I did shit!
The forest is a black maze, the night torn open by a storm that roars like a living thing. Rain lashes Yu's face, cold and sharp, soaking his torn clothes as he stumbles forward, barefoot, his feet raw and bleeding from jagged roots. Each step is a fight, his legs trembling, his right arm dangling useless, broken, the bone grinding with every jolt. Pain sears through him, a white-hot scream in his nerves. His stomach burns, deep claw marks oozing blood, staining his skin as he clutches the wounds. He's coughing, spitting blood that tastes of iron and fear, his breath ragged, chest heaving. Behind him, something moves fast, relentless, unseen. To look back is death. His mind screams, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. Why? Why me?
His heart pounds, a drumbeat in his ears, and then it happens, the world shifts. Colors drain to black and white, time slowing to a crawl, his mind sharp as a blade. That sixth sense, born in the ashes of his mother's death, kicks in. Down, he thinks, and he drops, flattening himself to the mud. Two seconds later, a blur of light slices through the air above him, so close it singes his hair, and slams into a tree ahead. The trunk glows sickly yellow, swelling unnaturally.
Time freezes again, the world monochrome, his pulse deafening. Yu's thoughts race: Right. He dives to the side, rolling into the underbrush as the tree explodes in a burst of splintered wood and fire. The shockwave shoves him, his wounded body slamming into the ground, knees buckling. He gasps, barely breathing, pain clawing his insides. Why? Why is this happening?
He forces himself up, counting seconds in his head, a desperate rhythm to keep sane. One, two, three… At a hundred, something stirs in the dark, a presence heavier than the storm. I'm tired of running, Yu thinks, his chest tight with rage and exhaustion. I'm so damn tired. He counts on two hundred, two hundred one, two hundred two, and then it comes: a beam of light, blinding, fast, aimed straight at his forehead.
The world stops again. His sixth sense screams, time locking in place, his eyes wide. I DON'T WANT TO DIE! The thought is a roar, defiance burning through the pain, his heart refusing to give in.
The beam of light cut through the storm, a searing streak aimed at Yu's forehead, close enough to burn the air. His sixth sense surged, time stretching like a held breath, and he snapped his head to the right, the light grazing his cheek with a sting of heat. His left arm—the one not broken—shot up, fingers closing around the yellow beam, he grabs the light. Pain erupted, his hand burning as if dipped in fire, the skin blistering under the unnatural glow, but he held tight, driven by a defiance deeper than reason. He rose to his feet, eyes still closed, the world sharp and alive around him. Eight minutes, his mind whispered, clear and certain. That's all I have. Eight minutes of this… awareness.
It wasn't just instinct anymore. He could sense everything the rain's rhythm, the twist of roots beneath the mud, the pulse of life within 500 square meters. The forest felt like an extension of his own body, every sound and shadow vivid. And there, ahead, was the creature a presence so heavy it pressed against his thoughts, alien and wrong. Yu opened his eyes, the storm's roar fading to a distant hum, and saw it: a shape forming in the darkness, its edges shimmering with the same sickly yellow as the beam, neither human nor spirit, damn it's like I thought... it's a bestial Soul
How had it come to this? The memory flickered, jagged and raw: his exile from the cave, the Elder's servant's cold eyes as he marked an X on his back.
Yu's hand trembled, still burning, but he stepped forward, eyes locked on the creature. His heart roared with fear and fury, and he advanced, ready to face whatever stood before him.
I'd rather become a Heretic than go back to that cave... I'm free