POV: Leo
I screamed.
At least, I tried to scream. But nothing came out. No sound. No breath. No voice at all.
My eyes flew open—except they didn't. I couldn't feel my eyelids. Couldn't feel my face. Couldn't feel anything.
Panic shot through me like lightning.
MOVE! I shouted at my arms. At my legs. At any part of my body. MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!
Nothing happened.
The darkness pressed against me from every direction. Not regular darkness, like a room with the lights off. This was different. Thick. Heavy. Like being buried under a million blankets that you can't push away.
Am I blind? The thought terrified me more than anything. Did the sword hurt my eyes? Am I in a hospital?
I tried to call for Marcus. Tried to ask for help. My mouth wouldn't work. My tongue wouldn't move. It was like my whole body had been erased.
Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Where IS my body?
I tried to wiggle my fingers. Nothing. Tried to feel my chest moving with breath. Nothing. Put all my focus on my heartbeat, that steady thump-thump I'd heard my whole life.
Silence.
No heartbeat.
NO HEARTBEAT!
Pure terror flooded through me. I was dead. I had to be dead. The sword went through my chest, and now I was dead, and this was what being dead felt like—trapped in darkness forever with no body and no sound and no way out and—
Stop. STOP IT.
I forced myself to think clearly, the way I taught my students when they panicked during tests. One thing at a time, Leo. Figure this out one thing at a time.
Could I think? Yes. I was thinking right now.
Could I feel emotions? Yes. I was absolutely terrified.
So I wasn't completely gone. Some part of me still existed. But where? And how?
I tried to remember what happened. The sword. The blue light. Falling. Marcus screaming my name. Then... this.
Time crawled by. Or maybe it raced. I couldn't tell. Without being able to see or hear or feel, I had no way to know if seconds were passing or hours. My thoughts became my only company.
What if I'm in a coma? Maybe I'm in a hospital bed right now, and Marcus is sitting next to me, and doctors are trying to wake me up. Maybe I just need to push harder. Try harder to open my eyes. Try harder to move.
I focused every bit of energy I had on moving something, anything. A finger. A toe. An eyelash.
Nothing.
I tried until I felt exhausted, which was weird because how could I be tired without a body? But I was. My thoughts felt sluggish and heavy.
Maybe if I sleep, I'll wake up for real.
But could I even sleep in this state? I didn't have eyelids to close. Didn't have a bed to lie in. But somehow, my consciousness faded anyway, like a TV slowly turning off.
When awareness came back, everything was exactly the same. Dark. Silent. Motionless.
How long was I asleep? Minutes? Days?
The fear came roaring back, worse than before. What if this is forever? What if I'm stuck like this for the rest of time?
No. Don't think like that. There has to be a way out.
I tried a different approach. Instead of trying to move my body, I tried to feel my surroundings. Was I in something? On something? The darkness felt close, like walls pressing in.
I pushed my awareness outward, like stretching invisible hands into the black. For a long time, nothing. Then—
There.
Something solid. Hard. Cold. Metal?
I focused on that sensation, pulling at it like a thread. The more I concentrated, the more I could feel. I was surrounded by metal. Enclosed in it. The shape felt long and thin.
Oh no.
OH NO.
The truth hit me like a punch to the gut I couldn't feel.
I wasn't in the sword.
I WAS the sword.
"No, no, no!" I tried to shout, but my voice only echoed in my own mind. "This is impossible! People don't turn into swords! This doesn't happen!"
But it did happen. Somehow, when the blade touched me, when that blue light exploded, I got pulled inside. My body was gone. My life was gone. Everything I was got trapped in a piece of metal.
The blacksmith's legend flashed through my memory. He disappeared. Some say he died. Others say he ran away.
What if he didn't run? What if he got trapped just like me?
Desperation clawed at my mind. I had to get out. Had to escape. There had to be a way to reverse this. Maybe if someone picked up the sword? Maybe if they did... something?
But I couldn't call for help. Couldn't move the sword myself. Couldn't do anything except exist in this silent, dark prison.
How was I supposed to survive this?
Time became my enemy. Without day or night, without any way to mark moments, everything blurred together. I tried to keep track by counting, but I kept losing my place. Was I at three thousand? Thirty thousand? Three million?
I thought about Marcus. Was he okay? Did he call 911? What happened to my body after I fell? Did they have a funeral for me?
I thought about my mom. She'd be heartbroken. I was her only son.
I thought about my students. Would they miss me? Would they get a good substitute teacher?
I thought about all the things I'd never do now. Never travel to Japan like I'd planned. Never finish my book about historical weapons. Never fall in love. Never have kids. Never grow old.
Anger burned through me. This wasn't fair! I was only thirty-one years old! I had my whole life ahead of me!
But anger couldn't change anything. Neither could sadness. Or fear. Or bargaining. I cycled through every emotion possible until I felt empty.
That's when the boredom started.
At first, I welcomed it. Better than terror. But boredom in a black void with no distractions was its own special torture. I couldn't read. Couldn't watch TV. Couldn't even pace around a room.
All I could do was think. And think. And think.
I made up stories to pass the time. Remembered every book I'd ever read. Recited every lesson I'd ever taught. Sang songs in my head. Did math problems. Anything to keep my mind busy.
But eventually, even my imagination wore out.
I'm going to go crazy, I realized. Trapped in here long enough, I'll lose my mind completely.
Just when I thought I couldn't take another second of silence, something changed.
A vibration.
Faint. Distant. But definitely there.
Then—impossibly—I heard something. Muffled and far away, but real. Actual sound breaking through the silence.
Voices.
People were talking somewhere nearby!
"Help!" I screamed with everything I had. "HELP! I'M IN HERE! PLEASE HELP ME!"
The voices got louder. Clearer. I could almost make out words now.
Then everything shook. Hard. Like someone had picked up the sword and—
Light.
Blinding, brilliant, beautiful light poured into my consciousness.
And with it came a sound that made my non-existent heart soar.
A human voice, clear as day: "What's this doing here?"
Someone found me! Finally, FINALLY, someone found me!
But then a second voice answered, cold and cruel: "Forget the junk. We're looking for the real treasure. Leave it."
"Wait!" the first voice protested.
Footsteps echoed away. Getting quieter. Leaving.
"NO!" I screamed. "COME BACK! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!"
But they couldn't hear me.
The light faded. The voices disappeared.
And I was alone again in the crushing darkness.
How long had I been trapped? How long until someone else found me?
Years? Decades?
Centuries?