In a moment of panic, Astel jumped out of the way, pushing his still-damaged legs with all his strength. Luckily, he managed to dodge the initial impact by just a few hairs. Unfortunately for him, the shockwave it created sent him flying deep into the forest. The wind was relentless — a gale that wouldn't have a problem toppling a few trees. Somehow, he didn't hit a single one, even in such a dense forest. He was eventually stopped by a soft, green bush near the edge of a gaping ravine.
The impact wasn't too severe, so he managed to stay awake the entire time. His head was spinning.
Soon after the dust settled, he could make out the place where he had stood just moments ago — flattened, turned to a small patch of deep brown dirt. The area was now well-lit, the trees that had shaded that part of the forest no longer standing. A large body with one wing lay at the edge of the clearing, towering over most of the remaining trees.
He took short, hurried breaths, staring at the destruction with a frown on his shocked face. He was both amazed at the size of the sky beasts the centipede had effortlessly reached and killed, and terrified that he had chosen it as an opponent. His head turned toward the fight. He gazed at the distant centipede lowering its towering body after finishing its hunt. His thoughts were a little fuzzy.
Soon, his eyes started absentmindedly drifting. A thought came to his mind, shocking him awake from his daze.
'Felix.'
Still lying in the soft bush, he turned and twisted his body, searching for his feathered companion.
'Did he make it?' he thought, bringing his long nails to his mouth and biting at them. 'Fuck, I won't know unless I get up.'
He tried his best to push himself off the bush, but his hands just fell deeper through it. He didn't have anywhere solid to grab. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he also noticed the searing pain from his legs that, before now, had been slowly fading.
His head hung back freely as he took a deep breath, staring at the pure white clouds, his eyes filled with longing.
Then he noticed something above him. A black dot was doing circles high in the sky. No, there were two dots. Now three. The closer he looked, the more he saw, eventually amounting to seven black dots.
'What is that?'
One by one the dots grew larger, until their shape could be recognized. They weren't dots. It was the same winged beast that the centipede had almost crushed him with just moments ago. They had found their prey.
Suddenly, a thought popped into Astel's mind — one he desperately hoped wasn't true. He shook; a drop of sweat ran down his forehead.
The ground suddenly trembled, and it continued doing so, like a constant hum. Deep in the ravine behind him, hundreds of tiny legs were clicking against the stone walls.
He had to go.
He started twisting and turning his body, mostly at random, attempting to free himself from the green prison. The twigs were thin and thus broke quite easily, allowing him to eventually roll out of the bush and onto the soft grass.
Out of morbid curiosity, he crawled toward the edge of the ravine and looked down. He expected a deep, dark hole with walls lined in grey stone. But to his surprise, he saw an entirely different ecosystem. The ravine was relatively well-lit with glowing vines and colorful budding flowers. He saw plants that he never knew existed — their leaves had intricate shapes. Some had sharp-looking edges, while others twisted high into the sky. Some had large budding flowers, others looked like they had tiny fruits growing all over them.
'Fruits?'
He remembered the berries that Felix always brought him.
'So that's where they come from.'
He suddenly felt a lot more respect for his small companion — for not only invading a king's territory, but stealing from it.
His sightseeing was short-lived.
In the corner of his eye, he noticed the large mandibles of the very creature he wished to hunt. Its large body soon filled his entire vision as the centipede surged out of the ravine, its body shooting toward the sky. Astel was almost thrown back by the wind formed from just the movement of its massive body.
From this close, he could properly see its beautiful chitin. Like armor, it covered most of its body, leaving no room to attack it and cause actual harm. As Astel stared at it and its still-rising, never-ending body, he started to realize that what he wished to do might've been a bit too ambitious.
Due to his shock and the speed at which everything happened, he barely even noticed the voices screaming inside his mind. He also only just realized why he hadn't moved or run away. He simply couldn't. The pressure was so great that he could barely manage to think, to stay awake, much less move.
'Is this finally the end?'
He thought back to all the times he had almost died fighting opponents much stronger than him.
'In the end, it all came down to luck. I'd have already been dead a long time ago if it hadn't been for the notions I received.'
He sighed, realizing that not once had he won due to his own ability and strength — that if he'd never gotten lucky on that day in the desert, he wouldn't be here now. It became obvious to him why there had never been a case of someone returning from the Land Within, and why it had always been just a theory.
'It's just too cruel.'
Tears formed in his eyes. He thought back to Sev and the caravan, and how much they'd helped him, even if it wasn't the current him.
'I wish I could've at least seen the sanctuary he had built.'
At the end of his life, even his anger and frustration toward Sev seemed insignificant. So what if he used him, so what if he never saw him as a true friend, so what if he tried to have him killed — it didn't matter now.
He closed his eyes, waiting for the centipede to crush his paralyzed body.
'Hopefully, it will be a quick end.'
After a long pause, he lamented, 'It was a good life.'
Images of Lyra flashed across his mind, accompanied by those of his sister. He gritted his teeth, tears streaming down his face as he cried out, "I don't want to die!"
He heard a loud bang as the wind from the impact tugged at his long hair.
Did the universe finally listen to him? Was his life not over?
He opened his eyes, looking up at the sky. The towering body of the centipede was falling over, the shadow that had covered Astel parting, letting him bathe in the golden glow of the rising sun. The seven dots in the sky dispersed as if leaving the stage for something greater.
Meanwhile, a voice — clearer than all the others — appeared in his mind.
'-stel.'
A short pause.
It spoke again, this time even clearer.
'Astel!'
At that moment the tears stopped flowing, and a smile began to form on Astel's face — not one of happiness, but of relief.
"Felix!" he exclaimed, his voice unsteady.
'I brought some help,' Felix hurriedly said, huffing and out of breath, as he landed beside Astel.
'Help?' Astel thought, confused.
Felix pointed at the sky with his head.
There, Astel saw something he truly didn't expect. The familiar jaws that had held his body not long ago. The head that looked like a hippo's. The basilisk mother was actively fighting off the massive centipede — its body magnitudes smaller, yet somehow keeping up.
"How did— Why? When?"
Felix took a deep breath, puffing out his chest.
'Let's just say that sometimes, a little lie can go a long way.'
Astel laughed, wiping the tears from his face.
"Is that what your friend taught you?"