I opened my eyes, but the sky above me wasn't the blue I was used to.
Instead, it shimmered like broken glass, the light fractured and scattered across a vast, endless expanse.
The ground beneath me hummed softly, as if alive, sending an odd pulse through my fingertips.
I blinked, trying to push away the fog in my mind.
Where was I?
What was this place?
Why couldn't I remember anything?
A strange sense of wrongness tugged at my thoughts.
I wasn't sure who I was, or even how I'd gotten here, but I knew one thing, I needed to move.
I sat up slowly, my hands bracing against the uneven surface beneath me.
The ground wasn't solid, not the way it should have been.
It seemed to stretch on forever, floating in the middle of an empty void.
The edges of the island I was on crumbled, pieces breaking off and drifting upward like glowing dust, disappearing into the dark expanse above.
"Where am I?" I muttered, the words barely escaping my throat.
The sound felt wrong, too.
I stood up, unsteady on my feet.
The world around me twisted in strange ways. Off in the distance, other islands floated some connected by bridges that seemed too fragile to exist, others suspended in midair like they defied the laws of physics.
The entire landscape felt wrong, like a dream or maybe a nightmare.
Suddenly, a low groan rattled through the ground beneath me, and I froze.
The surface cracked, splitting wide open as if some invisible force was pulling it apart.
My heart shot into my throat as the island I was standing on trembled and began to fall apart.
The sound of crumbling earth filled the air as chunks of rock and dirt plummeted into the abyss below.
The ground beneath my feet buckled, sending tremors through my legs.
"Move," I whispered, panic creeping up my spine, but my legs obeyed before my mind could catch up.
I broke into a run, the sound of the island breaking apart echoing around me.
The world felt like it was unraveling, and I didn't know why.
Each step I took sent more pieces of the island spiraling away, leaving nothing but empty space behind me.
I looked ahead at the edge of the island, where the ground dipped sharply into the void.
There was no way I could make that jump.
"No, no…" I muttered, staring at the gap.
The chasm between islands was too wide, too deep. It was impossible.
I turned to look behind me again, but the ground was crumbling faster now.
The island was coming apart, and I could feel it if I didn't move, I would be swallowed by the nothingness.
In that moment, I did something strange.
My hand shot up in front of me, as if I could command the world to listen. Heat spread from my chest, growing warmer, radiating out to my arm.
It was like some invisible force had seized me.
I didn't understand it, but something within me knew I had to act.
The air around me shimmered as if reality itself was bending.
The edges of the chasm began to glow, and before I could comprehend what was happening, tendrils of light shot out from the ground, weaving together to form a bridge.
It was delicate, thin more like spun glass than solid rock but it was a bridge, stretching from one island to the next.
I didn't hesitate.
The ground behind me split apart with another violent lurch, and I ran.
Every step I took made the bridge sway, creaking under my weight, threatening to shatter.
My heart pounded in my chest as I pushed forward, barely staying ahead of the collapse.
A crack echoed from behind me, followed by a loud snap.
The bridge began to unravel, its threads dissolving into shimmering light.
"No—!"
I threw myself forward, my hands outstretched, and managed to make it just as the last of the bridge dissolved into the air.
I tumbled onto the next island, rolling across the rough surface and crashing into the dirt.
I lay there for a moment, gasping, heart racing.
The reality of what had just happened hit me in waves.
What was this place?
What was I?
But I didn't have time to think.
A growl sliced through the air.
I bolted upright, my chest still heaving.
A figure emerged from the mist a shape that twisted unnaturally, flickering and rippling, like it was made of liquid fear.
The creature's form seemed to shift as it moved, its limbs stretching and warping in grotesque ways.
It saw me.
Before I could react, it lunged.
The creature's claws reached out, cutting through the air with a sickening swish.
Instinct kicked in, and I ducked just in time, narrowly avoiding its swipe.
My heart was pounding in my ears, and I scrambled backward, desperate to get away.
I had no weapon. No plan. I was completely unprepared.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something glowing a fragment of light, hovering just a few feet away.
My body reacted before my mind could catch up.
I lunged toward it, my fingers brushing against its surface.
The moment I touched it, a shockwave of energy rippled outward, hitting the creature and sending it flying backward.
The thing screeched, its form flickering and destabilizing, before it vanished into the air like a wisp of smoke.
I stood there, panting, staring at my hand. The fragment hovered in front of me, glowing faintly as if it had a life of its own.
I reached out again, and the moment my fingers brushed against it, the air around me crackled, as if the world itself was responding.
But before I could understand what was happening, a sharp voice cut through the haze of my thoughts.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
I whipped around, startled, my heart jumping into my throat.
A figure stood at the edge of the island, cloaked in shifting light.
It silhouette was sharp against the chaotic landscape, it form standing resolute amid the crumbling world.
The ground trembled beneath me again, the cracks spreading faster.
"Run!" the figure shouted.
I didn't hesitate. I bolted, the ground crumbling beneath my feet, the world falling apart around me.
Whatever was happening, I didn't understand it.
But I had no choice.
I followed the figure into the unknown, the very fabric of Elysia tearing apart as we ran.