I awoke to a suffocating darkness, my heart pounding as my eyes ignited with a wary glow. Panic flared through me as memories surged back- the thought of resetting, of returning to the starting point, gnawed at me.
The horror of relieving every single moment made my blood run cold.
Glancing around me, my eyes were still filled with wariness and perhaps, a sling tinge of fear.
'...The Gods be damned should I reset to where it all began.'
I will literally claw my guts out without a second thought.
The dread of going through it all over again. Starting all over from where it all began, sent cold chills down my spine.
Despair and desperation tightening around me, pooling around my chest like a vice.
The world blurred and twisted, chaotic colors slamming onto the edges of my mind.
And my blurry vision didn't do well to help out. The endless darkness shuffled between a white hazy light and the endless dark shade, sending jolts of pain rippling through me.
Slowly, the white shade receded, overwhelmed by an endless darkness that swarmed over my vision.
My eyes rolled, taking in my bleak surrounding.
The broken door.
The cold, blood-stained cobblestone.
The endless darkness and the silence that gnawed and clawed at me with each breath of mine.
The cold chilling wind that ran down my spine as clarity descended.
Hitting hard and fast but for once, they weren't brutal and unforgiving.
...Everything proved that:
I was back- back at a checkpoint.
Not the beginning.
For a second there, I felt a cold, soothing feeling wash over me. A sense of relief coursed through me as a faint smile found its way to the edge of my lips through the deep layers of darkness that clutched tightly onto my heart and revolved around my mind like a vice.
Tears prickled the corner of my eyes, memories of the last cycle clawing at my sanity.
Despair had pushed me to drive the shard of glass through my skull. It had pushed me beyond what i had thought possible.
The incessant short moments had felt like a lifetime.
And the way i drove the shard of glass through myhis skull.
The broken glass.
The metallic taste of blood.
The pain so raw it seared into the depths of my mind.
I had endured twenty-three resets, each one carving deeper scars into my soul.
They were all so painful to the extent where it felt as though a piece of my heart had been carved out.
I really don't want to go through them again.
I really don't want to.
Tears came freely now, as it streaked down the corner of my eyes, leaving a hot trail down its track.
I-I felt... hollow.
I f-elt soulless.
My heart in particular seemed to have broken into pieces and fragments of desolation and hollowness.
And perhaps, only a few seconds had clocked by or probably just a few minutes. Y-et i-t felt like a lifetime had actually passed by.
Bloodshot veins traced their way along my sclera, as tears slowly ran down the corner of my eyes.
But...I soon regained my calm.
Forcing down the gnawing emptiness clawing at me with each ragged breath. I slowly forced down the despair and hollowness that clung and tightened around my chest like a vice.
I exhaled sharply.
Forcing myself to my feet.
Based on the moments that had just gone by and the silence that stretched forth, tangling with the endless darkness that stretches for as far as my eyes could see.
...And the silent unease that gnawed at me. I could easily come to the conclusion that i only had a few minutes before the Amaraith begins the battle façade.
Carrying my weakly battered body towards the door, my eyes pierced through the endless darkness. I already had the map in my head, the route to get there and all that. All i had to do now was map out the three zones surrounding my destination.
With balled fists and hardened resolve, I dashed into the endless darkness.
Pushing past the tremor in my hands, I sprinted into the dark. Navigating the alleys with precision born of countless failed escapes.
My heart thumped hard and fast, brutally slamming against my chest, and each breath of mine was ragged and cold to the extreme.
My lungs burnt and f-elt cold at the same time.
A weird mixture that sent cold chills down my spine as I gasped for breath.
My legs sent silent echoes through the dark cobblestones beneath me as i dashed into various alleyways.
Easily avoiding the supernatural forces and creatures with practiced ease. After the twenty three resets- my skill in avoiding the dangerous zones and the bigger dogs had increased tremendously.
I knew where to pass through and when to pass by. I knew most of the supernatural forces and creatures manning the areas, and other times i knew the poisonous plants that tower like ancient sentinels, their branches piercing upward as though to pierce through the heavens itself, roots thicker and harder than the hardened cobblestones.
Of course, from experience. I knew the best thing one could do after sighting this dark, nightmarish entities was to bolt.
Run away.
Run for your life.
Just do anything to get away from them.
'Anything.'
In addition, i had also learnt in the cruelest of ways- just how violent their leaves could be.
How fast and ruthless their trunks could be, and how malevolent the nightmarish trees themselves could be. And my various resets had thought me well enough to know to avoid one after sighting it.
And so, i branched immediately after seeing one.
Making use of the map i had in my head. I dashed through the desolate silence.
The endless darkness lingering just behind my eyesight, while the constant threat of various supernatural forces and creatures clawed and gnawed at the walls of my mind.
My heart thumped hard and fast, slamming onto my ribs with s-uch strenuous force that sent blood surging to my head. My eyes grew extremely blurry for a second there as i forcefully bit down on my lips.
The world returned to its normal dark shade, and my lungs felt as though they were being burnt and crucified under a blacksmith's anvil.
It was painful.
Hellish painful.
Yet I couldn't afford to stop.
The thought of being caught or chased down by the Amaraith sent cold chills down my spine.
Dread and desperation slowly settling within me.
My eyes flickered with determination for a second there as i propelled myself forward.
A supernatural creature was just on the verge of moving into the winding road ahead of me.
My heart tightened around my chest, fear creeping in with each breath I took.
Instinctively, my body reacted as i dove to my right.
Rolling as i hid behind a dark wall.
My heart thumped and rippled with such powerful force...that it sent my heart slamming violently against my ribs.
My body trembling in fear.
I struggled to calm down.
Struggled to calm my rapidly beating heart.
Including
The drops of pespiration dripping down my forehead as the creature slowly made its way towards my position.
I could feel the subtle echoes running across the ground.
The terrifying change in the atmosphere.
I could feel it all with abysmal clarity.
My eyes darted to my left, eyes piercing through the endless darkness.
Hesitation settled within me.
Yet I knew i had no choice.
I could only hope for a branched route that would get me back on the right track.
Having made my decision, i struggled to go on with it.
Gritting my teeth as the supernatural creature inched closer and closer.
Despair and desperation flickered within my eyes every once in a while.
And with each breath i took, every step the malevolent creature took towards my hidden position.
...The more desperate i became.
Despair clutching onto my chest like a vice.
Fuck it all!.
I yelled inwardly.
And with a sudden burst of adrenaline.
I pushed off, sprinting for the nearest room.
The noice ihe had created seem to have alarmed the creature who bolted towards my hidden position.
There and then, It seemed to sense something in the air.
The Fear and Dread.
It was perceptible.
Eeriely perceptible
Not only was it just feeling it. It also knew where it was coming from.
It bolted into the room, and instead of making use of the broken window just as I had.
It instead, broke open the door.
But by the time it did that, i already had a change of plan.
A sudden burst of instinct and then, i pushed off, sprinting for the nearest window.
Glass shattered around me as i crashed through, rolling onto the cobblestones at a violent pace.
Crash!
Bang!
Pain!!!
Terrible pain shot through me, but I gritted my teeth and shoved it down.
Now was not the time.
I scrambled upright.
Lungs burning, eyes darting.
And then...I started running once again.
By the time the supernatural creature managed to break open the seemingly fragile door and then the next.
I had already bursted into another alleyway.
'That was a close call.'
I heaved a sigh of relief.
Now on the right track.
I knew for ten meters ahead, it was an absolute safe zone and i intend to make the best use of it.
And so i ran.
I ran like there was no tomorrow.
I didn't pause not even for a second.
I couldn't pause.
The fear of being caught- or wrose, having to end it and start all over again - spurred me to run faster, every single muscle within my feeble body strained to its breaking point.
Because i knew there wouldn't really be a tomorrow if i managed to get caught by the Amaraith.
It pushed me to run even faster.
To the point of moving beyond what my body could withstand.
Yet...I wasn't satisfied.
I wanted more.
More speed!
'...fucking move faster!'
I yelled inwardly, veins wriggling effortlessly across my body, as the endless darkness threatened to swarm over my vision.
As I ran, i gasped for breath.
My eyes at this point had grown extremely blurry. Bloodshot veins tracing their way across my sclera and yet, i still managed to get a hold of myself as i ran with every ounce of strength contained within me.
I never looked back.
I couldn't look back.
I just kept running and running, and despite the tremendous strain that echoed through every fiber of my being.
I kept going.
I kept running with everything he had got.
Pushing myself beyond my limits as i approached the end of the ten meters safe zone.