Beep!
Oliver's eyes began to open as a ray of light hit his face. The sun was about to rise, and his body felt stiff. The exhaustion was still there, but lighter now.
"Shit, did I pass out?"
He started examining his surroundings and saw himself lying in the middle of dozens of branches, roots, and leaves. Then, as he got up and stepped out of the nest, he realized he was still at the center of that arena, though now it resembled an old World War II battlefield, filled with craters.
[71:59:59]
[Saturation: 50 → 55%]
"Son of a bitch! I passed out the whole night… Fuck!"
Startled, Oliver stood up and looked at himself. Many of his wounds had closed, but the bruises remained. A delayed headache came crashing down, and his jaw still felt slightly dislocated.
What worried him most, though, was the bloodstained fang. It looked soaked in even more blood, and worse, cracks now spread across its entire length. It seemed ready to shatter at any moment, but somehow, the blood in the cracks was holding it together.
"You really don't want to give up, do you? Hehehehehe…"
Oliver tucked his faithful fang into his waistband, where it rested beside his trusted coat. He might've been kind-hearted, but there was no way he'd leave that coat in Nikki's hands.
Looking around, he noticed the bodies were gone. As crazy as it was, this place was clearly soaked in magic, and he had zero mental bandwidth left to make sense of it all.
Aline was still in danger, and at this point, her death felt like a real possibility. Oliver began marching down the path lined with trees, hoping, just barely, that no other creature would ambush him.
Well… maybe being ambushed wouldn't be so bad. At least it'd mean he could hunt something to eat. Hours passed, and thirst struck like a curse, but not as harsh as the hunger clawing at his stomach.
The sun had reached its peak when he saw a forest at the end of the tree-lined path. The signature shadowy roots and dense canopies that let in almost no light painted the scene.
Anyone might think the heat would ease once under the trees, but logic didn't seem to apply here. The stifling air and unbearable heat wrapped around him and it felt like the forest itself was sweating.
"I need to find the end of this nightmare… Wait, why didn't I have a nightmare last night?"
Every night, Oliver had a nightmare, it had become routine. But this time, nothing. It was like someone had flipped a switch off and on again.
A chill ran down his spine, despite the heat. It didn't feel right. It was like he'd been abandoned… like no one was watching over him anymore. That's when it finally hit him... he was alone. In a completely magical forest, surrounded by all kinds of abominations.
Fear started to take hold, and dark thoughts began flooding in even ones about ending it all quickly. But then, a voice came to his mind:
"If you're scared, fight while scared…"
That phrase echoed in his head like a damn mantra. Before he knew it, the fear was still there, in his chest, but controlled. His body re-engaged, just in time to see a clearing opening up ahead.
"What the hell was that just now?... That wasn't normal… I'm sure of it. Even after everything that happened: my dad dying, the betrayal, I've never had thoughts like that before… Was it some kind of attack?"
Oliver tightened his grip on the fang's hilt and raised his guard to the max. This clearing was the end, whatever he was looking for was right there.
Waiting for him like a damn architect pulling strings from the shadows for this exact moment… or at least hoping he wouldn't get this far.
He shielded his eyes and waited for them to adjust to the light. Once the blinding brightness faded, he saw it. A wooden throne, carved with lion figures all over.
The sky seemed to focus every beam of light onto the center of the clearing, while the world around him remained shrouded in darkness. The grass glowed green, and the roots on the border of the forest were rotting away.
Farther back, the sight made Oliver's heart race. A single tear slid down his face. He couldn't explain how, after just a few days, he'd come to value them so deeply and to see them as something he needed to protect. But this hell had forged a bond, one that chained him to them.
If it weren't for David, he wouldn't have had the moral support to go on.
If it weren't for Lucas, he'd have had to fight barehanded.
If it weren't for Gael, who lost an arm to protect them, the weight of failure would've dragged Oliver back into depression.
And if it weren't for Aline, he wouldn't have awakened that sense of duty toward them.
And now, in this moment… All of them were tied up in vines, deep in the shadows behind the wooden throne. Unconscious. Looking more fragile than Oliver had ever seen them.
He almost ran toward them, but then… a voice.
One he could never forget.
His world shattered.
"You finally found me… Now we can go home together and see your mom. I'm sure she misses me."
Sitting on the throne, legs crossed. Wearing military fatigues and every insignia he once had. A man with a thick mustache, military haircut, and dark skin that made his piercing green eyes stand out.
Oliver read the name stitched onto his uniform.
"Wellington Enallume", his father.