A hand clamps onto the back of my head.
In a blink, I'm yanked upright, face-to-face with a cloaked figure.
His hands are soft, unnervingly gentle, yet his cloak swirls like living mist.
"You little shit! You ruined it!" His voice is a thunderclap as he hauls my head higher.
With his other hand, he unrolls a scroll and shoves it into my face.
Immortality blazes in gold ink.
Pain detonates inside my skull, so sharp it drowns the world. I collapse, screaming, fists hammering into the sand.
He throws me aside like garbage, muttering in a fevered whisper.
I force myself upright. "What the hell was that?"
"Obvious, isn't it?" His tone drips mockery. "I've made you immortal, with a scroll of enlightenment."
"Why?" I snarl. "Why would you do that?"
"Because you shattered the timeline I built. This is your punishment."
"Timeline? What are you, God?"
The hood tilts. A grin like razors cuts across the shadowed face. "God? No. I'm far worse. I am Death."
Rage boils over. "You'll pay for this!"
I lunge, but he moves like lightning. His fist slams into my ribs midair, and I crash into the ground hard enough to crack it. Blood snakes down my temple.
The world goes black.
Then, blinding white. The same agony stabs through my skull.
I jolt upright. The sand is cold beneath my palms. Death is gone.
Miles of dunes stretch around me, shimmering in the heat. I start walking, scanning the horizon.
Clouds gather without warning. Rain needles my skin.
"He's here," comes a voice behind me, familiar, edged with dread. "I knew he wouldn't be happy."
I turn. Death stands there, cloak whipping in the wind.
A face forms over his hood, vast and terrible, and a voice swallows the air: "Natural law has been broken."
Death rises a few inches off the ground, pointing skyward. "This must happen. It's the only way to stabilize the universe."
And then, he freezes. Mid-gesture. Mid-breath. Even the swirling cloak stops.
"Finally," the face says, shifting its gaze to me. "His noise is silenced."
My voice cracks. "What do you want from me?"
"You have broken natural law."
"What does that mean? What do I even do about it?"
"If your universe is to be spared from reset, you must return your life force."
"Life force? Bring it back? What the hell does that even mean?"
The sky goes blank. Death moves again, as if nothing happened.
"Fuck!" he roars, the word tearing from his throat.
I whirl on him. "What the hell was that?"
His gaze snaps to me, and for the first time, there's something in his eyes, an edge of fear.
He raises one long, sharp finger. "Listen carefully, Oraki. This is your one warning before we start."
A gust tears across the dunes. His cloak lashes the air.
"Don't let the void spread."
The words hang there, heavier than the storm.