After an unknown number of deaths...
He finally—finally—managed to find solid pause. He had obtained a single heartbeat of life. His soul had flared with Aether, and it formed the shape of a second.
'I can see.'
Those words weren't even thoughts.
They were realizations. Instinctual ones.
His right eye had fluttered open.
It hadn't popped.
Only the left... only that eye was gone.
Good. That was good. That was progress.
Sure, everything else was still wrecked.
His ears rang like broken bells. His throat felt like it had been scraped by blades. But the pain—the red, splitting, mind-shattering pain—was delayed.
His path was right.
Good.
Blink.
Or maybe not.
His Aether slipped.
His sight went red, and the cycle returned.
Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death. Painful, red, death.
