The void was silent, darker than the deepest recesses of space. Kael's mind swam in the emptiness, his thoughts a blur as he floated in the black. His body felt weightless, as if the very fabric of reality had abandoned him. He reached out, trying to grasp something, anything, but there was nothing—no ground, no stars, no horizon. Just the endless void.
Where am I? The thought echoed through his mind, unanswered.
His chest tightened, and the sensation of suffocating closed in on him. His body trembled, but no air reached his lungs. I need to get out of here. I need to find Maya.
"Maya..." His voice barely rose above a whisper, lost in the endless dark. He didn't know where she was. Didn't know if she was even alive. The last thing he remembered was the blinding light from the crack—a moment when he thought freedom was within his grasp. But now, this. This empty, desolate place.
There was no way to know how much time had passed, or even if time existed here. The weight of isolation pressed in on him. He was alone, utterly alone. His memories, his past, even his very identity felt like fragments scattered in the dark. He didn't know who he was, or if he was even meant to be here.
Suddenly, a flicker of light appeared in the distance. It was faint at first, a tiny spark in the vastness of nothingness. Kael's heart jumped at the sight of it. A way out? He didn't know, but it was the only thing that had appeared since he had been cast into this endless black.
Without thinking, he moved toward it, pushing himself forward as the void seemed to stretch on forever. The light grew stronger with each step, illuminating his surroundings—if they could even be called surroundings. But the more he moved, the heavier his body felt. His limbs grew weak, and the air grew thicker, more oppressive, as if something was pulling at him, holding him back.
The light pulsed. And then, a voice, low and distant, echoed through the void.
"You cannot escape."
Kael froze in place. The voice was unlike anything he had ever heard—like the very fabric of time itself speaking to him. His heart raced, fear bubbling up in his chest. Who's there?
The light flickered again, and Kael's vision shifted. The blackness before him began to melt away, revealing a familiar scene—his childhood home. The warm, golden light of a setting sun filtered through the windows, casting long shadows on the floor. The soft hum of his mother's voice filled the air, singing a lullaby.
"Kael..."
His breath hitched. He turned, and there she was—his mother, standing in the doorway. The same loving smile she always had, the same soft eyes filled with warmth.
"Mom…" His voice cracked as he took a step toward her.
But then, as he reached out, the light flickered again, and she was gone. The room dissolved, fading away into nothingness as if it had never existed.
No. Kael's chest tightened in pain. He was suffocating under the weight of the loss. Why? Why would you show me this?
The voice returned, colder this time.
"This is your fate, Kael. This is where you belong. The loop cannot be broken. Time cannot be rewritten."
Kael clenched his fists, his heart pounding in his chest. He refused to believe it. I can't stay here. I won't stay here.
As the voice continued to speak, the void around him began to shift again. The light pulsed brighter, and suddenly, the ground beneath his feet solidified. He found himself standing at the edge of a vast chasm, stretching into infinity. On the other side, he saw something he recognized—a city, or at least what had once been a city. It was in ruins, shattered, the remnants of a civilization long forgotten.
In the center of the city stood a towering figure, draped in flowing robes of shimmering black. Kael's heart skipped a beat. Verin. The Warden of the Final Trial. The figure stood motionless, facing away from Kael, as if waiting for something—or someone.
Kael's mind raced. He couldn't stay here, trapped in this endless loop. He needed to break free, needed to find Maya, to find his way back to reality.
But the voice—Verin's voice—spoke again, its tone dark and final.
"You cannot escape. The loop is eternal. No one has ever broken free."
Kael gritted his teeth. His body felt heavy, his limbs sluggish, as if the weight of the void itself was dragging him down. But he wasn't going to give up. Not now. Not when there was a chance—a glimmer of hope—that he could break free.
He turned his gaze back to the city on the other side of the chasm, a city that held the answers he needed. The path ahead wasn't clear, but it was the only way forward.
Kael began walking, each step harder than the last. The air around him grew thicker, more suffocating. The distance between him and the city seemed endless, the chasm growing wider with each step.
As he reached the edge, the ground beneath him began to crumble, and he had to leap, his body soaring across the dark void. His heart raced as the wind rushed past him, the sound of his own heartbeat drowning out everything else.
And then, with a crash, Kael landed on solid ground. The city was within reach.
But as he rose to his feet, he heard it again—the voice, louder this time, filling the entire void around him.
"You think you can escape, Kael? You cannot outrun your fate."
Kael's hands clenched into fists. No. I won't be trapped. Not again.
With a final, determined breath, he strode into the city, his heart set on finding the answers he desperately needed. He didn't know what awaited him there, or how much longer he had before the loop closed in on him once more. But one thing was certain: he would never stop fighting.
He had to find Maya. He had to break the loop.
And he would do whatever it took.
To be continued…