The alley stank of smoke and sweat.
I turned slowly, trying to piece together what I was looking at — stone streets, wooden signs, a sky full of unfamiliar constellations. Definitely not Tokyo.
Before I could think further, someone crashed to the ground right in front of me — a girl, maybe seventeen or eighteen, wearing a torn cloak. Her knees scraped against the stone as she gasped for air.
Two men in red-brown armor appeared behind her, swords drawn, barking words I couldn't understand.
"What the hell are they even saying…?"
Their voices warped mid-sentence, as if my brain was catching up to the language on its own.Suddenly, I could understand every word.
"Hand over the girl, or you die."
That figured.
None of this made sense — but these guys looked serious, and I wasn't in the mood to die while trying to figure out where the hell I was.
"Guess we're doing this the hard way."
I sprinted forward. My heel slammed into the first guy's leg — a clean dropkick — and he went down screaming. The second swung wildly; I ducked under and hit him across the leg, sending him off balance.
Before either could recover, I stepped in, twisted, and roundhouse-kicked the second straight into a wall. His helmet cracked against the bricks with a satisfying clang.
He slumped, half-conscious. I didn't stop. I stomped his face into the wall until he stopped moving.
The first guy staggered up, drawing his sword with a trembling hand. I grabbed his arm, pivoted, and suplexed him hard into the other unconscious idiot. Both hit the ground in a heap of armor and dust.
"Hi," I said, turning to the girl. "You okay, miss? You kind of owe me one for that."
My brain was racing. I needed answers. Maybe she could tell me where the hell I was.
But instead of thanking me, she silently drew a dagger and sliced both men's throats open in one clean motion. Blood sprayed across the cobblestones.
"What the hell—"
She stood up, wiping her blade. "I don't know who you are, but if you want to live, follow me. We need to get out of this kingdom. Now."
"Wait, why?"
"Because this kingdom is under siege," she said, eyes sharp. "You didn't notice?"
*Uh… no. Last thing I remember, I was in a room full of chains and rope."
She blinked. "Right… I'll pretend that makes sense. Anyway, move!"
I followed her through the winding streets. Fires burned on every corner. The air was thick with ash and the stench of blood. Armored soldiers clashed in the distance — red against black, steel against fire.
Bodies littered the streets. The city was falling apart.
"Who's attacking this place?" I shouted over the noise.
"The Brotherhood's army," she said bitterly. "A bunch of bastards who think burning cities builds glory."
"Yeah, I can see that."
When we reached the city gates, dozens of soldiers were already fighting there. No way through.
"Too many," she muttered. "We'll take the secret passage."
She led me down a side street to a well.
"You're kidding me," I said.
"Nope."
She jumped first. I sighed and followed, landing in a damp tunnel that smelled like moss and old water. We ran, our footsteps echoing through the darkness, until light appeared ahead.
We emerged from beneath a massive tree. Behind us, the kingdom was a blazing inferno, the night sky glowing orange.
"Come on," she said, tugging my sleeve. "We don't have time to waste."
We ran until the smoke was a memory. The forest stretched endlessly ahead, mountains looming like dark giants on the horizon.
Finally, we stopped by a stream. She collapsed beside it, panting, her dagger still in hand.
I dropped down opposite her, wiping sweat from my forehead.
"So," I said quietly, "mind telling me where the hell I just landed?"
She looked up at me, eyes glinting under the moonlight.
"You're in the Kingdom of Mornareth," she said. "Or what's left of it."
The forest was silent again.
Too silent.
The smoke from the burning kingdom rose like black scars against the sky, fading into the pale light of the moon. The girl — brown hair, amber eyes — knelt near the fire, her hands trembling slightly as she cleaned her dagger. Blood still clung to the blade.
I sat across from her, staring at the flames. My clothes were torn, my knuckles a little bloody. My mind? Still trying to process everything.
"So… that place back there," I said finally. "Your home?"
She hesitated before answering. "It was. The city of Mornareth."
Her voice was calm, but the way her fingers tightened around the dagger told a different story.
"Sorry for your loss," I muttered.
She glanced at me — suspicion flickering in her eyes. "You're… not from there, are you?"
"Nope."
"Then where?" she pressed.
I stared at the fire for a moment, thinking fast. No way I was about to say 'Oh, I fell out of a hole in the ceiling from another world.'
Yeah, no one would buy that.
"Far," I said simply. "Really far."
She studied me for a while, as if trying to read the truth behind my words. The silence stretched until the sound of crackling fire filled it again.
"You fight like a mercenary," she finally said. "But your clothes… I've never seen fabric like that before. Or those shoes."
"Guess I'm one of a kind," I said with a faint smirk.
Reginleif — that was her name, I'd learned during our brief escape — narrowed her eyes, but dropped the subject. For now.
We both watched the fire in silence for a while. The forest around us felt alive — too alive. Every snap of a twig made my muscles tense.
"The kingdom's gone," she said quietly. "The Brotherhood will hunt anyone who survived."
"So what's the plan?"
"We head east. There's an old road through the woods that leads to the border town of Ascal. If we can reach it before dawn, we'll be safe."
I nodded. "Alright. I'll tag along."
"Why?" she asked, eyes sharp again. "You don't know me."
"Neither do you. But you didn't stab me when you had the chance, so that's a good start."
That actually made her laugh — just a little. "Fair enough, stranger."
I leaned back against a tree, looking up at the strange constellations above. The stars were different. The air smelled cleaner, sharper. None of it felt real.
Where the hell am I?
I clenched my fist, feeling the faint pulse of adrenaline still running through me. Whatever this world was… whatever this madness meant…
I wasn't planning to die in it.
She stood up, sheathing her dagger. "Rest while you can. We move before sunrise."
I nodded, closing my eyes but keeping my ears open. The crackle of the fire mixed with the distant cries of war, far beyond the forest.
And as the moonlight bathed the clearing, one thought lingered in my head:
I need to figure out where I am — and how to survive here.
The first light of morning crept through the trees like tired fingers pulling at the shadows.
The fire had long died out, leaving behind only the faint smell of smoke and blood.
Reginleif was already awake.
She moved with quiet precision, checking the edge of her dagger, her brown hair tied back loosely with a strip of cloth. Even with the faint smudges of soot on her cheeks, there was something calm about her—like she'd done this a hundred times before.
"You're up early" I said, stretching my arms and cracking my neck.
"You sleep like a rock" she replied flatly. "We need to move. The Brotherhood will have scouts searching the forest by now."
I stood, brushing off dirt. "Yeah, yeah. Lead the way, brown-hair."
She gave me a side-eye. "That's not my name."
"Didn't catch it last night" I lied smoothly.
"Reginleif" she said, glancing back. "Don't forget it."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
We walked in silence for a while, following a faint path through the underbrush. The sun was just climbing above the horizon, casting long orange light across the forest floor. Somewhere in the distance, crows screamed over the ruins of the kingdom.
Reginleif broke the silence first.
"You fought well back there. Not trained, but fast. Where did you learn to move like that?"
"Hard lessons" I said simply.
She gave me a curious glance but didn't pry. Good. The less she knew, the better.
We reached a small ridge overlooking the valley below. Smoke still rose from Varas, curling toward the heavens. From this height, the destruction looked almost unreal—like a painting of hell.
"They'll burn everything" Reginleif said bitterly. "Even the archives, the temples… they want to erase our history."
"Sounds like a fun bunch" I muttered.
She crouched, scanning the treeline. "Stay low. I see movement—scouts."
I followed her gaze. Three men in red-brown armor moved carefully between the trees, crossbows drawn. Their insignias matched the soldiers I'd beaten last night.
Reginleif gestured silently: Circle wide. Don't draw attention.
I nodded but stayed put for a second, watching their movements. They were disciplined—too focused on the obvious paths, not their surroundings.
Typical pattern, I thought. Same as the cops back in L.A.—eyes forward, blind to the flanks.
I slipped off the path, moving low through the brush. Every step was silent, every breath measured. My pulse slowed, instincts kicking in from a life spent running, hiding, and fighting when I had to.
When one of the scouts stepped past my cover, I moved.
A quick grab—hand over his mouth, arm twisted, a sharp pull.
He went down without a sound.
Another turned at the noise. Reginleif's dagger flashed before he could shout. The third one ran. I threw a rock, caught him in the side of the head. He dropped like a sack of bricks.
Reginleif exhaled. "You're efficient."
"You learn a few things when you've had to survive,", I said.
"Where exactly did you survive?" she asked, voice low but probing.
I smirked. "Places not worth remembering."
She seemed to accept that—for now.
We moved on, deeper into the forest. The sound of battle had faded entirely now, replaced by the murmur of wind through leaves. For a brief moment, it almost felt peaceful.
Reginleif finally spoke again, softer this time.
"If we reach Ascal by nightfall, we might find shelter. Maybe… allies."
"Allies, huh? I'll take a roof and a meal."
She smiled faintly. "You're strange, Azazel. You talk differently. You act differently."
"Guess I'm just built different," I said with a shrug.
She didn't laugh, but the corner of her mouth curved just enough to count.
And as we walked under the rising sun, I realized something—
This world was dangerous, unfamiliar, and full of people trying to kill me.
But for the first time since falling through that rift…