Zef gasped for air, a pool of blood gathered under him, coating the yellow road. His breathing fast, his heart rate beating rapidly to keep him alive. His thoughts were slow due to the blood loss. He was just about to pass out when he saw a figure at the corner of his eye. A person descended from the gloomy sky; he strained his eyes to inspect that person expecting to see death.

The figure turned out to be a woman; he always thought death was a man. She was wearing a beautiful blue gown and had a shawl wrapped around her head. Her white shawl had patterns of birds and flowers with a golden hue, which displayed quite nicely against her honey complexion. She floated towards him, and Zef's breath quickened. He recognized her; it was his mother.

As she drifted closer, her hazel eyes bore on him. Suddenly the air surrounding her turned fiery, and wisps of fire engulfed her, generating tendrils of smoke and ash, which followed her like a jet trail. He could almost feel the heat against his stiff body. Her pristine dress slowly became shorn and shredded until some of her skin showed with burn marks on it. Zef wanted to say something, but the guilt consumed him, and he kept quiet.

He tried to look away, but his head would not move. She stared back coldly. The ends of her hair had tiny flames like ones you see on a candle. In addition, half her face had second and third-degree burns. Her jaw was broken and bloodied, yet she smiled regardless.

Zef whimpered," I didn't mean it; I swear it was a mistake."

She responded in a raspy, choked voice, "All will be well, my heart. We'll be together soon. Rest a little, and it won't be long, you'll soon meet the rest of the family. They have missed you dearly".

She lifted her hand and was about touch his face." All you have to do is just sleep...my little lion, hmmm", she said through bloodied teeth.

"NOOOOOO!!", Zef screamed.

Zef coughed, tasted salt which pricked his gums, and blinked his tears away. He was still lying on the road, still at death's door. The scene of his burned mother no longer there.

I need to live!!

His brain was no longer lethargic. His tired body suddenly spiked with adrenaline and handed him more units of energy to use even at the brink of death. A risky idea manifested in his head. Grasping it, he unraveled what was in.

A Red, blue and green vial, each vial represents something for the user to drink.

He remembered the games he played as a child before the war, before the death of his family. Red meant life, blue for magic, and green for poison or stamina.

Or was it the other way around, green for health and red for poison? No!! Red is universal for potions and blue for magic. Green, I'm not so sure.

With that decision, he crawled with whatever strength towards the belt, leaving a trail of blood. Thankfully the belt wasn't far from his position. The vials weren't broken, and his shivering hand, caked with blood, uncorked the first red potion and gulped it down, followed by the second red vial.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

He hoped he drank enough health potions. The fact that they smelled like medicine and were similar to his gaming memories could save his life.

Minutes went by, and he finally felt his health improving, his heartbeat and breathing stronger, and his leg, face, and shoulder itched, so he drank the last red vial and laid there.

His alertness left him, and he closed his eyes; not surprisingly, sleep reeled him, and Zef dreamt.

He dreamed that he was descending in a deep, dark blue sea. The water was hot and felt quite pleasant.

He descended for what felt an age, but it was only minutes till he reached the bottom of the ocean. His body hit the floor with a faint thump, and it seemed he would stay there motionless for all of eternity.

“Come on, boy; you’ve slept enough. It’s time to work”, said an old man.

Zef heard the voice but ignored it.

The old man chuckled, “Ohh, we've got a slow one eh, guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”

Zef's eyes twitched as the water seemed to cool with every second. Pressure descended on his body like he was being pressed from all sides. The pressure kept increasing as he struggled to breathe, opening his eyes in shock.

He blinked several times only to see darkness. Suddenly both the temperature and pressure returned to their original appeal.

“Good, you're awake,” stated the old man.”Why don’t you swim up here, and we can discuss your options.”

Options! What options and where am I? Wait, why am I breathing underwater? Where are you?

His mind recalled the fighting, the pain, killing the misty creature, his burning mother, and drinking those red vials before passing out.

“Up here, kiddo!” stated the old man.

He looked up and saw a light shimmering in the distance. He felt he had no choice and swam upwards, kicking his feet off the seafloor, following the light until he reached the surface, then breathed in the clean, fresh sea air. Thy sky was dark, no stars, no moon, nothing but endless darkness. It unnerved him had it not been the sound and feel of the calm waves which pushed towards a small beacon of light.

He swam in that direction with the support of the gentle sea waves. Finally, he reached the shore of a beach which was also in complete darkness except for the cracking of wood and light of a campfire. He walked out still naked and walked cautiously ever so close until he heard the old man say, “Please sit.”

Zef just understood that the voice was in his head, and that quite frankly frightened him.

“Where are you, old man?” replied Zef in a startled voice as he touched the ground with his fingers and could feel the texture of the sand, proof that this was real.

As he was feeling the sand, he didn't notice the descent of a knife that appeared right above his head and touched his antennas. Once he looked up and saw the blade, he jumped back, claws drawn.

The old man laughed, "Stay your hand, boy, or should I say your claws. We have much to discuss and no time to doddle. I don’t have much time either."

"Who are you, cursed blade," whispered Zef.

"Hahaha, good one, cursed blade hmmm. I am the nexus blade boy, and the reason why you’ve got yourself a new body, well, it's the same, just better. Before you blame me for your current dilemma, remember that you held me and gave me your blood. It was also you who saved the Mantis and gave it a good respite."

Zef’s forced his mouth open to say something; then, he closed it again. He tried to fathom this situation. The fact that the blade was floating right on top of him, lecturing him inside his brain, meant he was in a whole lot of trouble.