James's breaths came in short gasps as he weaved through the throng of people flooding the streets. His mind churned with spreadsheets, deadlines, the droning hum of his cubicle. The city's heartbeat throbbed in his temples, syncopated with the clacking of keyboards, the relentless march of time cards punching in, punching out.
"Watch it," a voice snapped as James shouldered past a man in a pinstripe suit.
"Sorry," he muttered, not slowing, his leather briefcase slapping against his thigh.
The crosswalk signal blinked a blinding white hand, ushering him across. He bolted over the asphalt, the skyscrapers above casting long shadows like sundials marking the mundane hours of his life.
A horn blared, piercing.
Tires screeched, a symphony of impending doom.
"Look out!" someone screamed.
James turned, a single heartbeat stretching into eternity. A car, red and reckless, careened towards him. The world slowed, each detail etched into his memory—the driver's wide eyes, the glint of sunlight on metal, the collective intake of breath from the spectators of his final act.
Crash.
Pain blossomed, white-hot and consuming.
"Call 9-1-1!" Panic laced the air, voices overlapping in a cacophony of fear.
His body crumpled, pavement rushed up to meet him, and the city's pulse faded to a deafening silence
Blinding brilliance, a rush of radiant light. It swept over James, a tidal wave of pure energy, consuming the agony in his flesh, the shock in his bones. It was as if the sun had burst its seams, spilling liquid fire across the expanse of being and non-being. His last breath left him with a sizzle, the essence of life mingling with the incandescent glow."Is this—?"No voice answered. Time splintered. The fabric of reality tore, threads unraveling, spiraling into infinity. He was the eye of a cosmic storm, whirling, adrift amid stars and void.
Then, silence.
"Oof!"
Air. Gritty cobblestone against his cheek. James's eyes flew open to a sky streaked with colors no human eye should see. Buildings twisted upwards, defying geometry. People? No, creatures bustled past, their forms shimmering with an otherworldly sheen.
"Get up, you're blocking the way!" A figure cloaked in iridescence nudged him with a foot that wasn't quite a foot.
"Where am I?" James croaked, his voice alien in his own ears.
"Another one," someone muttered. "Lost between the spells."
"Spells?" He pushed onto his knees, the world tilting. Crystalline towers loomed, flickering with arcane symbols. Winged silhouettes flitted across the sky, casting fleeting shadows.