The first thing i heard
was screaming.
Not the kind from dreams.
Not distant.
Not faded.
Real.
Raw.
Close.
My eyes snapped open.
The sky stretched above me gray, heavy, suffocating.
"…Where am I?" I whispered to myself.
The air smelled wrong.
Burnt.
Metallic.
Blood.
A thunderous explosion shook the ground.
I flinched.
An explosion that shook the battlefield.
A streak of blue light tore across the battlefield then crashed into a group of soldiers.
Fire erupted.
Bodies flew.
"Magic?" I said in a cracked voice.
My heart began to race.
Slowly, i turned my head.
And what i saw
I was frozen still.
Two armies banners everywhere as far as the eye can see a large battlefield.
Going into battle.
Swords against swords magic that laid waste to the land.
Men screaming as blades tore through armor.
And behind them
Figures in long robes, staffs raised, chanting in an unknown language.
Mages.
One lifted his staff high, flames spiraling around it like a living beast.
Another raised his hand
and the ground itself erupted, swallowing soldiers whole.
"This isn't" i muttered.
But I couldn't finish the sentence.
Because deep down I already knew.
A loud chaotic roar cut through the chaos.
Not human.
Something massive landed over the frontlines
A beast.
Twice the size of a man.
Black fur, glowing red eyes, claws like blades.
It crashed into soldiers, tearing through them like paper.
"Hold the line! Don't let the beast through!" someone shouted.
But the line was already breaking.
Alex pushed himself up, his body shaking.
He looked down.
Armor.
Rough. Cheap barely covered. Bloodstained.
A foot soldier.
No name.
No rank.
Just expendable.
"Move, idiot!" a voice yelled, shoving me forward.
A spear was forced into my hands.
"Stay in formation unless you want to die!"
I stared at the weapon.
A spear.
Simple.
Long.
Cold.
But as his fingers wrapped around it
Something felt strange.
Familiar.
A flicker.
A moment.
Like a memory that wasn't his.
"What are these memories" I said
A battlefield.
Silent.
Ancient.
A lone warrior stood surrounded by enemies
Holding a spear.
Moving differently.
As if all movement was calculated
Not like the others.
Not like soldiers.
Flowing.
Unpredictable.
Deadly.
Then
It vanished.
"What was that?" I whispered.
But there was no time to think.
For battle lays ahead
Another explosion rang out.
Closer.
The ground shook violently.
A mage on the enemy side raised his staff again, gathering energy creating a giant spiral of flame.
I knew that if that spell hits our entire unit would be wiped out.
"Shields up" someone shouted.
Too slow.
Too disorganized.
Fear was spreading.
I could see it clearly now.
The shaking hands.
The uneven line.
The hesitationy
The fear
They're going to lose.
Not because they were weaker.
But because they were already breaking.
A loud horn echoed across the field.
Retreat?
No.
Too late.
The enemy began advancing at frighting speed.
Fast.
Disciplined.
Confident.
As my chest tightened.
"This is real" I said
No reset.
No second chance.
If he died here
That was it.
His grip on the spear tightened.
His breathing slowed.
His eyes sharpened.
The chaos around him
Started to slow.
The mage.
The beast.
The formations.
The weak points.
The fear.
"There's a gap," i muttered.
No one heard mw.
No one cared.
They were too busy panicking.
But I saw it.
A flaw in the enemy's advance.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But real.
His heart raced.
If I stay still, I die.
If I move, I die.
Then
A thought.
Clear.
Cold.
Different from before.
So I fight.
Not as the man who dreamed of another world.
But as someone who would take it head on
The enemy charged
The beast roared
Magic lit the sky
And i
Stepped forward
With fear masked with confidence
"I will take this world on"
I said.
Moving deeper into the chaos