Chương 2: Chapter 2: Skeleton

A dense, white fog blanketed the area, clinging to the ground like a restless phantom. It swirled and shifted under the strong gusts of wind that carried grains of sand across the desolate land. Amidst this eerie silence.

A figure lay motionless... a skeleton sprawled on the blood-red sand, its head tilted toward the ground. The faint warmth of the sand seeped into the brittle bones, contrasting sharply with the icy touch of the fog that enveloped everything.

Kael stirred.

A strange sensation prickled at the edges of his consciousness. It wasn't pain, but an odd combination of warmth and coolness, as if fire and ice danced across his being. He groaned, a soundless effort that came from deep within him, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, thoughts began to form.

'Is this... how the dead feel?'

The fog felt heavy yet strangely comforting, as though it sought to lull him into a state of calm.

'Everything feels so... peaceful,' he mused, surprised by the weightlessness of his existence. 'No worries, no burdens. This is... relaxing.'

But the tranquility didn't last. A question whispered from the depths of his mind, breaking the silence.

'After death, where do we go?'

Kael lingered in this thought. 'Who knows... I don't know either.'

Before he could sink deeper into contemplation, a sharp jolt coursed through him. The sensation was alien hot and cold at once, like fire and ice pressed against his very soul. His entire being seemed to thrum with energy, an unsettling rhythm that refused to be ignored. He winced, his nonexistent heart pounding in confusion.

'This isn't normal… My body… it feels soo… alive?'

Instinctively, his eyelids fluttered open or at least, that is what he thought. The fog was all he could see, thick and impenetrable. It clung to his surroundings like a stubborn veil, distorting everything beyond it.

"Fog?" he muttered, his voice hoarse and unsteady. The sound startled him, it felt too real.

His gaze darted around in search of familiarity, though his vision swam with the effort. The persistent throbbing in his skull made him wince.

"Where… am I?"

Slowly, Kael forced himself upright, grains of sand cascading from his form as he moved. His limbs felt stiff, unfamiliar, and oddly mechanical. He dusted himself off instinctively but froze mid-motion. His eyes widened, and his breathing if it could even be called that hitched.

His hand.

The hand he raised to his face was not flesh and blood. It was bone pure, white, and impossibly clean.

"My… my hand!"

The words came out as a strangled gasp. Kael staggered back, his skeletal feet scraping against the crimson sand. Panic surged through him like a tidal wave.

His hollow chest throbbed with phantom beats, confusion seeping through every bone, Kael brought trembling hands to his face. The cold, hard sound of bone meeting bone echoed in the silence. His hollow fingers traced the contours of a skull, and a chill unlike any other coursed through him.

"impossible... No!"

Kael fell to the ground, clutching his skull in disbelief. His screams shattered the oppressive quiet, a haunting sound that reverberated through the endless fog.

'This has to be a dream. It has to be.'

Desperation clawed at him as he clenched his bony fist and punched himself hard. The sharp crack of bone-on-bone reverberated again. He looked down at his hand, praying for some sign that this nightmare had ended.

But the skeletal hand remained.

Reality hit him like a hammer. He wasn't dreaming. He was alive. He was… a skeleton.

"Impossible…" Kael whispered, his voice trembling with despair. His hands curled into fists as he slammed one into the ground. A small crater formed beneath his knuckles, revealing more of the peculiar red sand.

'Red?'

The realization made him pause. The sand wasn't ordinary it shimmered faintly, its color an unsettling shade of crimson. It felt hot to the touch, sharp enough to burn, though Kael's fleshless form was immune to its effects.

'Why is the sand so hot… but the air so cold?'

Kael's mind raced with questions. 'What am I? Where am I? How did I end up like this?'

His thoughts swirled in chaos, each one more daunting than the last. Frustration welled up within him, and he collapsed onto his back, staring into the endless fog above.

Through the suffocating haze, his mind drifted to a memory.

'Marie…'

The thought of his cousin or perhaps sister, given their bond brought a fleeting sense of warmth. 'I hope she's doing well.'

The memory was a brief solace, but it couldn't hold back the tide of questions clawing at him.

Kael tried to piece together his fragmented thoughts, forcing himself to focus. He needed answers.

But before he could delve deeper, a sound cut through the silence a sharp, hissing noise.

Kael froze. His hollow eyes darted to the side, scanning the fog.

'What… was that?'

The hiss came again, louder this time, closer. Kael turned slowly, every instinct screaming at him to be cautious. The fog seemed to writhe as if something moved within it.

'I'm not alone…'