'What's going on? I can't breathe. Am I underwater? I can't feel anything, it's like I'm just drowning further and further... At least there is some light. Even if it's just a dim star, I know for sure there is hope as long as there is even a tiny bit of light left for me... Who am I kidding? It won't last.' Schörl was slowly descending away from the light.
He blinked, and in that fraction of a second it took, he was standing in a temple— or more like a church of sorts.
As he moved, it felt as though he was still underwater. He couldn't sense color—it was just black and gray. As he kept walking, his sense of touch slowly disappeared with every step.
There was an altar. It felt like his body was unconsciously walking toward it, and as he got closer, the air— or water— felt colder and colder. 'Why am I trying to reach there? What am I doing? Why do I feel like this? Why is this happening? Why doesn't feel real?' Those questions were on his mind as he reached the altar and got onto it.
As he started to lie on the altar, he could hear a cold voice. 'The new follower of Tuoni shall prevail. As the guard of Tuonela, the other side will fall to Tuospuoleiseen.'
***
Schörl blinked and found himself in the middle of a dead forest. It was like a desert— just dead trees and a road that seemed to have no end. He stood there, confused about what was happening, until he saw a woman riding a horse. As she got closer, it started to snow.
As she got closer and closer, it became clear that it wasn't a woman riding the horse— it was a seemingly dead corpse, just a skeleton with beautiful hair. The horse she was riding reminded him more of a ghoul, with its rotten skin falling off its bones.
Schörl then heard something, it felt as though it came from the back of his head. He heard the name "Goddess Surma."
Out of nowhere, a war erupted around him. Men were killing each other, and the Goddess went around splitting their souls with an axe after they had fallen. As Schörl stood there, every soldier suddenly froze in time after he had experienced around 10 minutes of warfare.
He saw a man with color. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a sword with a golden hilt worthy for a hero. He wore golden and silver armor, with a blue cape on his back. Schörl could feel his presence of confidence shine through the chaos of everything that was happening.
The man raised his longsword towards Goddess Surma. Surma dismounted from her horse, which then disappeared into thin air.
***
Surma's weapon transformed from an axe into a longsword, like the Hero's. "I shall be the one to take care of this and finally slay the slayer, Surma." As the Hero said that, his weapon, covered in holy magic meant to dispel demons and the undead, gleamed with power.
Surma launched the first attack, and the hero parried it with ease. Then, the hero prepared for a counterattack, but Surma had already created a fireball made of the same black flames that had once saved Schörl.
She fired it toward the hero, but somehow, he dodged and slashed Surma's skull by appearing behind her, making her scream.
Surma then had her sword covered in the black flame, and she started to move faster than the eye could see. After a few slashes, she finally hit the hero and slashed his left arm off. The hero screamed in agony and attacked with a full-force thrust against Surma's ribs.
Surma grabbed the Hero's sword and broke it, then she cut off the Hero's head. The flow of time returned, and everyone on the battlefield fell. Surma slowly distinguished every soul until suddenly— she saw Schörl and stared at him.
She started to slowly walk toward him, and he could feel his heart pounding faster and faster as she got closer and closer.
Schörl then felt someone's cold touch grab his shoulders as a voice claimed, "I'm sorry, Surma, but this boy... he is mine. Don't dare come closer, or you will be the one sent to Tuospuoleinen."
It seemed as if Surma was scared of what was behind Schörl. She began to slowly walk away, trying not to make a sound, while trembling from what she was looking at.
She vanished into the darkness of the endless road, and Schörl blinked again.
He was drowning again, falling further and further into the depths, but now the light of the star seemed brighter. He felt a little warm and— safe.
Schörl then woke up in his bed, feeling both energized and traumatized by what he had seen.