"Ah... Ah ah ah..."
Laughter.
It was the first thing Ryuji heard.
Familiar laughter.
Laughter he had not heard in a very long time.
A blinding light prevented him from opening his eyes properly. Instinctively, he raised his right hand to shield them before slowly making out what stood before him.
A silhouette.
Then a face.
A face he knew.
A face he should never have seen again.
"Come on, grab my hand."
Soren.
His smile was exactly the same as before.
Natural.
Carefree.
As if nothing had happened.
As if neither of them had been betrayed.
As if neither of them had died.
For a few seconds, Ryuji remained frozen.
Then, almost mechanically, he reached out his hand.
His only hand.
Soren grabbed it and pulled him to his feet.
Once standing, Ryuji looked down at his body.
His left arm was gone.
All that remained was a bandaged stump.
The scars from his battle against Marcellus and the Basilisk were still visible all over him.
Soren followed his gaze.
Then burst out laughing.
"You with one arm missing... honestly, that's hilarious."
"..."
"I remember how you always used to say that one-armed manga characters looked cool."
Ryuji stared at what remained of his arm for a few moments.
Then looked away.
Finally, he glanced around.
And discovered where he was.
An endless expanse of water.
Stretching beyond sight.
The water was so clear it resembled a mirror more than an ocean.
Every step he took sent gentle ripples of light across its surface.
The sky above him was empty.
No sun.
No clouds.
No horizon.
Only an infinite white radiance.
"What's wrong?" Soren asked. "You're a lot quieter than usual."
Ryuji kept observing his surroundings.
Then let out a faint sigh.
"I've matured, that's all."
For a second, silence settled between them.
Then Soren burst into laughter.
A genuine laugh.
A sincere laugh.
A laugh that painfully reminded Ryuji of a bygone era.
A time when everything still seemed possible.
Ryuji turned his back on him.
He didn't want to look any longer.
He knew.
Deep down.
He knew something was wrong.
This wasn't a memory.
This wasn't real.
"A dream..."
he murmured.
And yet...
Something bothered him.
A sensation.
A warmth.
A warmth that was slowly increasing.
Very slowly.
As though something were burning.
His body.
His organs.
His blood.
He frowned.
Then looked down at the water beneath his feet again.
And his heart froze.
The water had changed.
The crystal blue was gone.
In its place...
red.
A deep red.
Blood red.
Yet despite its scarlet color, the water remained transparent.
And what it revealed beneath its surface instantly sent a chill through Ryuji's veins.
Bodies.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Corpses.
He could see them floating in the depths.
Silent.
Motionless.
He recognized several faces.
His companions.
The heroes who had been summoned alongside him.
Some he had watched die.
Others he had never seen again.
And then more.
Strangers.
Men.
Women.
Warriors.
Elders.
Children.
All dead.
All swallowed by this scarlet sea.
"What the..."
His breathing quickened.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Then another.
And another.
A primal fear.
Instinctive.
A fear he had not felt before Marcellus...
Nor before the Basilisk...
Nor even before the Golem.
He wanted to step back.
But his legs refused to move.
His throat tightened.
He tried to speak.
No sound came out.
Then he felt something.
A breath.
Behind him.
A warm breath.
Immense.
Like that of a living volcano.
His entire body stiffened.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
He turned his head.
Then his gaze rose.
Higher.
Higher.
Higher.
Until it met an eye.
A single eye.
Gigantic.
Red.
Shining like a dying star.
An eye that seemed to have been watching him for eternity.
Standing before him was a dragon.
A true dragon.
Its skin was covered in dark crimson scales.
Some were almost black.
Its body seemed to stretch infinitely.
As though its mere presence was enough to fill this entire world.
Ryuji felt his heart skip a beat.
Then another.
He could no longer breathe.
Move.
Think.
The dragon slowly opened its jaws.
And for a brief instant, Ryuji thought he saw a smile appear on its face.
Then all his fear exploded.
"AAAAAAAH!!"
He screamed.
---
Ryuji's eyes snapped open.
His body jerked upright.
His breathing was ragged.
His heart pounded wildly in his chest.
Large beads of sweat ran down his face.
A faint trail of smoke rose from his skin.
As though his body had become a furnace.
But he noticed none of it.
His eyes were still searching for the dragon.
Still searching for that monstrous creature.
Then he realized.
He was in a room.
Lying on a bed.
Sunlight streamed through an open window.
The air smelled of medicinal herbs.
Calm.
Silence.
The real world.
Then a voice rang out.
A familiar voice.
"You're finally awake."
Ryuji turned his head.
Sitting on a chair beside the bed was Aeryn.
Her arms crossed.
Her legs elegantly folded.
She had apparently been watching him for quite some time.