Sora was sleeping on the ground. The hardness of it wasn’t comfortable. His body was stiff, and his hand rested on his forehead, as if he had felt some kind of pain.

The wind had picked up, and a sudden gust had lifted his brown hair, making it swirl with force. Particles lifted by the storm were swirling in the air in a chaotic dance. Sora didn’t move, immersed in a deep sleep.

Then, the wind turned into a cold breeze, running through his whole body, giving him shivers that spread through all his limbs. He instinctively curled up, seeking protection from the cold and biting air. The sensation was so unpleasant that it pulled him out of his sleep. He opened his eyes in surprise, trying to understand what had just happened.

“...!? Where am I?” he said, removing his hand from his forehead and sitting on the ground.

Sora blinked several times, trying to focus his vision. He felt like he was enveloped in a thick fog that wouldn’t dissipate. He raised his hand and passed it in front of his eyes, as if to chase away the last remnants of sleep.

“Thank God, it was just a nightmare after all,” he thought, laughing slightly.

All his senses were focused on the ground, which seemed sandy. His hands and legs were slightly buried in it.

“That’s strange... I feel like the texture of my bed has changed.”

He slowly raised his head to observe his surroundings. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his heart started beating faster and faster. He was lying on red sand that stretched as far as the eye could see to the horizon. In front of him stood a majestic chain of mountains, whose peaks were covered with eternal snow.

Suddenly, Sora thought he was losing his mind. He thought he saw two giant human skeletons in the distance behind the mountains, dressed in Viking armor, fighting with incredible fury. One held a gleaming sword, while the other brandished a massive axe. The sight was both fascinating and frightening. Sora couldn’t take his eyes off this strange and horrific scene.

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Unable to resist, Sora looked up to examine the sky above him. Suddenly, he was seized by an indescribable terror. Before him, reddish clouds seemed to have assembled to form an enormous human face that stretched across the entire sky. The size of the face was so immense that it gave the impression of extending into infinity.

Sora felt fear rising within him as he gazed upon the despairing expression that was etched onto the face. He had the impression that the face belonged to someone who was being tortured in hell. The mouth of the face was wide open, as if screaming desperately for something. But there were no eyes on the face, only large gaping holes that seemed to scrutinize Sora’s soul and plunge it into the abyss of terror.

Sora felt his breathing accelerate as he realized the gravity of his situation. He was trapped in a dark and frightening reality where he felt powerless. Without thinking, he began to run, desperately trying to escape from this terrifying reality. His legs carried him in the opposite direction of the mountains, his feet hitting the soft sandy ground.

But the more he ran, the more he felt like something was chasing him, a sinister presence that was getting closer and closer. He glanced over his shoulder, his heart pounding, but it seemed like the face above him was getting closer and closer, as if it wanted his soul. Fear gave him wings, and he ran even faster.

Suddenly, he collided with something. The collision was so sudden that he ended up completely sprawled on the ground. It took him two long minutes to regain his composure. That’s when he got up to look at what he had bumped into. It was a grayish tree. The tree looked dead, indeed, its branches had no leaves, and it seemed totally dry.

However, he quickly noticed that not far from it stood a small house. It seemed to him to be a medieval house. Indeed, it was built of stone, with a steeply sloping roof covered in tiles or thatch. It had only one small wooden lattice window and a massive wooden door reinforced with metal. He seemed to smell a delicious smell of bread emanating from the fireplace.

He quickly headed towards the entrance of the house to take refuge inside. However, before entering, he stopped in his tracks as he noticed a sign above the door that said:

“Turn back if you don’t want to die.”