Just as Somniya was about to surrender and come to terms with his fate, a warm white flame began enveloping his body, yet refusing to burn a single skin cell.
The next thing he knew he was falling back down to the ground and-
*Thud*
His perfectly working lungs were barely able to keep up with Somniya's rapid gasps of air, Somniya intensely examined his body still overrun with shock he realised he was alive, and his body was still perfectly intact.
Just as Somniya's breathing rate began to lower an oddly recognizable voice came – "*sigh* can't you die a bit faster...Seems like killing you in here did no good anyways huh?"
Gulping in fear Somniya slowly rolled his eyes upwards after he had experienced the greatest pain he felt possible, he hated the idea of going through that again so much he'd rather choose death, he should've died.
He met eyes with a brown-skinned man sitting upon a black throne with two grey skeletal arms as armrests, whilst the back of the throne itself reached double its required length.
All four legs of the throne were replaced by some sort of carving of a foot far from human.
The man had a bunch of long white straight hair reaching just above his butt, and two dark horns curving upwards from his forehead, seeming sharp enough to tear through meat effortlessly.
His attire just as intimidating as the rest of his appearance.
He wore a solid red stainless breastplate, it had a solid gold chain replacing the collar, leading on to a golden dragon insignia beneath it, with another in the centre as well as two gold patterns mirroring a gold lightning bolt at the lower half of it.
He also wore two golden shoulder pads and gauntlets, as well as a dark black robe connected by a golden belt to the rest of his armour.
His black sweatshirt underneath was barely able to contain his bulging muscles.
His head propped up by his left fist, emanating nothing but boredom and irritation through his dead eyes and casual frown.
Despite just taking another's life.
His face? - His face was exactly the same as Somniya's!
Excluding the hair, horns, armour and bulging muscles. This man looked exactly like Somniya.
At a loss for words, Somniya gawked at him, his brain as empty as he failed to muster up even half of a response.
"Maybe it's a limited lives thing let me try again." Somniya's double stated as he stretched out his hand to Somniya.
Before he could even collect the letters for "wait!" within his mind, he was reduced to his earlier position.
Chopped, burned, electrocuted, crushed, stabbed and frozen to death again and again and again.
Again and again, his body was butchered into small meat cubes by a barrage of slashes first tearing the flesh connecting his limbs together one by one, as he screamed as long as his lungs permitted him to, until his screams became raspy croaks of pain.
Again and again, his entire body was burnt to a crisp till his skin down to his flesh was charred black from head to toe like a burnt piece of toast ready to be thrown out. Yet the flames continued ravaging until his body and face began melting into a grey mush and burning into ashes soon after as he screamed and wailed in unrelenting pain.
Again and again, boulders bombarded him from all directions popping his eyes out of their sockets and breaking his jaw in two relinquishing any ability to scream immediately until he splattered into a red stain on the ground.
Again and again, needles of earth and metal pierced through his legs, arms, stomach, mouth, ears, hands, and head from all directions reducing his body to nothing less than a mistreated pin cushion as blood splattered around the room from the gaping holes within his body.
Again and again, electricity struck his body like lightning making both his mind and body go numb, the sparks causing his skin and clothes to burst into flames as he screamed into eternity.
Again and again, his body was frozen to its core from head to toe the rapidly increasing cold clawing onto his body and tearing the skin from his flesh as the frostbite crumbled pieces of his fingers and toes to the ground until eventually shattering into thousands of minute crystal shards like a block of glass.
Till the point, Somniya forgot the need to scream in response to pain.
Till the point, Somniya knew of nothing else in the world but death, pain and torment.
All he could feel was pain, all he could smell was pain, all he could see was pain, all he could hear was pain, all he could taste was pain.
"You're pitiful."
Then suddenly darkness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" Somniya shot up straight, painfully gripping his heart to stop it from leaping out of his chest, as he gasped, the sudden fresh air suffocating his lungs.
Eve's head jolted back from the front of the dragon carriage.
The carriage had a wide brown wooden roof with two curtains on either side neither long enough to completely block out the sky.
However, the carriage itself was quite spacious, it was guaranteed to accommodate at least 5 people in the squared back of the carriage, and 2 more for the seat at the front of the carriage.
Despite the seat being nothing, but a bar of wood hammered to the front, with two ropes connecting the dragons to the carriage.
The warm reassuring sunlight beamed into Somniya's eyes, which did not affect his dimmed traumatised aimless stare.
"Woah, Somniya are you alright? Must've been one heck of a bad dream." Completely oblivious to the horror Somniya had just experienced, Eve jested with a short giggle and a smile as she nonchalantly returned her eyes to the dirt path ahead.
Somniya had awoken to a bad dream from the very beginning, but that was something off the scales of a nightmare.
A completely unexplainable sensation of pain and dread.
As Somniya covered his mouth with his right hand, he bounded to the right side of the carriage feeling as if his guts were about to fly out of his mouth and leaned half his body outside eventually letting out a loud "Blegghhhhhhhhhhh! Bleghhhhh! Bleeeegggggghhhhhhh!"
Eventually returning to leaning against the inside of the carriage weakly resting his hand on his stomach. His body was oddly sticky however faint of any thought at all he couldn't care less.
Eve solemnly watched as Somniya's stomach was drained out to the dirt and asked her eyes emanating concern "Som-Somniya are you okay"
Blatantly ignoring Eve's concern, Somniya slowly rotated his head to the left and back to the right with a blank look in his eyes, and a half-open mouth not sure what he was looking for himself as if his mind was in a different world whilst his body was in another.
Suddenly Somniya's eyes finally focused on something, fixed on a pocketknife at the left bottom corner of the carriage beside a fruit resembling a stretched out purple apple, a lot longer in length, chopped into pieces. 'I can really go? I can really leave this hell they call a world'
All of a sudden Somniya tossed his body towards the knife as if he was attempting to avoid an attack and threw his hand forwards grabbing it with his right hand.
"Somniya?" Eve muttered still confused.
And instantaneously wrapping the knife between both hands Somniya fired it upwards aimed directly at the centre of his neck praying for the relief that couldn't come any sooner.
"Somniya!" Eve squealed as she clasped both her hands around
Somniya's.
"What-what are you doing?!"
"Why do I exist?" Somniya wept, tears beginning to roll down his face.
"What?" Eve whispered the concern in her eyes only increasing. "What do you mean?" She continued obliviously.
"Will I ever be allowed to be at peace...I was thrown into this world solely to be tormented; I wish- I wish I could just go back to wherever I came from, this isn't existence this is pure pain!
Anything, anything at all is better than living this life!
Almost being poisoned, having to hide my face constantly and being beaten to a pulp and tossed around like some animal, food and rocks thrown at me running for my life, stabbed all without receiving a hint of remorse for my tears from anyone else!
All for something I have no recollection of!
All for just existing!
Then I don't want to exist any longer!
I'll be doing the world a favour won't I?!"
"Somniya...." Eve whimpered.
Somniya turned his gaze to the right, Eve her hand still battling Somniya's she let out a warm smile competing with that of the sun, her eyes softly shut tight as joyful tears seamlessly fled from the corners of her eyes.
Slowly and slightly, Somniya released some strength from his wrist.
"It's unfortunate you've only seen this small terrible side of the world there are so many beautiful things you're still yet to see.
I may not be able to promise you peace.
But I can promise you that I'll be right there alongside you, making the most of what we have, giving all I can to make you feel that peace. I can't possibly tell you that is enough to make up for it. But I'll plead and fight for forevermore."
"Why, why do you care so much about me? Ever since I came here it was made well known I'm not wanted! Why do you continue to do so much just let it be this is so much better righ- "
"Because I love Somniya, no matter who's in that body I can't help myself because I love Somniya."
Suddenly the knife clanked against the floor of the carriage, without Somniya even noticing.
"You may hate yourself, but remember there is someone who loves you always. Which gives so much meaning to life.
And eventually one day you can share that love they have for you, for yourself.
All you have to do is keep moving on!"
His gaze and mind solely fixed on Eve he looked at her dumbfounded and at a complete loss for words he shared his emotions gently holding Eve's hand with that hand he had just attempted to take his own life with.
"But... but isn't that selfish, wouldn't I be doing the world a favour?
Getting rid of the demon king and all..." Somniya queried in a far calmer tone, as he stared down the roof of the carriage rather than Eve's gaze.
"Somniya!" Eve cried, throwing her arms around him and drawing him in close to her heart, as she tucked his head into her chest putting an abrupt halt to his train of thought, his mouth and eyes left dumbfounded.
"Somniya you did nothing wrong! You may have been the demon king, but you did nothing wrong you are innocent!"
"Eve..." Somniya rasped, desperately attempting to hold in his tears, to no avail.
"Promise me, promise me you'll never try something like that again!" She continued her tears slowly being soaked up by Somniya's shirt.
"I-"
"Promise!" Eve demanded once again in a weird merge between scolding and pleading, her warm eyes a few inches from Somniya's, completely banishing any weight previously on Somniya's mind he's flown into a new world for a moment.
"Okay fine... I promise." Somniya finally succumbed to her pleas returning the warm embrace she had offered him, wrapping both arms around her as well after reassuringly stroking her head.
Yet despite Somniya finally accepting with a promise, the tears running down Eve's face only increased their flow gently patting down on her clothes, "Huh, Eve? I said I promised, you don't need to cry anymore see." Somniya reassured showing her the warming smile she had showed him.
Eve giggles as she gently wipes her tears.
"No, no it's not that. I couldn't be happier right now.
It's just- you know before now, it's been a long time... It's been a long time since I've seen you cry. It's been a long time since I've seen that smile on your face."