Kai's eyes snapped open. The air was thick, heavy, and cold, carrying a metallic tang that made his stomach twist. He tried to push himself up, but the ground beneath him wasn't solid—it shifted like liquid stone, jagged fragments sinking beneath his weight. Above, the sky split into streaks of crimson and purple, clouds writhing as if alive. The sun—or what should have been the sun—was gone, replaced by a dim, pulsing light that seemed to breathe.
Panic clawed at him. "W-what…where am I?" His voice sounded hollow in the oppressive silence. He tried to remember the last thing before waking here. School? His room? A normal Thursday afternoon? Nothing but a blur. Memories flickered—his sister laughing, the accident, the guilt that had haunted him ever since. And now…this.
He scrambled to his feet, unsteady, arms outstretched to maintain balance. The ground creaked and moaned, and small fragments broke away, plummeting into the void below. Floating islands drifted in the distance, jagged and cruel, like shards of a broken world. Some were close enough to touch if he leaped—but distance here wasn't measured in meters. Something about the air made even gravity feel wrong.
Then came the sound. A low, scratching whisper, almost too soft to hear—but Kai could feel it in his chest, like a warning. The shadows between jagged rocks stretched unnaturally, curling and twisting as though alive. He froze. Something moved.
A creature stepped from the darkness. Its limbs were thin, elongated beyond human proportions, tipped with jagged claws. Its skin was semi-transparent, veins pulsing with black and violet light. Its head was too large for its body, eyes glowing a sickly white. It hissed—a sound that grated against his teeth, sharp and unnatural.
Kai's heart slammed against his ribcage. He didn't think; he acted. He turned and ran, stumbling over uneven ground, rocks slicing at his palms. Behind him, the creature moved with impossible speed, claws scraping against the jagged terrain. Its screech was deafening, echoing across the floating lands, warping the air with fear.
Something flared in his hand. A pale, ghostly glow expanded from his palm, faint but sharp, like moonlight trapped in his skin. The creature screamed and recoiled, smoke curling from its limbs as though it had been burned. Kai's breath came in ragged gasps, chest heaving. What was happening to him?
Pain radiated through his arm and chest, a deep, bone-deep ache. His mind swirled with fragments of memories: his sister's laughter, the accident that had taken her, the guilt he had carried ever since. Each memory felt heavier here, as though the world itself was pressing it into him. He staggered, nearly falling again, but caught himself on a jagged stone that quivered beneath his touch.
"I…I have to survive," he whispered, voice trembling. The glow faded, leaving his hand raw and shaking. He tried to make sense of the situation, but Erethys—the name he would later learn—felt alive, conscious, and hostile.
The landscape stretched endlessly. Floating islands hovered like jagged teeth, drifting slowly across a blood-red horizon. Crumbling ruins teetered on the edges of cliffs, some collapsed entirely into the void. The ground beneath him quivered, as if warning him that nothing here was permanent. Even the air seemed alive, whispering half-formed words and unintelligible phrases.
Kai took a deep breath. He had to move. He had to find solid ground, food, water—anything. Survival instincts overrode fear. He glanced at the nearest island, estimating the distance. It was too far to jump. Perhaps there were paths hidden in the shadows below.
A sudden screech tore through the air. More creatures emerged—smaller, twisted variations of the first. Limbs bent the wrong way, eyes glowing with unnatural light, teeth sharp enough to shred bone. Kai's stomach turned. He turned and ran again, heart pounding, legs screaming in protest.
Hours—or maybe minutes, time felt distorted here—passed in a blur of running, hiding, and scrambling over unstable terrain. The creatures hunted relentlessly, but Kai began to notice patterns: they avoided certain patches of glowing soil, recoiled from the light in his hands, and seemed to hesitate when confronted directly. Fear, instinct, and a flicker of hope surged in him.
By nightfall—or what passed for night—Kai had reached a plateau, jagged cliffs surrounding him. The sky above shimmered, fractured clouds casting moving shadows that made the world feel alive. Exhaustion weighed on him, muscles trembling, chest burning. He sank to the ground, cradling his arm, and allowed himself a moment of despair.
"This…this isn't real," he muttered. But it was. Every heartbeat, every echo of distant screeches, reminded him of the world's cruelty.
As he rested, Kai noticed something strange: faint, ghostly figures drifting between the rocks. Faces twisted in agony, eyes wide with terror, mouths silent. They seemed…stuck, memories trapped in the landscape. Kai reached out instinctively, but they dissolved into the air at his touch. Memory echoes, he would later learn they were called. Here, even the land kept fragments of souls, remnants of travelers who had failed.
A low rumble shook the plateau. Kai staggered to his feet. Shadows lengthened unnaturally, twisting toward him. He gripped his glowing hand, heart hammering. From the darkness emerged a massive figure, larger than any creature he had faced. Limbs ended in sharp, jagged bone, and its torso seemed to bleed darkness into the air. Its head was featureless, yet Kai felt its gaze pierce him.
Instinct screamed at him to flee. But there was nowhere left to run.
The creature advanced, each step cracking the ground beneath it. Kai's glow pulsed in his hand, responding to his fear. He clenched his teeth. I can't die here. I won't.
A surge of energy shot through him, painful and exhilarating. The world seemed to respond to his will, the ground beneath him solidifying momentarily, pushing back against the creature. It shrieked and reared, but Kai's focus broke. The energy vanished, leaving him trembling, bleeding, but alive.
He sank to the ground again, chest heaving, eyes fixed on the horizon. Floating islands stretched endlessly, darkness spreading like ink across the sky. He did not know why he had been brought here, why the world was alive, hungry, or cruel. But he knew one thing:
He had to survive.
Above, the fractured sky pulsed, and the shadows whispered. Erethys had claimed him. There would be no turning back.
Kai stared at the horizon. Somewhere beyond the floating islands, beyond the corruption and monsters, there might be answers. Or death. But he would move forward.
Because in this world, only those who faced the darkness could hope to endure.
And Kai…he would not give up. Not yet.