[ "Haaaah" ]
When Tom awoke, it was not with a startle or a gasp, but with relief. His eyes scanned the room as he slowly drew in a breath through his nostrils, his hand subconsciously touching his neck as the tears in the corners of his eyes slowly faded away as one question came to his mind.
'Where… the heck am I?'
He had so clearly and vividly remembered everything, all the way to the screaming, the pain, the fear, and the feeling of his heart giving out as he died on the ground. Yet here he was, alive and well, as if nothing had happened. His head throbbed, a dull ache settling behind his eyes as he tried to process everything.
Has he imagined it? Looking around at his surroundings, he quickly confirmed that no, it was not a dream, and well, if it was, it was a highly imaginative one. Everything still looked the same, and when he took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in his abdomen, he quickly confirmed that everything still smelled the same.
Taking another look at his surroundings, his gaze quickly settled on one of the jagged rocks jutting out from the ground like a miniature hill, its rough surface occasionally pulsing with a faint blue glow. Despite being in a cave, there were trees all around, one of which he was lying under, stretching toward the sky as its bioluminescent leaves illuminated the darkness around him, allowing him to see everything without much of an issue as he marveled at the beauty of the place.
It was magical.
Until it wasn't.
Attempting to get up off the floor, a searing, white-hot pain lanced through his abdomen, fluttering across his vision as his entire body came to a halt as he shivered. His teeth clenched tightly as his mind took over, locking all of his muscles in place and stopping him from moving.
He was in pain, a lot of pain, and a quick look down toward his abdomen immediately confirmed what was causing it. His breath caught in his throat. His fingers trembled as he reached toward his abdomen, where the cold glint of metal jutted out from his side. It was a sword. His fingers hesitated over the hilt. Pulling it out could be a death sentence, but leaving it in wasn't exactly ideal either. His fingers curled around the hilt, slick with a warm liquid that he quickly recognized as his blood.
He braced himself, exhaling sharply before pulling. The moment the blade slid free, an agonizing, white-hot pain seared through his body, sending him collapsing onto his knees. The pain was unimaginable, and nothing he had felt before it could possibly match what he was feeling now.
it was like his insides were burning.
"I'm going to die." His vision wavered, darkness dancing at the edges of his sight as he clutched at the wound, his fingers slick with blood as he tried not to bleed out. Tears raced down his cheeks as he desperately tried to close the gash in his abdomen, but he knew that it wouldn't work.
'I don't want to die!!' He wanted to scream, to cry, to beg for something, anything to make it stop. But no sound escaped his throat. The coppery tang of blood flooded his mouth as he bit down on his own lip, the sheer agony locking every muscle in his body in place.
"I don't want to die," he managed to wheeze out as he began to cry.
After all, he couldn't help it.
There was no way to stop the inevitable. He knew that, but he silently prayed and begged for a miracle in his heart. Whatever cruel joke God had decided to play on him, he'd entertain Him by begging for his life if only it meant that he would survive.
But it didn't work!
And out of desperation, he began to muster up as much strength as he could to yell if need be. But before then, he tried the second option that cycled through his mind quickly, looking around everywhere for anyone that could help, but to no avail. There was no one. He was actually going to die again. When he did manage to muster up his nerves to cry out for help, what met him wasn't his own voice, but instead the sound of him choking on his own blood and saliva.
His vision blurred, and the sudden loss of air made his body panic even more, which was enough to completely take him out as his body gave up on the spot and he died.