From a distance, a pale and sickly-looking boy trudged under the scorching desert sun. His dust-filled white hair whipped around as the wind blew, each step a struggle. His dusty white tunic clung to his frail body, and his bare feet, having lost both shoes, were blistered and bleeding.
Enel had been in the desert for hours. He wasn't wandering aimlessly anymore; he saw a distant light, reflecting the sun's rays. His parched lips and sunken eyes were a testament to his dehydration and hunger. Despite his weakening state, he pressed on, each step heavier than the last. The light seemed to mock him, staying just out of reach no matter how far he walked.
He decided to walk further. If the distance didn't change, well... he was doomed to die, so he continued.
After walking some more, he finally collapsed, the sand harsh against his frail body. Regret and pain filled his heart as he thought, "After everything the village gave for me to survive, is this... is this how I repay them by dying and making their deaths vain?" He got up, refusing to give up, and filled with a new sense of resolve, continued onward.
He thought of going back to the forest he came from but quickly decided against it. That would be certain death. The people who destroyed his village were likely still hunting him, and they would surely catch him in the forest. This was why he chose the desert, a place rumored to be filled with beasts, monsters, and demons. Yet, he hadn't encountered a single creature, making him question the myths.
It was while he was deep in thought that he noticed the light. He knew it had to be something, so he started walking towards it. But Enel wasn't sure about anything anymore. Maybe there were magical creatures residing in the desert, and that light was a mirage or an illusion conjured up by one of the creatures. If that was true, staying here would mean death because one of those creatures would surely run into him. So he had two options, both of which could lead to his death, but he knew any decision he took would present a chance of survival and an equal chance of death. He made up his mind to keep walking because that was the option that offered the highest chance of survival.
As he was about to move, he felt the ground vibrate. "Huh, what just happened?" he managed to squeeze those words out of his mouth. He continued walking. He was going to walk until night, and if he didn't reach the source of the light, he would try to wait out the night without dying. The more he walked, the more he felt the vibrations increase. Sometimes they felt like tremors. His steps became hurried, and he soon decided to muster every ounce of strength in his body to try and run when the ground shook more violently this time and threw him to the ground.
He stood up, disoriented, and shook the sand off his body. Thankfully, the light was still there, so he didn't lose his sense of direction. He looked around him, but everything seemed normal. The tremors stopped. His instincts were screaming at him to run away, but he couldn't see anything or any anomaly that would make him flee. "Why do I feel like sudden...ugh, enough. There's nothing wrong. I just need to calm down and remember what Grandma Lisa once said. Besides, running will only drain me of whatever energy I have left. I'll be left vulnerable and unable to run when the creatures of the desert, if they exist, attempt to attack me, so I'll just continue walking."
However, when he took a step forward, he felt the whole surrounding area quake. The pressure he had been feeling since increased. This time, it was suffocating, pushing him into the sand. Even the sand seemed to be crushed. "Wh...what is this...feeling? Even the sand is being affected?" His thoughts were hard to form. He coughed out blood, and it hurt, but he couldn't scream because his dehydration and hunger had made him weak. His head felt hazy, and everything seemed blurry. He was about to pass out, but his will to survive held him, keeping him conscious. He wanted to force himself to stand up under the pressure, but he couldn't—it felt like pushing against a wall.
Then, the ground shuddered again. This time, the ground tore open, and a creature emerged with such force that it seemed like it had been thrown out. Not too far from where Enel was, the creature looked like a fusion of a hornet and a beetle. It had a glossy obsidian back that shone with an ethereal light in the desert. It didn't look like it belonged to the surrounding desert. The creature possessed eight legs—well, it had eight legs at one point, but now it had only four, which could barely hold its weight. It also had long tentacles curled underneath its body; some were cleanly cut off, while others were violently ripped off. It had a broken stinger at the end of its body, two long pincers at the front of its mouth, and four black eyes with eyelids that closed sideways. Its back had four wings, three of which were ripped apart. Only one remained intact.
Enel couldn't see the creature because when it tore through the ground, Enel was thrown a few dozen meters toward the light. He was momentarily stunned, let out a pained groan, and finally regained his senses. He tried to stand, but his entire body ached. Laying down for a few moments, he forced himself to stand. He looked forward and saw the light, relieved that whatever had been crushing him didn't seem to affect him here.
Then, he turned towards where he had been thrown from, and his body froze in fear. He was filled with cold sweat when he saw the creature. He fell to the ground and thought, "Ju...st... just what the hell is that?" He came back to his senses and started running toward the light, because the creature didn't seem to notice him.
"Crap, crap, crap, what the hell is that? Just when I thought there were no monsters here, that thing decided to prove me wrong. Thankfully, I didn't run. That was a blessing in disguise, and I didn't break a bone."
While running, he was surprised at where he found the strength to keep going, but he didn't pay it much attention because he needed to get as far away from the monster as possible. It was while he was at a distance away from the monster that he heard a large screeching sound. He held his ears and continued running, this time faster because he had been spotted. The creature started chasing him, moving with incredible speed. When Enel looked back, he saw that the monster was covering large distances in seconds. He felt more horror and dread as it grew closer. Finally, it was close enough for Enel to see its true size—it stood at almost four meters, and it was clearly injured.
"What the hell... it's injured, and it can still move this fast. Thankfully, its wings were cut off. If not, I would not be having this thought..."
His thoughts were interrupted by long tentacles shooting from below the ground, almost killing him on the spot if he hadn't dodged them at the last minute. He turned his head and saw the monster had stopped moving, but then it resumed its relentless pursuit. Enel turned his head forward again, and this time, the pool of water was clearly visible. Only there was a crater below, but it wasn't too vast. He didn't want to risk turning around, as the monster might catch up to him.
Without a second thought, he jumped into the crater and started running again. When he turned his head, he saw that the monster wasn't chasing him anymore. Instead, it had turned around. Enel felt thankful and finally, exhausted from running, he lay down and laughed.
He continued his journey. Luckily for him, the crater wasn't too deep, nor was it too wide. It took only a few minutes for him to pass the center. He passed through some oddly shaped rocks that protruded from the ground, sometimes forming shades, but he didn't pay them any heed and continued toward the end.
He came across a pile of bones, and the floor was smeared with blood. Not wasting another second, he ran, and finally reached the end. He climbed out of the crater.
"Finally, the light," he said to himself. The pool wasn't far. He approached it and drank the water greedily. After that, he fell to the ground and drifted into a tired slumber.