When everything was finally starting to get better... why now?
No.
I can't die.
I don't want to.
The boy tried to move, unable to understand what was happening.
His legs wouldn't respond.
Sound reached him muffled, distant, as if he were underwater.
Each breath was shorter.
Weaker.
He tried to call for help, but the words broke apart before they could leave his mouth.
"Mary... I'm sorry..."
I can't...
It hurts...
Why now...?
A metallic taste filled his mouth.
Blood slowly ran down his lips and fell onto the rubble, mixing with older stains.
He couldn't move his neck.
All he could do was watch the puddle spread.
The warmth in his back was beginning to fade.
It wasn't relief.
It was his body shutting down.
The noise of the world became a distant murmur.
He wanted to think of something.
Of someone.
But his thoughts fell apart before they could be completed.
Darkness began to close in from the edges of his vision.
And then...
everything ended.
Minutes later, he felt grass beneath his body.
The pain was gone.
That unbearable weight was no longer there.
He felt cold.
Did the rescue team finally arrive...?
He slowly opened his eyes.
And froze.
He was lying on grass.
But there was no sky.
Gigantic trees rose around him, so tall that their crowns disappeared into the darkness.
"No..."
He tried to sit up.
"Where am I...?"
His balance felt strange immediately.
Wrong.
His eyes scanned the area, searching for something familiar.
Rubble.
Streets.
Anything.
But there was nothing.
Only trees.
Bushes.
Grass.
And everything was far too large.
"Why...?"
He stumbled backward.
His heart began to race.
This isn't funny...
Where is my family?
My neighborhood...
Mary...
He grabbed his head tightly.
"This isn't right..."
He tried to stand.
His legs trembled.
He fell.
He tried again.
And then he noticed.
He was naked.
The cold struck his skin even harder.
He got up once more, this time more slowly, forcing himself to keep his balance.
Every movement felt strange.
Heavy.
Foreign.
He walked toward a nearby bush.
Its leaves were enormous.
He had barely taken a few steps when he fell forward again.
"Ouch!"
He clenched his teeth.
Took a deep breath.
And got back up.
Slower.
More careful.
When he finally reached the bush, he tore off a leaf.
He froze.
It was larger than his hand.
He stared at it for several seconds.
Opened and closed his fingers.
It wasn't an illusion.
A chill ran down his spine.
"It doesn't make sense..."
He slowly let go of the leaf.
Then he noticed.
The forest was too quiet.
It wasn't peaceful.
It was absence.
As if something had forced the entire place to remain still.
His instincts tightened.
That made his breathing change.
The logical thing would be to wait for help.
But this place...
wasn't normal.
Besides...
this isn't my body.
A sound broke the silence.
Close.
His body reacted before his mind.
He turned immediately.
And the color drained from his face.
A creature stood before him.
It looked like a deer.
Except it didn't resemble any deer he had ever seen before.
It was enormous.
Its antlers were thick and misshapen, more like twisted roots than horns.
Its muscles stood out beneath its skin with unnatural tension.
And its eyes...
red.
There was no curiosity in them.
Only hunger.
Each breath the animal took was heavy.
Hostile.
That wasn't an animal.
It was a predator.
And it was looking at him.
Run.
His body reacted on its own.
He bolted between the trees, but the uneven ground made him fall almost immediately.
The impact knocked the air out of him.
He crawled for a second.
Then got back up.
Behind him, the forest creaked.
He didn't need to look back.
He could hear it.
Every footstep was heavy.
Steady.
Far too close.
Panic began to fill his chest as he forced his body to keep moving.
"This can't be happening..."
He turned sharply.
The forest opened up before him.
A river.
The water was crystal clear.
Too crystal clear.
Gigantic shadows moved beneath the surface.
They weren't fish.
He immediately discarded the idea of jumping in.
He turned and ran uphill.
His legs burned.
Air no longer entered his lungs properly.
The animal accelerated.
The boy pushed through the undergrowth, trying to lose it among the trees.
Then his footing failed.
His ankle twisted.
The ground gave way beneath him.
He didn't fall.
The earth dragged him.
He rolled downhill through rocks and damp soil.
The descent ended abruptly.
His body slammed into a rock.
The air left his lungs.
He tried to move.
He couldn't.
Above him, something stopped.
The forest fell silent again.
The creature slowly descended.
Without hurry.
It approached.
Opened its mouth.
Too many teeth.
There was no escape anymore.
Then—
The ground roared.
A mass of iron pierced the animal from below.
Its entrails burst outward.
Blood fell onto the earth in thick drops.
The body trembled once.
And became still.
The silence returned.
The boy couldn't look away.
He heard voices approaching.
He couldn't understand the language.
Two figures emerged from among the trees.
A tall man with silver eyes and reddish hair.
And beside him, a girl with bright red hair and eyes that looked like fragments of crystal.
"H-help..."
His eyelids gave out.
And darkness claimed him once more.