"We have to leave now. There's no time for anything. You'll have to follow us even if you're hurt. Can you walk?"
Alissa's voice cut through the air, sharp and quick, as her hands already reached for the bow and quiver in the corner of the room.
Getting up felt like lifting the weight of a mountain on my back. Every muscle screamed, every breath burned, but I managed to stand and pull the fur cloak over my shoulders.
Too slow for some.
"Damn it, prisoner! You have to be faster!" Foster growled, impatient like a dog ready to bite.
The look Alissa gave him could have shattered stone. But I never tolerated being treated with contempt, especially not by a man like him.
"My name is LL. Don't call me by my species, you Watcher!"
The air between us grew thick, almost solid. He leaned forward, staring at me with a silent threat, eyes like blades.
"You damned plebeian!" he spat, each syllable dripping with hate.
Before I could respond, the world answered for me. The ground trembled. At first, a low murmur, as if something colossal awoke beneath the surface.
"Damn! This is the natural disaster zone! Foster, warn the others!" Alissa shouted.
But before Foster could move, a sharp crack ripped through the wood and echoed off the walls. What followed was a deep, muffled roar, and the ceiling shuddered as if about to collapse.
Instinctively, we grabbed onto whatever we could. Then, like a volcanic eruption, the door was ripped off and slammed against the wall.
What we saw stopped time. The room we were in was now the only intact part of a house that no longer existed.
The rest had been swallowed by a colossal abyss, a living crater where dozens fought not to be dragged under. In the center, a black vortex spreading ever wider, devouring debris, earth, and people.
"Shit…" I murmured, breathless.
Bodies — humans of various species — were sucked into the void like dry leaves caught in a gale.
Limbs twisted, bones snapped mid-air, and screams were swallowed by the deafening roar of the vortex.
To me, it was a macabre sight, but to Alissa and Foster, an open wound in raw flesh. In their eyes, I saw the exact moment they recognized faces — not just warriors, but friends, companions from past journeys.
Faces distorted by panic, hands stretched out begging for salvation that would never come. There was no time to run, to scream their names, or to fire one last arrow in honor. Only a crushing moment of helplessness, etched like a scar that even time would not dare erase.
A single tear ran down Alissa's face, but she didn't falter.
"Come on, Foster. We need to find out where our area ended up before it's too late."
He nodded, heavy. Mourning was a luxury the battlefield did not allow. Pain would wait — if there was a later.
"Let's go!" he said, already moving.
But we didn't make three steps.
Cracks split open the walls, and a brutal gust tore away part of the remaining structure. The vortex on the ground spread, swallowing everything — wood, earth — and the certainty that we were safe.
At that moment, I saw Alissa shoot an arrow that turned into a thread of energy, slicing through the air until it struck a colossal tree nearly a kilometer away.
The rope didn't give in; on the contrary, it yanked her violently, dragging her body against the brutal force of the disaster. Every meter gained felt like a battle against an invisible god, and the pressure nearly tore the air around her.
Foster didn't hesitate. He launched himself into the void with his sword pointed forward, in the same direction as Alissa, pushing against the destructive current.
Unbelievably, he stayed airborne, using his blade as both anchor and propulsion. Still, the force pulling them back was so overwhelming that every movement seemed to tear something from them.
I, on the other hand, was caught between adrenaline and fear, watching like a useless spectator.
"Don't just watch!" Alissa shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos like a blade. "Use the abilities of your species!"
Her words hit me like a punch. I snapped out of the trance and tried to decide my next move, but the world gave me no time.
An entire tree, uprooted, spun through the air like a projectile heading straight for me—trunk, branches, and roots ready to disfigure my face with a single blow.
My body exploded into a whirlwind of ravens, black wings tearing through the air as I scattered in dozens of directions at once.
The projectile passed inches away, ripping branches in its wake. In an instant, the birds regrouped, stitching my human form back together midair.
I reappeared human, the air vibrating around me, and spread my wings. Astonishment took hold of Alissa—and even Foster.
"He's the first of his kind I've seen with so many abilities,"
Alissa thought, incredulous.
Foster just gave me a look filled with something I couldn't tell if it was envy or distrust.
There was no time for answers.
The pressure of the vortex crushed us, but strangely, my body resisted better than theirs. I thought fast: we couldn't waste a second.
I flew to Alissa first, my wings tearing through the wind. I pushed her from behind to the spot she had marked, but each beat exhausted me as if the hit against the tree had left an invisible weight on me.
Alissa, without hesitation, fired her arrow again at Foster, but the vortex advanced faster than we expected, devouring entire houses.
I dove through the air, grabbed Foster's arm, and with all the strength I had left, broke through the barrier of the whirlwind to the other side.
For a moment, sound vanished. The air felt caught in the world's throat.
But behind us, something moved inside the eye of the vortex—something that was not wind.