The world shifted beneath my feet, and before I could even comprehend what had happened, I found myself standing in a desolate wasteland. The air was dry, bitter with the scent of dust, and the wind howled across the barren land, stinging my face with sand. Dead trees, twisted and blackened, dotted the landscape like forgotten skeletons, their branches reaching toward the sky as if in agony. Large rocks were scattered around, jagged and sharp, their shadows long and ominous beneath the orange glow of the setting sun.
My heart pounded in my chest, my body still aching from the fight with Kofi. Every muscle felt like it had been torn apart, and confusion clouded my thoughts. Where was I? What had just happened? I clenched my fists, still feeling the raw frustration bubbling up inside me.
"Why am I here?" I muttered, glancing down at the ring on my finger, which was now strangely cold and silent. I waited, half-expecting it to start glowing or pull me back, but nothing happened. Just the wind and the dead silence of the wasteland. I tried to take it off but it was stuck. Clutching to my finger with a vice grip.
I waited for what felt like an eternity, hoping—no, begging—for something, anything, to change. But nothing did. The sky remained still, the wind relentless, and the land around me as empty as it had been the moment I arrived. My mind raced, torn between fear and anger. Who or what had brought me here?
After what felt like hours, I finally forced myself to move. Maybe there was something out there, someone I could find. I scanned the horizon, but it was useless—there was nothing but endless emptiness. No signs of life, no structures, not even the faintest hint of a trail. My frustration boiled over, and I screamed into the wind, "Where am I supposed to go?!"
That's when I saw them. Three birds, black as night, circling high above me. They seemed to appear out of nowhere, their dark wings cutting through the pale sky. I watched them, my breath catching in my throat. At first, I thought they were crows, but as they descended, I realized they were larger—larger than any bird I had ever seen. Their eyes glinted in the fading light as they swooped down, landing a few feet in front of me.
Instinctively, I stepped back, raising my hands as if preparing for another fight. "What the hell...?" I whispered under my breath. They just stood there, watching me, their feathers ruffling in the wind. There was something off about them—something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
One of the birds tilted its head, its dark eyes locked onto mine. Then, in a voice that seemed to echo from the very earth beneath me, it spoke.
"A youth, adrift in the endless night,
Shall tread a path blocked by fright, slight, or might.
Through shadowed foes, the journey's fate is fought,
For one and two, both by quest are sought.
I blinked, my mind struggling to process what was happening. "What—?"
The second bird interrupted, its voice higher, but no less eerie. "Three forged in fires of legend and lore,
Hold power to shroud or seal forevermore.
In hand, the choice to darkness bind,
Or release the trapped from space and time".
My heart pounded. I tried to speak, but just as I opened my mouth the last bird head shot around to look at me creepily and no words came out.
"Allies unknown, from day and night shall rise,
Born of light's dawn and midnight skies.
Bound by fate to face what's dire,
And halt the spread of ruin's fire."
I stared at them, my mouth hanging open. This couldn't be real—could it? I had been through some strange things, but this? Talking birds? A prophecy? What the hell was going on?
I forced my voice to work, stumbling over the words. "What does that even mean? Who are you? Why am I here?"
The birds didn't respond. Instead, they simply began to repeat the prophecy, their voices weaving together in an unsettling harmony.
"A youth, adrift in the endless night,
Shall tread a path blocked by fright, slight, or might.
Through shadowed foes, the journey's fate is fought,
For one and two, both by quest are sought.
"Stop it!" I shouted, my frustration boiling over. I stepped toward them, but they just kept going.
"Three forged in fires of legend and lore,
Hold power to shroud or seal forevermore.
In hand, the choice to darkness bind,
Or release the trapped from space and time".
"Enough!" I yelled again, but my words were drowned out.
"Allies unknown, from day and night shall rise, Born of light's dawn and midnight skies".le
The words echoed in my mind, as if the land itself was speaking through them.
"Bound by fate to face what's dire,
And halt the spread of ruin's fire."
Then, just as suddenly as they had started, they stopped. For a moment, everything was silent. I could feel my heart hammering against my chest, the air thick with tension.
"What did that even mean?" I muttered, still feeling the chill of their words lingering in the air. 'Allies unknown'… 'halt the spread of ruin's fire'? The phrases circled in my mind like a swarm of ants, impossible to grasp but equally impossible to ignore.
I opened my mouth to demand answers, but before I could speak, the birds spread their wings and lifted off the ground, heading back into the sky. Panic surged through me.
"Wait!" I called after them, "Get back here!"
In perfect unison, the three birds responded, their voices chilling. "Try not to doom us all."
My blood boiled. "So you can, hold a conversation!" I shouted, shaking my fist at them as they disappeared into the distance. "Damn Birds!"
The wind swallowed my words, and soon, the birds were gone, leaving me alone in this desert. I stood there, breathing hard, frustration and confusion tangling inside me. The prophecy echoed in my mind, haunting and vague.
I didn't know what it meant, but I had a feeling that this wasn't the last time I'd hear it.
I stood there for what felt like hours, the words of the prophecy tumbling over and over in my mind. "There is no way that prophecy could be about me... Allies, Space and Time, Legend and lore, Madness, ". What did all that even mean? Was that the reason why i was brought here, What kind of choice was I supposed to make? I tried to piece it together, but the more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became. It was like trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces. Nothing made sense, and the fact that those damn birds wouldn't give me any real answers didn't help.
With a groan, I shoved my hands into my pockets and started walking. The air tasted like dry ash, clinging to my throat with every breath, and each gust of wind carried a whisper of something ominous.
It wasn't like I had any better ideas. If there was some way out of this desert, I'd have to find it on my own. Maybe I could at least get away from the constant wind that whipped sand into my face, leaving a stinging burn on my skin. The hills of sands were high and plentiful but there were also areas where there was nothing but flat lands.
As I walked, everything looked the same. Dirt, sand, rock. The wind howled, and the landscape seemed to stretch on forever, unchanging and bleak. Every step felt heavier, each shift in the sand reminding me how lost I was. My legs burned, and my throat ached with thirst, but I couldn't stop moving. I didn't know where I was going, only that I couldn't stay here.
Time felt irrelevant. I wasn't sure how long I had been walking. Minutes? Hours? Days? Nothing changed. Every time I looked up, the horizon was the same—endless. I kept hoping I'd see something different, something to tell me I was making progress, but it was just the same barren wasteland.
Frustration gnawed at me again. Was this another test? My mind wandered back to the challenges in the cave, the ones I thought I'd finished. I had the artifact—wasn't that the prize? Why was I here?
Then, like a whisper in the back of my mind, the prophecy floated back to me. "Three relics forged in ancient fires..." Three? My heart sank. Was that it? I had only gotten one artifact. Could it be that I still had more to collect? Was this some sort of clue?
I stopped, looking down at the ring on my finger. It had been quiet since I arrived here, not glowing or vibrating like before. But now, I saw a faint shimmer, like it was trying to come to life.
"Okay," I muttered to myself, "I'll use the setting sun as my guide."
The sun began to dip below the horizon, casting long shadows across the land. The winds picked up again, colder now, biting at my exposed skin. I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself as I pushed on, following the ring's faint glow. My thoughts drifted back to the prophecy again, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was walking straight into another challenge, another test.
The sky darkened as the sun disappeared completely, leaving me in near-total darkness. Only the glow of the ring and the faint starlight overhead kept me moving. My feet dragged with exhaustion, my muscles sore from walking all day.
As I made my way through the desert, the sky darkened, shifting to an ominous gray as the dim light faded. The wind picked up, sending waves of sand whipping through the air. All around me, strange creatures scurried over the cracked earth—hunched, crab-like monstrosities with hard, spiny shells and jagged limbs that clicked and scraped against the ground. Their eyes glowed faintly, a sinister red, as they hurried to bury themselves beneath the sand, vanishing with eerie precision. Some huddled together, curling their armored bodies inward like lizards trying to blend into the dusty terrain.
Above me, the sky buzzed with motion. Twisted, demonic forms that looked like dragonflies and monstrous flies darted through the air. Their wings beat with a menacing hum, each rapid movement slicing through the wind and sending chills down my spine. Their elongated, segmented bodies gleamed darkly, with sharp, barbed tails that swished through the air as they circled. The creatures seemed to revel in the chaos of the sandstorm, their beady, malevolent eyes scanning the wasteland for prey or something worse.
I crounched behind a large rock as i watched the creature closely, not knowing if they were friendly or not. They didnt seem to be large in numbers but the sun was setting and the rest may already be tucked away in the sand for the night. One creature motioned slowly and I felt the ground start to slowly vibrate before the shaking intensified.
Then something strange happened. The ground beneath me started to pulse—a faint, almost imperceptible glow spreading out across the dirt. At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but then I felt it. The ground shook. It was subtle at first, like a distant tremor, but it quickly grew more violent, the earth vibrating beneath my feet. Panic shot through me, and I stumbled backward, scanning the horizon for the source of the tremor.
The ground trembled, a low, guttural sound echoing from beneath. I froze, watching in horror as the earth began to crack, thin lines snaking outward until the sand shifted like water. A shape rose, massive and pulsating with an eerie, blue glow, its head splitting open to reveal rows of serrated teeth glinting in the moonlight. I threw myself to the side, diving behind the nearest rock for cover, my heart hammering in my chest.
When I peeked out from behind the rock, my breath caught in my throat.
The creature was enormous—easily the size of a bus, maybe bigger. Its body was long and serpentine, like a massive worm, but unlike anything I had ever seen before. Its skin was smooth and translucent, glowing with an eerie, sickly light. Large, pulsating boils covered its body, glowing with a bright, unnatural blue. The thing's head was broad and flat, with rows of sharp, serrated teeth that gleamed in the moonlight. It reared up, its massive body towering above the ground, and let out a guttural roar that echoed across the desert.
I froze, every muscle in my body tense with fear. My mind raced, searching for a way out, but I couldn't move. I was too close—if I ran, it would see me.
The monster roared again, its head whipping around as it scanned the land, searching for something. That's when I saw it—a smaller creature, some kind of four-legged beast, running across the plain. The worm's eyes locked onto it, and before I could even react, it dove back into the ground with incredible speed, disappearing beneath the earth. The ground rumbled violently as the worm burrowed, its glowing body moving like a massive wave under the dirt.
I watched in stunned silence as the glowing light beneath the ground shot toward the creature, fast as lightning. The smaller beast barely had time to react before the worm erupted from the earth again, swallowing it whole in a single, horrifying gulp. There was a sickening crunch, and then the worm was gone, disappearing back into the ground as quickly as it had appeared.
My breath came in shallow gasps. I couldn't believe what I had just seen. My heart pounded in my chest, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I pressed my back against the rock, trying to calm myself, but my mind was racing. What the hell was that?
The ground rumbled again, and I could see the worm's glowing form moving beneath the dirt, its light shifting away from me. For a moment, I just sat there, too stunned to move. I had no idea where I was, or what that thing was, but one thing was clear—I needed to stay the hell away from it. All I knew was that:
"I needed to get the hell out of here!".
I took a shaky breath, the echoes of that creature's roar still vibrating through me. I didn't know where to go, but staying here was a death sentence. Heart pounding, I scrambled to my feet, praying that whatever waited beyond this desert was less monstrous than what lurked beneath.