̗̪̱̪̽ḧ̴̝̥̠̭̥̀͑y̶̦͉̅͜ ̸̧͇̲̩͂͒̚ͅȭ̷͖̑̚f̸͈̱̘̭̎͛̈́̓ ̶̗͘t̸̪̒̅̚ḩ̵̱͓͕̈́͛́̓į̵̹͔̤̽͌ͅs̴̨̯͖̣̊̀͘͝ ̴͎̚p̶͈͍̹͗́ͅa̵̟̲̯̒̂̉ţ̴̱͇̤̈́͊͋͠ͅh̴̡̪͔̎̂̀̓.̶̪̎̏͗͆ ̶̨͈̭͛”
Leif reached out for the golden crack, images seemed to flicker in its depth, twisted and unreal. He had to leave before this place broke and whatever happened to the now thoroughly distorted stranger happened to him.
“W̴̧̡͉̘̦̬̮̹̖̏̂̿̓̃̌͊̑̚e̴̥̺͋ ̸̛̱͖̝͖̱̬̍̋̉̎̿̓̎̃o̵̢̳̳̘̠̞̝̹͂̒̆f̵̥̙͈̰̻̙̆̀͆͗̓́͗͊̈́͝ ̸̲̂͌̐̐̌̆̾t̶̬͔̰͚͉̅̌̒͆h̴̞͕͈̪͔̣͑ȇ̵̡̳̟̄͛͐̓͛͐̄̚̚ ̴͍̣̺͋̏̇̒͘A̵̱̭̩̳͎͎͉͜͝m̵͙͚̖͙͚̘̝̳̖̾͂̓̐̈́b̵̳̲̣̬͓͍̎͋̈́͋̆̅͘͝ę̵̡̲̼̱͈̥̰̅̐́̇ͅŗ̵̮̜̺̩̙͔͇̱́̈͗͘͜ ̴̦̟͕̄͋͂̀̽͝͝w̶̖̌̾͊̎̌̎̂͆͋͝ȩ̵̞͚̘̀̽̋͝l̴̜̰̭̑̃̀́̇̉͘c̶̛͕̖͇̗̼̥̑͋̎̾͑͆̏̍ọ̶̘̰͔̙̗̩͖̣̬̽͂͗̌̽͠m̸̯̺̞̯͝ę̶̖̙̦̯̤͙̰̍͛͜ ̷̺̪͚̫͛̈́͐͒̅̏͘͝y̴̢̧̨̪̦̳͔̺͕̏͊̽̑̅̚o̸̥͓̰̼̹̿͗͛́̑̅̾̓͆͊ǘ̸̘̳͚̗͒̽,̷̧̙̭̳̘̯̟̱̫͕̋͘ ̶̛̦̭̭͖͈̪͌͊͝t̴̡̨̹͙̘̱͉̦̍͋̔͋̀͋o̵̞̹̔̉̌͆͋ǵ̸̛̯͉̂̂̃̈̀̒͂̍ě̴̬̟̼̩̙̩̲͊̔̐̋͗t̷̢͙͈͙̥̳̝̪̰̙͐̃ḧ̴͈̱͚̰̼͍́̅̏́̄̂̆́͂̍e̶̢͇͋̂͊͠r̶̠̠̙͎̥͖̥̥̈́̈̚͠͠ ̴̞̼̲̳͕̼̹͍̯͉̅w̶̢̡̲͉͎̖̲̟͓̼̅́e̶̱̯̽̏̌̆̑̂͂̂̄͋ ̴̥̹͍͐̔w̴̡͓̭͖̞̟͙̺̍̽̋̓͠i̶̡̨̬̦̣͈͚̽͗̈̂͆͑̒̊l̸̗̺͎̈́̏̉̓͘͜ͅͅl̷̛̞͓͇̘̺̲͍̈́͒̀̎̏̾͂͘ ̷̛͇͎̯̣̫̹̫̺̻̅s̷̮͆ę̶̜̟̺̳̲̦̗̹͉͋̍̽͌̎̓̋̄͝r̷̭̍v̶̠̜̣̪̬̩̳̗͙̰͌͐̈́͒̆̉͝ẹ̷̡̨̖̭́̓́̀̆̑͗̇̕͝ ̸̢̩̣̗̤͖̀͒̔a̷͖͔̯̗̠͈̜̎̅̔̈̍̊̈͋͆ ̸͎̰̻̖̊̊͒̌͗g̶̯̭̗̥̼̠̀̆̉̂̇̋͗͝r̵̰̹̳̻͚͇͋e̶̲̒͒̅͒͂̀̊̔͠͝ā̵̲͖̻̱̦͙̺̦̬̈́͊̈́̇͑́ͅť̷̗̰͇̘̙̠͐̔͆̏e̸̢̥̅̀̽̑͑̓̆̓̎͝ṟ̴͉̗͇̥̌͐̈́̈́̂̉͐̽͂ ̸̡͔̠͇̥͕̖̼̘̦͗̇̅̓̈́̀̐͗̀̕p̶̛̠̪̎͂͊̀u̵͕͙̯̾͂̋̎ȑ̴̡̨̢̞̙͖̌̑̉͗̈͠p̸̨̠̬̙̖̫͊̚͘o̶̠̥̭̟̮̫͛͑̌ş̷̡̠̣͚͚̩͚̟̋̓̉̑̂͘̕ȩ̶͕̪͍͇͚̟̄̎̄͆̈́̓̿͝ ̴̖̥̠̼͒̑̃ẗ̷͚̻͈̹́̉̏̎͌͑̈̋͑̕ẖ̴̡̛̥̱̀̓̇̍̍͝ã̶̛̭̟͉̿̊̂͑̎n̵͔̖̭̒̍ ̷̙̌w̶̫̫̝̬̼̘̳͊ě̵̟̲̺̥̠̘͆̓̓̚ ̷̢̲̘̇̌c̷̹͔̈͆o̸̧̹̣̪̭͌̊͒̋̎̃́͐̐ͅu̷͕̭̾͒ḷ̴̨̜̫̰̤͚͎̓̀̅̎̚͜ḏ̵̛̎̊̄̕͠ ̵̡̦͍̞̟͇̬̠̞̺̀̀̓ă̵̘͓͚̠̽̈́̔͗l̸̛̤͍̓̃͜o̵͕͎͍̫̘͉̠̗͐͗̈̈́̄̐͒̐͋̕ͅn̷͖̲̭̊̔e̸̗̩͚̲̗̾̉̔̈́̚͠.̶̧̘̼̠̗̖̝̤͎͒̅̍̆̃̓͂ ̶̧͍͚̣̰͚͙̻̲̬͐̀͒͝”
He brushed a finger against golden light and the world froze. Then he vanished, swallowed into an endless abyss of radiance.