I struggled to lift mor e weight on my already half-defeated body. Her breath, even soft, reminded me every second, every moment, that she was alive.
That truth was the only thing keeping me upright. My wounded arm screamed with every movement, a wet agony ripping up to my shoulder, but I ignored it. I tightened my grip around her.
She felt impossibly light, yet every moment I held her, the world seemed infinitely heavier. The forest stretched endlessly - a maze of roots and shadows. Every step felt like divine punishment. My legs dragged through the dirt, catching on stones, stumbling against roots that seemed to reach for my ankles. Branches snagged at my clothes, scratching skin. Still, I pressed on. I didn't dare to hesitate. Her head rested against my shoulder, golden strands barely visible in the dim light that broke through the clouded sky. Every time I feared she might exhale one last time, my body gave me that boost I so desperately needed.
Behind me, the woods held a pressing silence. The screams, the flames, the terror of the village - too far, yet too present in my mind, echoing relentlessly. But the ominous quiet of the forest wasn't gentle. It pressed in, thick and heavy with things unseen. My heart pounded so loud it felt like the world itself could hear it. Invisible eyes seemed to glare, observing every movement, every twitch of muscle, with or without my will.
"Just… a little farther!" I whispered, words meant more to encourage my broken mind than for her ears to hear.
I don't know how long I walked. Time passed without definition. My body moved on instinct, on sheer will. Pain pulsed through every fiber of myself with every step, blood damp against my side. My legs trembled, my vision wavered. But I held her tighter. Dropping her wasn't an option. Not ever.
The trees thinned, the dark canopy giving way to the open night. I stumbled into a field, with well-trodden paths made of concrete and stone, gasping as the sudden expanse opened before me. Grass swayed in the cold wind, silvered under the faint light filtering through the clouded sky. And there - beyond the fields - rose the city.
Neoshima. An impenetrable fortress, a bastion of humans. The beating heart of these lands, to us peasants only spoken of in stories or exaggerated tales. It loomed like a colossal lotus against the horizon, its walls vast metallic petals reaching for the clouds. Light glimmered faintly from within, hidden yet undeniable, like fireflies caught in steel. The city didn't feel like it belonged to the same world as my village. It seemed distant, unreachable, existing on the boundary between dream, reality, and legend.
My knees weakened at the sight. Relief, terror, exhaustion - tangled together like an unhinged braid of emotions.
The fields stretched longer than they had any right to. No matter how many times my legs struck the dirt, the city never seemed closer. I forced myself forward, one dragging foot after another. Her weight pressed like a precious rock against my shoulders. Every breath of mine was tortured.
Her warmth was faint. I lowered my ear closer to her whenever I faltered, listening for that fragile whisper of life. As long as I heard it, I moved.
The wind whipped harder. The city walls finally loomed above me, tall and unyielding, silver under the dim light. They looked less like protection and more like judgment. I wondered if they would turn us away, if life awaited inside. But I had no choice.
I staggered the last few meters, my legs moving in small, unorganized movements. My body burned. My chest was on fire and my vision blurred into streaks of silver and shadow. I was driven by one thought and one thought only: keeping her safe. I was a coward. I was weak. I couldn't even fight for my own family, let alone protect them. But I could not let go. Not of her.
My steps faltered. My head spun. The ground tilted beneath me. Every breath was a sword cutting deeper into my ribs. Her warmth against me was the only anchor to this world.
I stumbled and fell to my knees. Dirt and grass pressed into my skin, but I refused to loosen my grip. My arms tightened around her fragile body as though the night itself waited to steal her away.
Exhaustion pulled me down. Darkness crept in from the edges of my vision, devouring the colossal walls in the distance. I collapsed fully, clutching her even as consciousness fled. All I could see was darkness, surrounding me in a weirdly comfortable rest.
A pair of heavy leather boots pressed into the earth, deliberate and unyielding. Each step echoed through the silent night. A faint metallic clink rang out - the subtle hum of a mechanical arm, like a predator announcing its presence long before it strikes.
The man walked with the weight of war etched into his frame. His hair, streaked with gray, was bound loosely, strands falling over a scar-marked face - marks that told of battles fought, battles lost, and battles survived. His eyes, dark under the clouded sky, cut into the world. Nothing escaped them. Nothing dared.
The air stilled around him, silence folding inward, as if the forest itself dared not breathe. He moved with the weight of inevitability, a quiet storm pressing down like an invisible hand on the throat. Authority. Danger. Power.
He stopped. Before him lay a boy sprawled in the dirt and gravel, clutching a girl as though she were his last breath. For a long moment, he didn't move. His jaw tightened, unreadable. Then, faintly, something flickered in his gaze - not pity, not softness, but recognition.
Without a word, he bent down. The mechanical arm whirred, sliding beneath the boy as if he weighed nothing, tucking him under one side like a precious burden. His other arm, scarred yet steady, lifted the girl, her golden hair cascading over the cold steel of his shoulder.
He rose again, burdened but unshaken.
The night swallowed them as he turned toward a hidden door in the impenetrable walls of Neoshima.
They say you need to hit rock bottom to see the sky. But first, they would see the underworks.