The world around Ezra seemed to collapse in on itself, everything turning to shadows and mist. It was as if the very ground beneath his feet had betrayed him.
One moment, he was standing in the dim, oppressive hallway of the school, and the next, the earth gave way—*crack!*—and a door opened beneath him, sending him tumbling into an abyss of darkness.
*What the hell?* Ezra thought, panic rising in his chest. *Am I dead?*
He could feel the air rushing past him, the sensation of falling endless and suffocating. "N-o-t y-e-t... I d-o-n-t w-a-n-t t-o g-o b-a-c-k y-e-t," a voice rasped, its tone chilling, not from his own mind, but from the creature that had been hunting him.
It echoed in his ears, sending shivers down his spine.
As they fell together into the abyss, the world around him was consumed by darkness.
There was no light, no sound, only the crushing weight of the unknown pressing in from every direction. Ezra squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the sensation, the dizziness, the sickening drop. It felt like an eternity, his body spinning endlessly through the void.
*I can't see anything...* Ezra's mind whirled, trying to comprehend what was happening.
*It feels like I've been falling for hours...*
Suddenly, he felt the weight of gravity shift, and a strange sensation took hold. With a deep breath, he dared to open his eyes, and the sight that greeted him made his heart race even faster.
Above him, the sky was a void, black and endless, like a bottomless well of despair. But below, the clouds parted, revealing an expanse of land far, far beneath him.
It was as though he were plummeting from the very heavens themselves, falling straight into the unknown world below.
*Wait... I'm in the air?* Ezra thought, his mind racing to process the impossible. *How is this even happening?*
He looked up again and saw only darkness, thick and suffocating, but as he continued to fall, the clouds blurred and shifted around him. Below him, the world spread out like a vast, alien landscape—a twisted, ominous world of jagged mountains, dense forests, and rivers that glowed with a strange, unearthly light.
There was no sign of life, no movement, just an oppressive silence hanging in the air.
The ground was approaching fast. With a sickening thud, Ezra crashed into a river, the force of the impact knocking the air from his lungs.
He fought against the current, struggling to stay afloat as the water dragged him downstream. His body screamed in pain, bruised and battered, but he managed to crawl to the riverbank, his breath ragged and uneven.
He coughed violently, blood splattering from his mouth as he doubled over. His hand instinctively pressed against his side, feeling the warm, sticky sensation of blood seeping through his clothes. The pain was unbearable, his body trembling from the impact and the chilling cold of the water.
"Where am I?" He gasped, the reality of his situation dawning on him. "And where's that damn monster?"
He threw his sword down with a growl of frustration, the blade landing with a dull clang on the ground beside him. His backpack came off next, discarded without a second thought. The pain was too much to bear.
"How the hell did I end up in the sky?"Ezra looked around frantically, trying to piece together what had just happened. The world he was in felt wrong—distorted, twisted, like something out of a nightmare.
"What is this place?" His heart hammered in his chest, dread rising. "Is this... hell?"
The air was thick with a strange, oppressive energy, like the very atmosphere was alive, watching him.
The ground beneath him was cracked and scarred, jagged rocks jutting out at odd angles, and a dark, foggy mist crept along the edges of the river.
Nothing here seemed natural, nothing familiar. It was a world ruled by chaos, where monsters roamed free and humanity was nothing more than prey.