The darkened plains were silent when Omen opened his eyes.
Wind continued flowing wildly, the sound crashing against his ears.
He looked around the darkened place, with the only new reason of relief being the presence of a white, full moon hanging in between the velvet sky.
The vast black field stretched endlessly in front of him, cold light washing over the lands, revealing the same, numerous broken hills, cracked ground, and the endless emptiness.
Omen was standing on the same hilltop he had left.
The boy slowly looked around, his breathing still uneven because of everything that happened previously.
His body was still stinging from the pan of his beating as he looked at the mountain of a shadow lying on the smooth, dark stone.
It was Agnus.
The massive horse was asleep.
Its huge body rose and fell slowly with each breath. White fur shone faintly under the moonlight, and its massive frame looked more like a sacred beast than an animal.
The thick legs, the powerful neck…everything about it felt ancient and unreal.
For a second, Omen just stared at it before whispering.
"…I'm back."
The moment his voice echoed across the plains, Agnus eyes trembled, opening up.
And the instant it saw Omen, the thirteen-foot beast stood up, its hooves slamming into the ground with a deep, heavy ringing. The earth trembled slightly beneath them as it stared angrily at his wounds.
The giant horse lowered its head toward him, breathing hot air from its nostrils.
Omen didn't step back or try to explain what had happened, neither didn't he flinch when the horse licked his wounds.
He just looked up at the massive creature and said,
"I want to learn it."
His voice was calm, but his eyes was burning.
"I want to learn the Reverse Cultivation Sutra."
Omen sat down on the stone ground and pulled out a leather book.
The skin cover felt rough in his hands. The skull symbol engraved on it looking darker under the moonlight, almost alive.
He opened it, the strange symbols inside looking twisted and unnatural, nothing like the normal cultivation texts.
He sat there for quite a few minutes, trying to understand it, but the more he tried, the worse it became.
It was almost like the words were written in some other language-
Just when Omen was about to give up, a shadow fell over the pages.
Before Omen could react, Agnus lowered its massive head and bit the book.
Not gently or carefully but snatched it out of his hands and swallowed it whole.
The book disappeared into the huge horses white teeth as it crunched the pages like some bag of chips, smirking at Omen.
"…"
Soon, the book was inside the horse's stomach, completely.
Omen froze, 'what the fuck..'
the boys hands stayed in the air, his eyes widening.
"…What just happened? " the white haired boy slowly looked at the empty space where the book had been.
Then at Agnus.
Then back at his hands as his breathing stopped, his mind going blank.
Then his face turned into one of disbelief.
"What the fuck did you just do, Agnus?" Omen snapped, standing up roughly.
"That was my only chance."
"My only fucking shot at being stronger. The 6 foot boy screamed, his eyes turning red from anger.
"Did you really just eat it?" The boy let out a broken laugh, shaking his head.
"Are you really serious right now?" Omen started laughing bitterly, his voice crazed.
"You eat my future and stand there like an idiot?!!" The boy stared up at the massive beast, his throat bubbling with frustration
"Is there some meaning to this?" he asked coldly.
"Some hidden reason?"
"Or are you just a stupid horse with a little too huge body?"
Agnus didn't respond with aggression, Iit didn't roar or fight back.
It simply neighed softly…and lifted its head.
Then it stomped one hoof forward, the ground in front of them beginning to change.
Darkness folded in on itself as a huge, black portal began forming in front of them, swirling slowly like a hole in reality itself.
Omen's anger froze, his eyes widening.
"What…is that?" he whispered.
The portal grew larger, darker, and deeper.
It looked almost bottomless.
Agnus turned and looked towards him.
Then pushed him forward with its massive legs as Omen stumbled.
"Hey, wait!!"
The ground disappeared under his feet and his body tilted forward, falling straight into the black portal.
In a single second, darkness swallowed Omen while the only thought in his mind was:
Maybe…maybe this stupid horse didn't destroy his only chance.
Maybe it led him to something better than the book it ate.
And as the void pulled him in, Omen whispered to himself..
"Please don't let this be another lie."
***
Planet Icarus, the ruins of the fallen.
The world didn't return all at once.
At first, it was only the sound, the faint crackling of leaves beneath his feet and the whisper of the wind running through the cracks in the broken walls.
Then came the heat, warm and harsh, kissing his skin.
Omen Mortlehyme opened his eyes and for a moment, everything was white.
His mind spun as light poured into his vision like a flood.
He tried to move his head, but even the smallest shift sent a sharp pain through his head.
It was still too bright for him, far too bright for someone who had been in a place illuminated by nothing just a few seconds ago.
The boy lifted a trembling hand, shielding his eyes. "What…is this?" he muttered, his voice low, almost scared.
The ruins around him were no longer swallowed by the velvet sky or the full moon he had seen before.
Instead, they glowed under the fierce rays of daylight.
The boy stumbled, trying to catch himself on his shaky feet.
Omen rubbed his arms and took a deep breath. "Okay…okay, calm down," he muttered under his breath. "If Agnus has sent me here, there must be a meaning to it." But even as he said it, the words didn't sound convincing at all.
His feet moved slowly across the uneven ground.
In front of him was something that looked like a throne room, exposed with every fracture, every broken column being visible in the light.
And then he looked up.
Above the endless blue sky hovered not one, not two, but three blazing spheres of fire.
Their flames burned in different shades, hanging motionless in the heavens as Omen simply couldn't believe what was happening.
"No really…where the fuck am I?"
***