Nicholas did not know where he was going.
He only knew he could not stop.
The ground blurred beneath his feet as he ran through smoke and heat, his breath tearing in and out of his chest in uneven bursts. The air burned his lungs, thick with ash and something sharper...that tasted like endings.
Behind him, Otukpo roared.
Not like a village.
Like something alive, breaking apart.
"Keep running," he whispered to himself.
"I'm running."
His legs ached.
His chest hurt.
But the sound behind him kept him moving.
A shadow flickered beside him.
Nicholas stumbled slightly, his head snapping to the side.
Nothing was observable, except smoke twisting through the air.
He kept running.
Suddenly, another flicker.
Closer this time.
Nicholas slowed for half a second, his eyes straining through the haze.
"Hello?" he called, his voice raw.
No answer.
A figure darted past him.
Not close enough to touch.
But close enough to see.
Nicholas froze.
It wasn't clear.
Not fully.
Just a shape that appears dark against the burning light, moving faster than anything around it.
"Wait!" he shouted instinctively.
The figure didn't stop.
Nicholas's body reacted before his mind could catch up.
He ran after it.
"Hey!" he called again. "Wait!"
The shadow moved through the chaos effortlessly, slipping between falling debris, weaving past burning structures as if it knew exactly where everything would land.
Nicholas followed.
Not because it made sense.
But because it was the only thing moving with purpose.
"Where are you going?" he demanded, pushing himself faster.
No response.
The shadow turned sharply down a narrow path between two collapsing walls.
Nicholas hesitated and then, followed.
The space was tight, the heat more intense. Flames crawled along the edges of the structures, licking inward, closing the path behind him as he passed.
"You're going to get me killed!" Nicholas shouted.
Still...no answer.
The shadow didn't slow.
Nicholas's foot slipped on loose dirt, sending him crashing into the side of a wall. Pain shot through his shoulder, but he pushed off immediately, forcing himself forward.
"Stop running!" he yelled.
The figure ahead paused.
Just for a moment.
Nicholas's breath caught.
It turned slightly, not enough to reveal a face.
But enough for him to know, it had heard him.
"Who are you?" Nicholas asked, his voice smaller now and then silence.
Then...
It moved again.
Faster.
Nicholas's frustration flared. "Why are you leading me?!"
The question echoed uselessly in the burning space.
But something changed.
The shadow shifted direction again, veering toward an opening between structures that had not yet collapsed.
Nicholas followed, his steps uneven now, his strength beginning to fail.
"Please…" he muttered. "Just...stop...!"
The heat surged behind him.
He turned instinctively and a wave of fire rolled through the path he had just crossed, swallowing it completely.
Nicholas froze.
If he had slowed a little, delayed a second...
If he had hesitated, he wouldn't be standing.
His head snapped back toward the shadow.
It had stopped.
Waiting.
For him.
Nicholas's chest tightened.
"You knew…" he whispered.
No response.
But it didn't move away this time.
Nicholas stepped closer, cautious now.
"Why are you helping me?" he asked.
The shadow shifted slightly, its outline wavering in the heat.
For a brief second, Nicholas thought he saw something more.
A shape.
A person.
Then it was gone again.
"You can hear me," he said. "I know you can."
The shadow tilted, just barely in acknowledgment.
Nicholas swallowed hard.
"Then say something."
Nevertheless, all he heard was silence.
The fire cracked loudly nearby, snapping a beam in half. It crashed to the ground, sending sparks into the air.
Nicholas flinched.
When he looked back, the shadow was moving again.
Away.
"Wait!" he called, panic rising. "Don't go!"
It didn't stop.
Nicholas ran after it again, his legs screaming in protest.
"Why are you doing this?" he shouted.
Still no answer.
But the path ahead opened wider now, the structures thinning, the fire less concentrated.
They were moving away from the center.
Away from the worst of it.
Nicholas realized it slowly.
"You're… getting me out," he said, breathless.
The shadow didn't confirm it.
Didn't deny it.
It just kept moving.
Nicholas followed.
Because now, he had no other choice.
The sounds of Otukpo began to fade behind him.
Not completely.
But enough.
The fire still burned.
The screams still echoed, but they were no longer all around him.
Nicholas slowed slightly, his body threatening to give out.
"Please…" he said again, softer now. "Just tell me who you are."
The shadow stopped once again, abruptly.
Nicholas stepped closer.
The distance between them closed...
Just enough...
For him to almost see.
A face.
Then, the wind shifted.
Smoke surged between them.
And the shadow, disappeared in a split second.
Nicholas stumbled forward, reaching out instinctively.
"Wait...!"
Nothing responded, as silence has become the response in empty air.
He stood there, alone now, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
The fire crackled in the distance.
The village burned behind him.
And the path ahead, was silent.
Nicholas whispered why, chosen by something unseen, now gone.