Dramar was a fantasy realm known for its bountiful fields of green. Lush flora spread across a vast terrain of endless blooming fields. Tall hills and thick forests filled the breathtaking landscape that covered the horizon, all overseen by a vivid, vibrant blue sky void of any drifting clouds.

Dramar also teemed with life… home to species of many kinds. Many of which devoted their faith to the Deity that faithfully, dutifully guarded their realm. The Goddess Of Nature, Nilfa.

Nilfa was currently sipping on a peculiar-looking substance inside of an even more peculiar-looking goody-bag. Nilfa found she quite liked the taste. The strong spicy aftertaste. Suppose it wouldn’t hurt to indulge in a few more sips, or perhaps some gulps. It was a festival after all. The Ballroom wouldn’t miss what it hadn’t noticed. The drink was hers.

Nilfa hiccuped.

Dramar was on fire.

And in it’s crumbling, leveled mountaintops, in it’s scorched, flaming forests, in a field of withering grass and collapsing branches, Leo awoke once more with a start, gulping mouthfuls of ash and smoke as he did, resulting in him expelling it all out with a violent coughing fit.

His lungs burned, his eyes were watering and the pores of his skin screamed with searing agony over the blazing heat intensifying with every waking moment.

Stumbling, heaving, and blinded by the dense crimson miasma of forest fire - Leo staggered his way across the burning fields, desperately in search of respite of any kind.

What was going on?

Where was he?

Where was Christa?

He remembered dying. That was all his mind could focus on. The cold, empty embrace of death. In the air was smoke and it was suffocating him.

Suffocation. Leo remembered that too.

The blaze of the flames were as red as her eyes. Surrounding him were fallen timbers smoldering in a blinding light. No escape, just like the iron grip of her hand on his throat.

Fear and panic were swelling within him. His life flashing before him with every blink of his eyes - memories reeling from depths long forgotten.

Just a kid, toys on the living room floor. His parents’ watching, smiling.

Just a kid with eyes ever curious. The relentless banging on the front door would upset his father.

Just a kid, in the closet he hid, his mother hugging him close. Beyond the rotted thin walls, his father pleaded and begged. More time, he said.

“Fire!” screamed the neighbor on opposite ends. ‘Save him!” shouted his parents amid the raging flames.

Just a kid, wrapped in the warmth of a fireman’s coat. Just a kid with eyes ever tearful. Out the door, “Anytime…” he whispered. They would never emerge.

Leo felt the taste of fire burn the back of his throat, another wheezing frenzy. He was running out of time. So frantic, he struggled through the dense fog, searching the forest for a route to safety.

Then just as all hoped appeared lost, he heard it. In the midst of scorching chaos, a torrent of running water sounded above it, and he was nearing its vicinity with every stumble, every scramble through upturned roots, falling trees, and stampeding beasts.

The glitter of water caught his eye and without a second’s hesitation, he dove in the stream, letting its raging current drift him along its course to god-knows-where.

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He resurfaced, breathing deep, struggling to keep himself afloat and steady in the rushing tide. Glasses lost in all the commotion, he couldn’t make heads or tails about anything and could only rely on literal blind faith that he would wound up just fine.

The cascade of water was getting louder, fronting him, the view was getting wider. Straining his eyes, Leo couldn’t see where the stream led… the distance appeared to cut away as if abruptly cutting off for no apparent reason.

Water continued rushing… he could see it falling, steaming downwards into nothingness.

Leo gulped.

Waterfall.

“Not good.”

Desperation took total control of his senses, frantically, he began kicking and pushing himself back upstream, all to no avail.

The current’s might forced back his struggle, closer and closer, teetering over a sheer drop. He reached out grasping air, searching for a hold - a stray twig - he gripped tight - his hand soaked, slippery, it slipped - a jagged piece of wood splintered, snapping off and gashed at his open palm. A sharp searing pain and blood gushed out the slice in his hand, floating to the water’s surface in a small sea of red.

The last bit of sensation before he was sent over the edge. He closed his eyes, he gritted his teeth.

There was falling, a rush wind whistling past his face. It felt both like an eternity and a second before he was plunged back to the icy cold water, a loud splash muffled instantly as he shot to the river’s depth.

Pain immediately surged his senses as his knees bashed against a loose slab of rock underwater. The throbbing pang in his legs impeded him of movement. The swelling in his lungs demanded breath, but the pain was just too great.

Tears in his eyes and energy all but spent, Leo impelled himself upwards, bursting through the river’s surface like a dolphin taking flight. Everything, every limb, every pore, every atom in his body languishing in pain.

His eyes stinging, his hand searing, his knees aching, but still he drew a breath. He wasn’t dead.

It seemed the waterfall was the worst of it, the river’s violent tide had subsided to a gentle flow, the forest fire had still not reached this section as of the current moment. The vibrant green of grass and trees met his blurry eyes and for a moment, all seemed calm.

“Just what the hell is happening to me?” was all that he could muster after all that had transpired.

Leo looked to the heavens. The smoke was thinning. He could see the cloudless sky, a vast ocean blue where the sun shone on him. The yellow sun… suns… two suns…

He squinted, he was sure it was just adrenaline messing with his mind. How could there be two suns? But no matter how much he rubbed his eyes or angled himself a better view, there was simply no removing that duplicate from blighting the sky.

Realization dawned on him like the suns shining bright. The countryside was his assumption. Awakening in a field of grass… he thought he was probably somewhere in the outskirts of the city.

As it turns out, this place was no countryside… hell, it wasn’t even Earth.

“Heaven?” He questioned out loud.

But it couldn’t be, Heaven wouldn’t be on fire in the first place, and he was pretty sure pain is a non-concept in the land of Nirvana. Unless this was actually Hell, yet why would Hell bother itself with such lush scenery? Where were all the brimstone and eternal damnation?

“Christa…” The name funneled out of him like the answer to a difficult riddle.

It happened before, didn’t it? From dying to an alleyway to awakening in his childhood home. He just woke up again… somewhere else, somewhere diffrent.

He needed to find Christa. Christa would know… everything he was presented with so far was the very epitome of abnormal. Christa was also abnormal, she should have answers. She must have answers… and she’ll answer to him, she has too.

Leo felt his feet touch the depths as the river gradually shallowed to a wide-open lake. Wincing, he limped his way to the edge of the lake, deciding it best to continue his trek on foot.

Trek to where... he didn’t know exactly. All that resounded in his mind was the urgent need to get to safety so that he may tend to his injuries. Neck-deep in freshwater, he pushed through despite the aching, breathing rhythmically to sate his composure.

One step nearly losing balance, a second step regaining it - then a third, that was when pain flooded his senses in an instant outburst of a crushing sensation at his leg, sending him screaming in utter agony.

Something had hold of his leg, something sharp and piercing, rending through his flesh like a row of canines clamping onto prey. Water was murky, Leo couldn’t see, but he knew he was bitten by something large.

An alligator… sharks maybe, was the lake infested?

His fate was sealed, he struggled to pry loose but it only sunk deeper into his leg, puncture wounds gushing blood, water rippling violently as he did all he could to avert the inevitable.

Dying… torn to pieces by some kind of carnivorous beast… he tried desperately not to think of it. But he couldn’t, not when death was staring closely at him in the face.

For the third time in such a short time, Leo was going to die.