Awakening in the unknown

Kael

I opened my eyes, gasping, as if I had surfaced from an invisible current. The air around me was dense and cold—a kind of cold that seeped into my bones. I didn’t know where I was, but one thing was clear: this wasn’t my planet.

The sky above was a strange blue-gray, covered by clouds so thick they seemed to trap the light. Trees, tall and twisted, rose around me, their shadows almost alien, and the wind whispered through the leaves in an unsettling way. The ground, a mix of dust and strange stones, emitted a faint glow, as if it were alive.

I groped around, trying to find any trace of Lena or even Thorne, but I was alone. A deep fear began to settle in my chest. Had I truly been cast into a place from which I couldn’t return?

“Kael…” Lena’s voice still echoed in my mind, a memory too recent to be just a dream. But now, in the silence of this new world, her memory seemed distant, like a fading echo.

I stood up, muscles protesting with every move, and took a good look around. This place... was a complete mystery. The air had a metallic taste, and everything felt ancient, as if this slice of existence had been frozen in time for millennia. I walked slowly, trying to absorb as much as I could, but something inside me kept whispering that I wasn’t on an ordinary planet.

It didn’t take long for me to realize. Every detail of the environment was too different, too strange. The sky, the trees, even the gravity, which felt slightly altered—all of it indicated that I’d been thrown into a new realm, or worse, a new era.

My heart raced. The idea of having traveled through time was a nightmare I’d never imagined living, and yet, all the evidence was staring back at me. But the question remained: how? And why? Thorne had done something that disrupted the core of my planet, but what could have triggered this leap to another time or place?

I kept walking, my steps uncertain, and my thoughts drifted back to Lena. Could she have also been cast into this place, or was she still wandering in the void from where we came? Or worse, was she in some other point in time, with no chance for us to reunite?

“I have to find her,” I murmured, my voice lost in the wind. Lena was the only thing connecting me to who I used to be, to the leader who had failed but still had something left to fight for. She was my anchor, the hope I refused to let go of.

Suddenly, a faint light began to shine through the trees. It was dim but different from the cold, gray light of this world. It was warm, pulsing, like a beacon lost in this new horizon. The same light I’d seen before everything went dark.

A chill ran down my spine. Could it be her? Or perhaps something that could take me back? It didn’t matter—I had to find out. Ignoring the pain and fear, I ran toward the light, each step a silent cry against the unknown.

With each meter I advanced, the light grew stronger, as if it knew I was approaching. For a moment, the cold around me faded, replaced by a strange sense of familiarity. Then, just as it was almost within reach, a figure emerged from within the glow.

At first, all I could see was a silhouette, but as I drew closer, the contours became clearer. It was a tall figure, cloaked, with garments that flowed in the wind. And somehow, I knew it wasn’t Lena.

“Kael…” The voice was deep and oddly comforting, as if it came from all directions at once.

I stopped, heart pounding. “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

The figure raised a hand, and the light around them pulsed, surrounding me with a sense of calm and weightlessness. “You were brought here by a force greater than you can imagine. Your time and your world were just the beginning. Here, you will find answers… if you are ready to face them.”

The figure's words sent a shiver down my spine. Answers? My mind flooded with questions, each one more urgent than the last. How had I been pulled from my planet, ripped from my time? And Lena—was she here somewhere, or lost forever?

I took a step closer, drawn in by the soft light that surrounded this mysterious figure. “What answers? Why was I brought here?”

The figure tilted its head, as if considering my question carefully. "Because your journey is far from over. You carry a piece of your world’s fate—and the fate of others who you have yet to encounter."