Riding atop the horned Bengal tiger, the young man was finally able to see the world.
They left behind the gray edge of the Ash Field and entered the forest.
But this was no ordinary forest.
The trees were colossal.
Their trunks, as wide as towers, rose hundreds of meters before disappearing into layers of foliage suspended in green mist. Roots emerged from the ground like petrified serpents, forming natural arches beneath which the tiger passed without slowing down, or uneven rises that it had to leap over with impossible agility for a creature of its size.
Each jump was precise.
Each landing, silent.
The tiger moved with a flexibility that defied its mass. It was as if it weighed nothing.
The young man barely had time to process what he was seeing.
Flashes.
Giant shadows moving between the canopy. Vines as thick as bridges hanging between trees. Luminous fungi embedded in ancient trunks. Small creatures fleeing the vibration of the ground.
In those brief glimpses, his heart filled with fear.
Yet at the same time, a deep sense of adventure and anticipation tightened in his chest.
What awaits me in this world? he wondered silently.
The forest began to darken.
The canopy closed above them like a living roof. Sunlight barely penetrated, breaking into slanted beams that formed a green, humid, ancient tunnel.
The air felt colder. Denser. Filled with invisible life.
And then, in the distance… light.
It wasn't filtered sunlight.
It was something else.
An open glow.
The tiger accelerated.
Within seconds they burst through the tunnel of vegetation, and the beast stopped abruptly, leaning its body slightly to the right. Its claws dug violently into the soil with controlled force, sending a spiral of dust and dry leaves swirling behind them.
They had stopped at the edge of a cliff.
The young man blinked.
His eyes took a moment to adjust to the brightness.
And then he saw it.
The world.
It was enormous. Vast. Wild. Untamed.
The first thing he noticed was the sky.
There were two suns.
Not one.
Two.
Suspended beside each other, so close that their lights intertwined, creating a radiance more intense than any dawn he had ever known.
The tiger's double shadow stretched behind them.
Before his eyes extended an ocean of endless forest, a green sea that seemed to have no end. Some trees rose so high they literally pierced the low clouds, their crowns disappearing into white mist.
Small black specks moved high in the sky.
He swallowed.
If his estimation was correct, those distant shapes were not ordinary birds. Up close they must be flying monstrosities, creatures with enormous wings. Larger than any vulture he had ever seen. Perhaps large enough to carry cattle… or people.
A river cut across the landscape like a luminous scar.
It flowed calmly, winding between hills and massive roots, yet its color was not blue.
It was emerald.
It shimmered as if microscopic particles of light moved within it, reflecting the twin suns with green pulses that looked almost like heartbeats.
Even farther away, irregular mountains rose from the forest. Some appeared fractured, as if something colossal had torn the earth apart centuries ago. Others were covered in vegetation cascading down their slopes like vertical waterfalls.
Wind rose from the abyss, carrying with it a distant murmur.
It wasn't only nature.
It was movement. Activity. Organized life.
The young man narrowed his eyes.
Very, very far away…
Almost fused with the horizon.
Between faint columns of smoke and metallic reflections catching the light of the twin suns…
Something different from the forest seemed to rise.
Something geometric.
Something artificial.
A city.
Enormous.
Yet from that height he could only make out blurred silhouettes, towers barely visible, structures breaking the organic harmony of the landscape.
It was so distant that it was difficult to believe it truly existed.
The world was simply too large.
And for the first time since arriving here…
He understood that he was not only small compared to the tiger.
He was insignificant compared to everything else.
He stared into the vastness of the forest.
So absorbed was he that he didn't notice the thin strand of saliva slipping from his slightly open mouth.
He felt cold.
The thrill of adventure that had filled him moments ago vanished instantly.
How am I going to survive in this world?
The question crushed his chest with silent desperation.
The woman watched his reaction.
She had only wanted to scare him a little with the height of the cliff, nothing more. But the terror she saw in him was not superficial.
It was deeper.
And that unsettled her.
What frightened him so much?
Why had he been alone in the Ash Field?
Where had he gotten such a large haul?
And who… was he really?
She cleared her throat and pointed toward the distant city barely visible through the mist.
"See? It's only three days from here."
She patted the tiger affectionately.
"Little Sira will take us to our destination."
The dark-eyed young man did not answer.
He couldn't.
She patted the tiger again, and the beast descended, circling the cliff with silent agility.
A couple of hours passed.
The young man did not say a single word.
She kept watching the path and occasionally tried to start a conversation.
Nothing.
No response.
Finally she turned her head.
And what she saw made her frown.
The young man's gaze was empty.
As if his soul had left his body and only the shell remained.
She stopped abruptly.
The tiger halted.
And the young man fell sideways… without strength.
Between the darkness of night and the warmth of a campfire, the young man's eyes snapped open.
The first thing he saw was the impossible depth of the cosmos—a sky so vast it seemed to swallow the world.
He was lying on the ground.
His body ached, heavy and weak. His head throbbed as if something had struck it from the inside. Cold sweat ran across his forehead.
And yet… he wasn't uncomfortable.
A thin blanket covered him. A damp cloth rested on his forehead. The warmth of the fire illuminated his face with unexpected comfort.
Across the fire, the woman sat more comfortably, leaning against the tiger's fur. She stared into the flames, thoughtful, lost in her own mind.
Moonlight touched her skin.
Her face, bathed in silver and firelight, looked like a star suspended in the night.
Delicate.
Beautiful.
Dangerous.
"Whe… where am I?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
"In the forest," she replied coldly.
She paused briefly.
"You fainted. I had to find a safe place to camp. I forced food and water into your mouth… helped you chew it. Took care of your weak little backside."
The young man slowly moved until he was sitting upright. Now they faced each other, separated only by the fire.
He looked at her cautiously.
"Thank you…" he said quietly.
She held his gaze without softening it.
"I wasn't planning to ask you anything… but I checked your bag."
The silence tightened.
"And I saw the singularities."
The fire crackled.
The young man felt the warmth vanish from his body.
She knew.