He didn't know how long he had been walking. Minutes, hours, maybe days. The ground blurred beneath his feet, shifting like a dream, while the sky stayed the same, a vast pale sheet with no end. Still, he kept moving, step after step, driven by something inside him. Maybe it was madness. Maybe just a quiet, burning will that refused to let him stop.
Time stretched and warped, slipping through his fingers like water.
Suddenly, the compass in his hand began to tremble, its needle spinning wildly as if it sensed something. He halted, his gaze darting around the desolate landscape.
In the far distance, so far that it felt like a figment of his imagination, a violet glow beckoned, soft and radiant. From where he stood, it appeared merely as a speck.
He took a hesitant step toward it, a flicker of hope igniting in his chest, casting a light in the darkness of despair. His eyes brightened.
He walked.
But the dot remained stubbornly distant, refusing to yield. It felt as though the very essence of space conspired to keep him at bay. Yet still, he moved, propelled not by thought but by an aching need, a primal instinct urging him to reach beyond the shadows that enveloped him.
He walked.
He forgot the days, perhaps weeks, that had dragged on, but slowly the violet glow grew, expanding from a distant whisper into a tangible promise. Closer now. He quickened his pace.
As he drew closer, the air around him shifted, thickening with each step. In the distance, an unsettling darkness began to rise, looming just beyond the violet glow. It pulsed slowly and deliberately, a black orb suspended in the air, flickering with a strange energy that warped the fabric of reality.
The demon orb.
Its presence was a sickness, infecting the air with dread. The ground beneath it quaked, as if shying away from its malignant touch.
As he closed in, a familiar thrum resonated in his chest, echoing the orb's sinister pulsation. A rhythm he recognized all too well.
His heartbeat.
Every part of him screamed to run. But he knew he had no choice. So he kept walking, step by reluctant step, toward it.
As he moved closer, the orb grew, transforming from a mere dot to a looming presence swelling at the edge of his vision. Grotesque and unyielding. The air thickened with every step. The ground beneath his boots hardened, cracks forming in the earth as if the world itself were straining to hold him back.
Then he saw it.
A barrier surrounded the orb-vast and violet, shifting like oil on glass. Runes flickered in and out of existence, impossible to read, disappearing the moment his gaze landed on them. It hummed with ancient, malign power.
"A prison... or maybe a warning," he thought.
He stopped at its edge. The orb pulsed slowly, deliberately, echoing the same rhythm as his own heart.
But he didn't hesitate.
His fingers found the hilt slung across his back, drawing the blade free. The blade was worn and weathered, as though it had seen far too many battles.
Just one more battle, he thought, raising the sword high before bringing it down.
"Clangg.."
Steel met magic, and a screech ripped through the air, unnatural and sharp. The impact jolted his arms, nearly wrenching the sword from his grip.
"Arghh"
He grunted, steadying himself before striking again.
"Clanngg.."
"Clangg...."
The clangs echoed around him. The barrier shimmered but held firm, and sparks danced in the air like dying fireflies.
"Break," he muttered, jaw tight as he swung again.
Harder this time.
Just another clang.
Still, the barrier did not yield. The sword vibrated in his hands, the edge splintering ever so slightly.
He continued.
With every swing, the tension mounted between him and the barrier.
"Clan..g"
"Clang..."
"Crack." His breath caught as he looked down. A fracture had split through the blade, not the barrier.
He strikes again and-
"Snap"
The sword snapped mid-swing, half the blade spinning off and clattering against the stone floor. He froze, staring at the jagged stump still clutched in his hand. His breath came in sharp, uneven bursts, sweat dripping from his brow.
"No..." he muttered, voice trembling. "No, no-come on..."
He shook his head, as if denial could will the blade whole again. Panic tightened in his chest.
His knuckles turned white around the ruined hilt.
That orb.
That barrier.
It stood between him and the only person who mattered: his sister.
Determined, he took the hilt and stabbed it into the barrier.
"Ahhaaaa," Screaming.
Again. And again.
"Break... aaahhaaa!"
Sparks flew as the jagged edge scraped against the surface, screaming in protest. But it was useless. The tip broke off with a snap, leaving him holding nothing but the handle.
"Hah.... haha..."
A hollow laugh escaped him. The situation is absurd.
But he didn't stop.
He refused to give up.
His eyes landed on a loose stone resting on the ground. It was about the size of his skull, rough and jagged along the edges.
He moved toward it unsteadily, each step heavy and slow. Dropping to his knees, he reached out and grasped the cold surface with trembling hands. The stone's weight pulled at his arms as he lifted it with both hands, muscles straining under the burden.
He stood, holding the stone close, and faced the barrier once more.
"Aaaahhh!"
With a raw cry that tore through the silence, he swung the stone toward the wall of light.
Clang!Clack!Thud!Clang!Clack!
Once. Twice. Over and over.
Nothing.
The stone cracked, then broke in his bleeding hands as he fell forward, catching himself on his elbows. He breathed heavily, confusion blurring his vision.
No sword. No tools. No strength.
Just him. And the wall.
Why wouldn't it break? Whyy..? The question clawed at his mind like a wild animal. It made his teeth clench. His throat burned. His chest tightened with each heavy breath.
"No," he growled under his breath. "Don't give in. Let's try again. I can break it. I will break it."
He staggered to his feet, legs shaking beneath him. Blood dripped from his arms, soaking into the floor, but he barely noticed. His eyes were locked on the wall of light.
He stepped forward until his face hovered inches away from it.
The barrier pulsed faintly, as if mocking him.
His reflection stared back at him, twisted, broken, and soaked in blood. It didn't look like a boy anymore. Just a shadow of someone barely holding on.
The glowing symbols began to shimmer across the barrier's surface. Faint runes, etched in light, flickered like embers caught in the rain. They twisted and curled, shifting across the surface as if alive.
He pressed his fists against the barrier, feeling the energy radiate from its surface, smooth as polished stone. It seemed unyielding, offering no sign of vulnerability.
Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself, bracing his legs as anticipation coursed through him. Then, with all the determination he could muster, he began to punch.
"Thud."Bone met magic.
"Thwack." His knuckles split open, blood smearing the shimmering surface.
"Thump!" "Thud!" "Crack!"
Again and again, he struck the wall of light, each hit louder, and more desperate.
Punch after punch.
His knuckles tore. Fingers snapped.
But he didn't stop.
He didn't feel it.
Again and again, his fists slammed into the barrier. It didn't matter that his hands were already raw. It didn't matter that his bones were cracking. He kept going. Punch after punch. Louder and harder.
The sounds were awful. Wet, dull thuds of flesh hitting something that refused to give. Sparks flew, not from the wall, but from his skin tearing open. From the sharp, stinging burst of nerves screaming with each strike.
His knuckles split. Blood ran down his arms. His fingers bent the wrong way. Still, he didn't stop.
All he could see was the orb inside the barrier.
All he could hear was her voice, faint and warm, tucked somewhere far in the back of his mind.
All he could feel was that this couldn't be the end.
His fists were pulp now. Useless and broken. But he kept punching until he couldn't lift them anymore.
Then his legs gave out. He stumbled back and collapsed. The cold floor met his spine as he lay there, staring up at the sky.
His chest rose and fell with short, shaking breaths.
Is this how it ends?
He didn't want to believe it. But the thought crept in anyway.
Why doesn't anything go right?
Why does the world always try to crush me?
What did I do wrong?
His eyes burned. He blinked up at the sky, fighting the tears and the pain and the weight in his chest.
Then he heard her.
"Brother, when will you be back?"
His memory answered with a voice that no longer felt like his.
"I'll be back before you know it. Don't worry."
"Sniff..., sniff..."
He remembered her sniffles. The way her little hands clung to his sleeve.
"Why are you crying?" he had asked.
"It's nothing," she said. "You know you're all I have. Please don't leave me like Mother did."
He had pulled her close and held her.
"I'm not leaving you. Never. You're my everything. But I have to go for a little while. Just for a while. Can you be strong for me?"
She nodded into his shirt.
"I'll be good. If this is about me being bad... then I'll be good now. Just don't go."
He had kissed the top of her head.
"You're already good. You're the strongest girl I know. Just hold on. I'll come back. I promise."
That promise still echoed in him.
"No," he whispered, teeth gritted.
He rolled over and began to crawl, dragging himself across the ground. Blood trailed behind him, thick and dark.
His limbs refused to move properly. Pain shot through every inch of him. His head pounded. His arms were torn open and useless. But he crawled anyway.
When he reached the barrier again, he tried to stand. There was nothing left to help him to stand. No palms or the strength.
But somehow, he got to his feet.
He looked up at the orb, breath shaking, vision blurred.
"I'm not done yet," he whispered. "I'm not leaving without it."
Then he threw his head forward.
"Thwack."
Bone against magic. His skull rang. A line of blood ran down his face.
But he did it again.
"Thwack."
Blood burst in his eyes. His knees nearly gave out. But he held on.
Again.
"Thwack."
The pain was unbearable now. But the wall hadn't moved.
His legs finally failed. He slumped against the barrier and slid to the ground, chest heaving. His face was soaked in blood. His body felt distant, heavy, almost not his own anymore.
Still, his mind burned.
With one final surge of something that wasn't strength but something deeper, he leaned forward.
And bite the barrier.
His teeth scraped against the barrier. He could feel the magic pulse against him. It burned his mouth, but he didn't care.
He bite down harder.
A faint tremble. A flicker in the glowing light.
Then a crack appeared, small and thin like a spider's web.
But it grew fast as the light broke apart and a sharp pulse ripped through the air.
And then-
The barrier shattered.
Like crystal, a thousand shards fell away, blinding in their brilliance.
Looking at the orb he didn't smile. He didn't celebrate.
He just breathed.
The world tried to resist him, but it could not bend his will.