"Huh… Huh… Huh…"
Heavy breaths were heard through a space without echo.
A large reptilian figure ran through the darkness, claws scraping against ground it could not see, lungs burning, limbs trembling. There was no sun above. No moon, stars, trees and certainly no flowers.
There was only blackness.
Pure, endless blackness.
The kind of blackness that did not merely hide things, but swallowed the very idea that things had ever existed in the first place.
The black-scaled lizard ran.
Its claws tore through unseen ground. Its tail whipped behind it. Its golden pupils darted left and right, searching for enemies, roads, walls, anything.
But there was nothing.
Only the sound of its own breathing and footsteps and the terrible certainty that something was behind it.
No, not behind exactly but…everywhere.
Stomp.
Stomp.
Stomp.
"Huh… Huh… Boss…"
The word escaped unconsciously, low and hoarse.
It did not know how long it had been running.
A few breaths? A day? A year?
Time did not seem to exist in this place. It stretched and twisted like a lazy snake that had eaten too much and no longer cared about its responsibilities.
The lizard only knew one thing.
If it stopped, it would be caught.
And if it was caught…
It did not know what would happen but every scale on its body screamed that it must never find out.
THUD.
Something cold clamped around its hind leg.
The lizard's pupils shrank.
"Grrr!"
It twisted mid-run and slashed downward with its claws. Its sharp talons tore through the darkness, striking the thing that had grabbed it.
It was a hand, a pitch-black hand.
Five thin fingers had risen from the ground, wrapping around its leg like roots, nails sinking between its scales.
The lizard's claws struck it.
But as usual nothing happened.
There was no blood, no wounds, not even a sound of a strike.
Its claws passed through the hand like smoke, yet the fingers around its leg remained solid, cold, and unyielding.
The lizard's eyes narrowed.
But before the thought could finish, something brushed its side.
Another hand, then another and another.
If one looked closer, one would see that countless black hands had already attached themselves to its body. Some gripped its legs. Some clung to its tail. Some pressed against its scales and dragged their fingers across old scars as if caressing a long-lost child.
The lizard's heart hammered.
What it felt was a mixture of fear and terror but also strangely…warmth.
The hands were cold to the touch, yet somewhere deep inside, where instinct and soul tangled together like badly organized vines, the lizard felt something familiar. Something calling, like something was welcoming it.
And that terrified it more than anything.
Then the hands pulled.
The lizard's body lurched downward.
"GRAAAH!"
It slammed its claws into the unseen ground, muscles bulging, scales creaking under the strain. The force dragging it down was not strong in the ordinary sense. No, strength could be resisted. Strength could be fought with claws, teeth but this was different.
The pull came from beneath its existence.
It did not drag only its body.
The lizard roared and tried to run again.
One step.
Two steps.
The hands stretched.
Three steps.
More hands rose.
Four-
Its leg buckled.
The lizard crashed forward, chin striking the invisible ground. Pain shot through its jaw. It scrambled up immediately, refusing to stay down.
The last time it had felt this kind of terror was when it had first hatched.
Back then, it had been small and weak.
A black-scaled hatchling barely larger than a leaf, surrounded by hungry eyes in a world where every rustle of grass meant death. A snake's shadow had passed over it.
That had been the first time it understood.
It was prey.
And now, after all its battles, after becoming the fiercest lizard in the flower field, after standing beside the Boss and crushing otherworlders beneath its claws…
That feeling had returned.
It was prey again.
"No!"
The lizard roared toward the darkness.
The darkness however did not answer.
Instead, more hands came.
They rose from beneath, some descended from above.
They stretched from the sides, from behind, from places where directions should not exist.
The lizard bit one hand wrapped around its shoulder. Its jaws closed with enough force to crush bone.
But nothing happened.
The hand did not break.
Another hand covered its mouth.
The lizard's roar turned into a muffled growl.
Hands wrapped around its nose.
Its breath caught.
Hands clamped around its limbs.
Its claws scraped uselessly.
Hands tangled around its tail.
Its balance vanished.
Then, slowly, several hands reached toward its eyes.
The lizard's pupils shook.
No.
No.
No.
It thrashed with everything it had. Its body twisted. Its claws tore. Its tail lashed. Its throat rumbled with a roar that should have shaken trees, shattered rocks, and sent lazy rabbits sprinting for their lives.
But here, there was none of that.
Only hands, countless hands.
The first finger touched its eye.
The lizard froze as the hands covered its eyes and the world disappeared.
It was dragged down and down…into the endless darkness.
"ROAAAAAR!"
The black-scaled lizard woke with a roar.
The sound blasted across the flower field and sent the nearest white rabbit flying straight into the air like a fluffy ball launched by divine punishment.
The rabbit flipped once, twice, and landed on its back with all four paws pointing toward the sky.
For one terrible second, silence followed.
Then the rabbit shot upright.
"Squeak! Squeak squeak!"
It bounced around happily, ears flapping with joy, as if being awakened by a traumatized lizard roar was a perfectly normal morning activity.
The black-scaled lizard did not share its enthusiasm.
"Hah… Hah… Hah…"
Its chest rose and fell violently. Its claws dug into the grass. Its eyes darted around in panic.
The familiar hill and the pond at the summit.
The scent of dirt, petals, rabbits, chickens, snakes, and the faint but unmistakable smell of poop made some shameless rabbits.
It was back in the flower field.
"So…" the lizard muttered, voice rough. "I did not die?"
It tried to stand.
Pain answered immediately.
A sharp strain tore through its limbs, followed by deep numbness.
"Kuh…!"
It lowered itself back down and looked over its body.
Scars.
Many new scars.
Long pale marks crossed its scales. Some wounds had only recently closed. Others still carried faint traces of dried blood. Its body looked like it had been beaten, dragged through a forest, thrown into a crater and then rudely returned with no explanation.
The lizard blinked.
"What… happened?"
Its last memory was clear.
The otherworlder.
The pink-haired one in white robes.
It had almost finished her.
One more strike, and she would have shattered into light like the others.
Then…its vision had gone dark.
One moment, it had been standing there.
The next, the world had folded into pain.
After that, it woke up in a dark place.
Followed by the endless chase.
The feeling of being dragged down like a mouse caught between the paws of a cat that had decided killing it immediately would be boring.
The lizard shuddered.
Around it, more creatures had gathered.
Rabbits bounced in place. Chickens clucked anxiously. Snakes lifted their heads from the grass. Smaller lizards crowded behind them, eyes shining with relief. Their squawks, hisses, squeaks, and growls overlapped into one chaotic song of happiness.
It took the black-scaled lizard a moment to understand.
They had been worried.
Its throat tightened slightly.
"Hmph," it muttered, turning its head aside. "Why are you all making so much noise? I only took a short nap."
Several chickens stared at it.
A nearby snake tilted its head as if asking, "Short?"
The lizard ignored them with the dignity of a creature who had absolutely not been unconscious for an embarrassing amount of time.
Then the crowd slowly parted.
The sounds quieted as something walked through them.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The black-scaled lizard looked up.
At first glance, it was the same figure.
Crimson feathers, sharp eyes and that familiar proud posture.
A chest puffed with the natural arrogance of one who believed the sky itself should wake up when he crowed.
It was the Boss or well, Richard.
"You are awake," Richard said, his voice calm.
The black-scaled lizard's eyes narrowed slightly.
"It's been a week." Richard tilted his head. "Had a good nap?"
The words were familiar.
The tone was familiar.
Even the faint edge of mockery was familiar.
And yet…
The lizard's claws tightened against the grass.
Something was different.
It could not explain what.
Richard looked the same. Moved the same. Spoke the same.
But the air around him felt wrong.
Before, the Boss had been like the sun over the flower field. Arrogant, warm, annoying, impossible to ignore, and somehow comforting even when he was kicking loyal subordinates down hills for the unforgivable crime of enjoying a peaceful nap.
Now…
Now standing near him felt like standing beside a flame that had forgotten it was meant to give warmth.
The light was still there.
But something inside it had cracked.
Richard's gaze swept over the lizard's body, then toward the gathered creatures.
"Now that everyone is able to stand on their feet…" he muttered, voice slightly strained, "it is time to begin."
The black-scaled lizard's heart jolted.
Questions rose in its mind.
What happened during the week it was asleep?
Why did the Boss feel like this?
What about that darkness?
Why did the thought of those hands make something deep inside it tremble with fear and longing?
There were many questions in its mind but then it remembered the otherworlders, a threat to their lives.
So questions could wait.
Duty came first.
The black-scaled lizard forced its trembling limbs beneath itself. Pain tore through its body, but it ignored it and stood as straight as it could.
"BOSS!"
It slammed one claw to its chest in an exaggerated salute so dramatic that several rabbits instinctively copied it despite not understanding why.
"What do you want me to do?"
Richard stared at him.
For a moment, the lizard thought it saw something flicker in those crimson eyes.
Pain? Relief? Guilt??
Then it vanished.
Richard turned toward the distant shimmer of the Novice Village.
"The...preparations are already complete" he said softly, "we depart now."
His claws sank into the soil followed by thousands of creatures.