by Zy J. Rykoa
* * *
Abruptly, Jaden sat up straight. He was ready to run, his eyes searching for anything near. He had felt something, something close … something alien. It was sharp, almost to the point of inflicting pain. It almost felt like a spear such as there had been at the waterfall in Callibra.
His eyes darted right. He had seen a flicker. They darted left, this time he had felt something move. He stood up and backed away from the rock, trying to keep his eyes focused on everything before him.
Silence.
He remained on edge, but soon relaxed. There was nothing there, not even a creature stirring nearby. He was alone.
He shook his head. His tiredness had allowed his imagination to overcome him, a simple traveller’s error his father had told him about. Often on the road, his father had spoken of times he found himself seeing and feeling things that were not there, just as Jaden was now. It could easily have made a man go crazy if he were not careful. His father had then said to find something else to focus on, something outside of one’s mind—a stone, a scent, a sound, or even the sky. This would stop the mind from wandering to places it shouldn’t.
With a deep breath, Jaden searched for something he could focus on. There was no sound, all creatures were silent, and so he looked at the rings through the clouds. They were beautiful, as always, but he found no comfort in them, feeling strangely small underneath their vast size and height. The stones around his feet had the same effect, but made him feel the opposite, as if he were too big to be standing on this world, leaving him dizzy and slightly nauseated. Quickly he searched for a scent, anything that could take his mind away from whatever was going on, but could find nothing. He paused, standing completely still with only his eyes moving.
Something wasn’t right.
He couldn’t smell anything. This didn’t worry him too much, except that he could no longer hear anything either, even the stream had somehow silenced. He backed away, wishing for nothing more than to leave this place as soon as he could. It felt wrong. It felt evil. It felt … strangely attractive.
He continued to move away, resisting the temptation to walk back toward the large rock. A flicker caught his attention to his left, and then again to his right almost instantly after. This time he was sure he had seen blue flares floating briefly in the air before disappearing less than a second later, like fireflies of another realm visiting only briefly before returning home, or shooting stars that sped across the ground before fading into the atmosphere.
As he stepped out of the clearing, there was a low groaning sound, the first to break the silence, and what little colour there was in the darkness drained from the plants, stream and rocks, leaving them grey but with a blue tinge. Suddenly there was a flash, and he turned away as it knocked him to the ground, causing him to hit his head hard against a fallen tree trunk. His head bounced off and landed heavily onto the ground. The last thing he was able to remember was seeing a grey silhouette glide slowly past him before his vision faded, and he was left in absolute darkness.