After I went unconscious, I had a dream. In that dream, I floated aimlessly in the void, surrounded by nothing but pitch-black darkness... My body felt weightless, suspended in the infinite sea of darkness. There was no sound, no ground beneath me, no sky above me… Only the oppressive silence and the suffocating emptiness of the void…
My breathing was shallow, barely audible in the void. I looked down at my hands, but even they seemed to blend into the surrounding darkness. "Where… am I?" I muttered, my voice echoing faintly, swallowed almost immediately by the void.
Then, without warning, I felt a sharp pull… Like invisible hands yanking me forward. My body was dragged violently through the void, the blackness rushing past me at an impossible speed. My stomach churned as the sensation grew stronger, and I subconsciously clenched my fists as I braced myself against the unseen force…
Suddenly, the darkness shattered, and I was thrown into a vast, cosmic expanse...
I was still floating, but the scenery around me had completely changed. Galaxies spiraled around me in every direction, their colors vivid and almost blinding. Swirls of blues, purples, golds, and reds danced before my eyes….
I turned my head and saw a star collapsing into itself, imploding violently before exploding outward in a massive supernova. The shockwave rippled through the surrounding void, swallowing smaller galaxies and scattering their remnants into the abyss…
"Unreal…" I whispered, my voice trembling. "What… what is this place?!"
I drifted further, my movements slow and deliberate as I tried to make sense of what was actually going on. To my right, I saw a galaxy being born, its vibrant core glowing as billions of stars burst into existence. To my left, another galaxy crumbled into nothingness, and its light extinguished forever…
Planets drifted like tiny marbles; their surfaces illuminated by the suns they orbited. I could see storms raging across alien worlds, their atmospheres swirling with colours I couldn't name. Star's flared to life and died…
The scenery around me was terrifying and beautiful at the same time, like a symphony of creation and destruction playing out on an unimaginable scale…
Then, without warning, a blinding light surrounded me. It wasn't harsh or painful but warm, almost comforting. The galaxies around me continued their chaotic dance, but the light seemed to shield me from their vast, overwhelming presence...
A deep, resonant voice echoed through the cosmic expanse. It wasn't loud, yet it filled every corner of the infinite space with its commanding attention and its sheer presence. The voice was male, and its authority was undeniable…
"You have been chosen…" it said, and the words reverberated through my very being.
I flinched, my body tensing. "Who... who are you?!" I shouted into the void. My voice sounded small and insignificant compared to the cosmic power that surrounded me. "What are you?! What is this power?!"
The voice did not answer immediately. Instead, the light around me intensified and enveloped me completely. I felt its warmth seep into my skin. Its presence was both overwhelming and strangely calming…
"I have high expectations…" the voice said, each word heavy with meaning. "Do not disappoint me…"
"What does that mean?!" I demanded, frustration creeping into my voice. "Answer me! Who are you?! What is this power?! Why did you do this to me?!"
The voice gave no response, and its presence faded as quickly as it had appeared. The warmth of the light dissipated, leaving me alone in the vast cosmic expanse…
"Wait!!!" I shouted, my voice echoing in the emptiness. "Don't go!!! I need answers! What do you want from me?!"
Before I could shout again, the pull returned. This time dragging me downward….
The galaxies, stars, and planets blurred around me, their lights streaking across my vision like comets. The warmth of the light was gone, replaced by a cold, empty void that gripped me tightly…
And then, with a jolt, I woke up...
It has already became night....
My body ached as I laid on the scorched ground. The twin moons hung low in the sky, casting a dim, pale light over the desolate landscape. My chest heaved as I gasped for air, and my mind raced to process what I had just experienced...
"What… the hell was that?!" I muttered, my voice hoarse.
I pushed myself up slowly and sat on my knees, my limbs trembling. My eyes darted around the wasteland, searching for anything…any sign of what had just happened… But there was nothing. Only the emptiness of the alien world and the scorched land from the rampaging energy...
I stood up slowly, every muscle in my body screaming in protest. The barren wasteland stretched out endlessly before me, faintly illuminated by the pale light of the twin moons hanging low in the night sky. The air was eerily calm, but the destruction around me was anything but…
The ground glowed faintly, and its surface was scorched and molten from the rampaging energy...
Steam rose from deep cracks. Massive craters and jagged fissures painted the landscape. The destruction around me is the result of the unbridled chaos that had erupted from my body…
I turned my head around, examining the sheer scale of the devastation. As far as I could see, there were only remnants of chaos and destruction. Entire sections of the terrain were completely obliterated, leaving behind nothing but ash and glowing embers. The air was thick with the metallic scent of burnt rock and ozone…
"Holy shit…" I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "What the hell did I just do?!"
I glanced up at the sky. The twin moons stared back at me. For a brief moment, they felt like the only things that were untouched by the chaos, watching silently from above…
As I lowered my gaze, a strange sensation crept over me. Something felt… off… My perspective was different as if I were looking down from a slightly higher vantage point. I glanced at the ground beneath me, frowning...
"What the…?!" I muttered, lifting my foot and stomping lightly. "The ground feels… lower..."
I looked down at my hands, flexing my fingers. My body felt the same, but there was a clear difference. "Did I…" I said aloud, narrowing my eyes. "Did I somehow grow an inch or two? What the fuck is happening to me?!"
I suddenly remembered the voice. The voice echoed in my mind like a commanding presence that lingered even in its absence…
I muttered to myself, my voice low and rasping. "What the hell was that voice…? And what did it mean by 'high expectations?!'"
I clenched my fists, the memory of the dream still vivid. Galaxies were born and destroyed, stars exploded into brilliant supernovas, and the vast expanse of the universe stretched out infinitely before me. It was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. It was like nothing I had ever seen or imagined...
"Why me?!" I asked aloud, my voice rising. "Why choose me for this? I didn't ask for it. I didn't want any of it!!!"
The wasteland gave no answers, only the faint hiss of molten rock cooling beneath my feet. The air was thick with ash and heat...
I exhaled sharply, the frustration bubbling inside me. "Fine. You won't tell me who or what you are? Then I'll figure it out myself…"
I turned my gaze downward, my eyes narrowing as a thought crept into my mind.
I could feel it. The power coursing through me... it wasn't just chaos anymore. It became steady and alive, pulsing like a second heartbeat…
"If I'm stuck with this…" I muttered, bending down slowly, "Then I might as well see how far it takes me..."
I planted my knuckles firmly on the ground; the ground formed cracks beneath the pressure of my grip. My muscles coiled like springs, every fibre of my body tensing in preparation…
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, shutting out everything else around me. All that mattered was the energy inside me. I could feel a strange hum from the energy that flowed inside of me. The hum grew louder as I focused…
The sensation was different this time. The wild, unstable energy that destroyed everything in its wake was gone. In its place was something more stable, more focused… Like a river of power flowing steadily through my veins...
"There you are…" I murmured, a faint smirk tugging at my lips. "Let's see what you can really do…"
The ground beneath me began to tremble, and faint vibrations rippled outward. The rocks and debris scattered across the wasteland started to shift and lift slowly into the air. They hovered around me, spinning lazily in a widening spiral. Even the molten fragments of the earth seemed drawn to me, glowing embers rising like fireflies…
The air grew heavy, charged with an electric intensity. My breaths came slower now, deeper, each breath drawing more energy into focus…
"Alright…" I muttered, gripping the ground tighter. "No more games. No more holding back…"
The hum grew louder, resonating through my body and into the earth. The rocks around started to float in the air defying gravity itself, and dust and ash swirled in the air…
I opened my eyes briefly and watched the chaos around me. "This is it..." I said softly. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?!"
With a roar that tore from my chest, I pushed off the ground, channeling every ounce of energy in my body into the leap. The earth beneath me exploded outward in a thunderous shockwave, debris scattering like shrapnel. Rocks and molten fragments were hurled into the air, spinning wildly as they disintegrated into dust. The force from the jump left a huge crater on the ground…
The wind screamed in my ears as I shot upward. My heart pounded with a mix of adrenaline and exhilaration. The ground below shrank rapidly until it was little more than a chaotic smear of molten red and grey…
"I'm doing it!!!" I shouted, my voice lost in the roaring wind. A grin split my face as the realization hit me fully. "I'm actually fucking doing it! I'm flying!!!"
The sensation was unlike anything I'd ever felt… Freedom, pure and unrestrained. The air rushed past me, cool and biting against my skin. I twisted my body slightly, testing the energy coursing through me. The response was instant and precise, allowing me to change direction effortlessly…
"This is insane!!!" I laughed, throwing my arms out wide. "I could get used to this…"
I climbed higher and higher, the destruction of the wasteland below fading into the distance. The stars above me were sharper now. The twin moons hung low on the horizon, glowing faintly like sentinels watching over the chaos…
As I breached the clouds, I slowed and started hovering in the cool, misty air. The view from above was breathtaking. The clouds stretched out like a vast, undulating sea, their silver edges shimmering faintly in the moonlight. The stars above were beautiful….
I turned my gaze upward, locking onto the twin moons. They seemed close now, almost within reach, and suddenly a thought struck me like a bolt of lightning…
"Why don't I just leave?!" I muttered to myself, my voice carried softly on the wind. "Fly out of this damn planet. Find my way back home… if it's even still there..."
The idea lingered, tempting me. If I could fly, if I could break free of the atmosphere, what was stopping me from venturing into the cosmos? From seeking out Earth?
But the more I thought about it, the more the idea's practicality unraveled. "Space…" I murmured, shaking my head slightly. "No directions. No landmarks. There's no guarantee I'd even be heading the right way. It'd just be a waste of time… like finding a needle in an infinite haystack..."
I exhaled sharply, letting the thought drift away. "No…" I decided, my voice firmer. "Not yet. I'll stay here a few days longer. Figure out what's happening to me. What this power is… and what the hell that voice wants…"
There was more to this planet. It was vast, alien, and full of secrets waiting to be uncovered…
My gaze shifted downward, scanning the landscape below. The devastation I'd caused reminded me of what I was capable of... a raw, untamed force…
"Yeah..." I said with a smirk, clenching my fists. "At first, I should learn to control my own power or… I might just end up destroying earth..."
I drew in a deep breath, letting the cool air fill my lungs, and tilted my body forward slightly. The energy within me pulsed steadily, responding to my thoughts as I prepared to move…
"Alright…" I muttered, the grin on my face widening. "Round two. Let's see what's out there..."
I surged forward with a sudden burst of force, cutting through the misty clouds like a bullet. The wind roared in my ears, and the stars above blurred into streaks of light as I increased my speed. The energy coursing through me felt alive. The energy wasn't visible from the outside, but it was flowing like a river of fire in my veins…
I laughed, the sound sharp and wild. "This is insane!!!" I shouted to no one, spinning in the air for the sheer thrill of it. "How the hell did I not figure this out sooner?!"
I twisted and turned, testing my limits. The landscape below zipped past in a blur of jagged peaks, molten craters, and glowing rivers of lava. The freedom was intoxicating, the weightlessness exhilarating…
As I soared over the alien terrain, my eye caught glimpses of distant landmarks. There was another forest of metallic trees shimmering faintly in the moonlight, a canyon stretching for miles with glowing rivers of lava carving through its depths, and massive mountains that rose like jagged teeth from the earth…
Each sight fueled the fire within me, the drive to explore, to uncover whatever secrets this planet held…
"Alright, wasteland…" I muttered, a dangerous smirk tugging at my lips. "Show me what you've got. Let's see if you can keep up with me this time…"
With a final burst of energy, I launched myself forward, tearing through the night sky like a comet. The alien landscape awaited, and I felt a flicker of excitement for the first time in years...
For now, I would stay. There was more to learn, more to fight, and more to conquer.
TO BE CONTINUED