Toram shot up from the ground where she had fallen in a heartbeat. As her feet met the earth, the soles of her shoes didn't register dry grass; instead, it felt as though she had stepped onto a soft, warm carpet that breathed like a living creature.
Her lungs, confined for years within the sterile walls of a laboratory, now drew in air that was intoxicatingly sweet, carrying the rich fragrance of honey. Yet, this aroma did not linger alone. Beneath it lay the sharp, metallic tang of ozone—like the static thrill of an electrical surge—piercing her nostrils and violently awakening her senses.
The blood coursing through her veins burned like molten iron. Beneath her ribs, her heart hammered wildly—*thump! thump! thump!*—beating with such ferocity it felt as though it were fighting to tear through her chest.
As the shadow of fear cast over her face, she quickly backed away five paces. Instinctively, her hands reached for the swords strapped to her back. But the entity standing before her rendered everything she had just witnessed completely meaningless.
Saruel, whose colossal, sky-scraping, and terrifying stature from moments ago had vanished like morning mist, now stood adjusted to a human height that matched her own. And yet, the sheer majesty hidden within that ordinary, human-sized frame was indescribable.
His skin revealed an inner glow, much like flawless, clear glass. What flowed through his veins was not blood, but pulsing threads of blue and white lightning. But it was his eyes that were the most terrifying and captivating of all. The light swirling within them resembled a massive ocean storm trapped inside a narrow mirror.
Seeing Toram's retreat and panic, Saruel halted his steps. As if fearing that his desire to approach her would only add to the storm of terror within her, he stood as still and calm as a statue.
In the silence, his gaze drifted past her, fixing upon the sharp sword slung across her back. That look was profound, heavy with the memories of thousands of years.
"I am Saruel! The God of Lightning."
His voice didn't seem to emerge from his lips. Instead, it was a rumble that originated from the depths of the earth, spreading through the air like thunder, rattling her very bones. Hearing this voice, the physicist and the voice of logic within Toram collided violently.
To her, the word 'God' was merely a product of historical texts and ancient myths, not a reality standing right in front of her. She believed 'lightning' was simply the flow of electrons and a calculated manifestation of energy, not the attribute of a deity. Yet, the undeniable reality standing before her was throwing all her acquired knowledge into an abyss.
Leaving her where she stood, Saruel brushed past her shoulder and walked forward. His strides were astonishingly light, seeming to defy the very gravity of the earth. After standing paralyzed in shock for a few seconds, words suddenly tumbled from her mouth like someone snapping out of a deep trance.
"The God of Lightning?" she repeated the words to herself in a whisper. "Wait… where are you going? … Where are we?"
Saruel paused his steps. Without fully turning his face toward her, he closed and opened his eyes, looking over his shoulder. Slowly, he turned around with an expression that carried either sheer exhaustion or profound patience. The calmness on his face was startling.
"Rama! Welcome, Doctor Toram!" he said. His voice carried a strange blend of possession and deep longing. Without waiting for her reply, he turned his face away and continued his walk. "This is the vast and great world; an untouched, boundless realm."
As Toram surveyed her surroundings, her emotions spiraled into chaos. It felt as though she had been swallowed into a strange, dreamlike blend of twilight and radiance, where the earth and the sky seemed to seamlessly touch.
The clouds drifting in the sky defied normal atmospheric behavior, draped entirely in the vibrant colors of a rainbow.
The grass was as white as snow, yet when the wind blew, it shimmered with flashes of gold. But what shocked her the most, what made her eyes widen in absolute disbelief, was something else entirely.
When she looked up… two suns blazed upon the ceiling of the sky. One emitted a deep orange hue, while the other burned a brilliant crimson, sitting side-by-side.
"Two suns?" she muttered to herself in horror. "Am I truly in another world? The laws of astronomy… gravity… how can this be?" The questions swarmed in her mind like a hive of bees.
The laws of physics, her years of relentless study—everything unraveled before her. This place was not a domain where her science functioned; it felt like a realm where a wild dream had become breathing reality.
Meanwhile, Saruel had already walked about ten meters away. Snapping out of her shock, she sprinted to catch up with him. Because the gravity of this world was slightly lighter than what she was used to, every step made her feel like she was gliding through the air, covering great distances effortlessly.
Panting heavily, she finally reached him and blocked his path. Saruel stopped, still maintaining his serene composure. When the spark of his eyes landed on Toram's face, a jolt of electricity surged through her body.
"I understand you have many questions," Saruel said, his voice as firm and unyielding as steel. "But I do not have time for your questions right now. Time is slipping through our fingers like dry sand."
His gaze darted to the sword on her back before returning to her eyes. Following the direction of his gaze, Toram instinctively realized that the weapon strapped to her back was no stranger to this bizarre world. The fact that the sword rested on her back held a massive significance to Saruel.
"I'm not here to ask questions!" she yelled, raising her voice in an attempt to mask her fear with anger. "Send me back home right now, exactly the way you brought me! I have no business in this place. I am a person of the laboratory, not a beast of the battlefield!" Though her words sounded like a command, the emotion trembling beneath them was a desperate plea for survival.
But Saruel was entirely indifferent to her emotional outburst. Instead, he looked up at the sky. Placing two fingers in his mouth, he unleashed a piercing, ear-shattering whistle that seemed to rip through the air. As the sound echoed through the valleys, the very atmosphere began to tremble.
Instantly, the sky tore open. A majestic, throne-like chariot pulled by two colossal, milky-white steeds shattered the blue expanse and plummeted downward. The roaring neighs of the horses sounded like booming thunder.
As their wings unfurled, they altered the very temperature of the air. They plunged toward them with blinding speed. Terrified by the sheer majesty and raw power on display, Toram shrank behind Saruel's back; she looked like a helpless fawn seeking refuge from a beast by pressing against another beast.
The chariot and the horses descended like a flash of lightning, coming to an abrupt, gentle halt right in front of Saruel. The grandeur of the horses was enough to make one's heart skip a beat.
Each of them was four times the size of a normal horse. Unfurling his tucked wings and flapping them powerfully, Saruel stepped into the chariot with immense pride and took his seat upon the throne.
"Doctor Toram," he said, looking down at her, "at this moment, you have no better home than this. The world you once knew has now been swallowed by darkness. From now on, your home belongs to Daruel."
His words made no sense to her. The name 'Daruel' echoed strangely in her mind. Just as she furrowed her brows to question him, her eyes fell upon the foreheads of the horses.
A sharp, gleaming horn protruded from the center of each horse's head. Looking up once more, she stared at the twin suns. It seemed as if the suns were burning even brighter now.
Her scientifically honed mind instantly began to calculate: *"Where is the thermal energy of these two suns going? Why can't I feel the intense heat? What kind of atmospheric shield does this planet have? Why isn't this gravity crushing my bones?"* The questions raced through her brain. But the answers existed nowhere else except with the strange entity before her.
"Haven't you decided?" Saruel's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
Toram realized she had no choice. Instinctively, she knew that if she were left alone in this vast, alien land, she wouldn't survive the heat of the twin suns or the beasts lurking in the dark. With a bitter sense of defeat, she lowered her head. But when she looked up again, what happened next was lightning fast.
Saruel reached his hand out to her. A blue energy, resembling a whip of fire, coiled around her waist and violently yanked her upward. As her feet left the ground and she floated in the air, she felt as though time had accelerated while she was left dragging behind. Pulled through the air and landing in the chariot, she plopped down heavily into the seat, almost as if she had arrived there before him.
Struggling to catch her breath, she looked at the creature sitting beside her. He had dark skin, long white hair, and wings; he was stunningly handsome, possessing a human form wrapped in mysteries—yet, he was a god who spat lightning. Finding all of this incredibly hard to accept, Toram cast him a glare filled with suspicion and dread. Saruel, however, offered no reaction; he simply pulled the reins of the horses and pointed forward.
The horses suddenly spread their wings. As each wing unfurled, it seemed broad enough to block out the sky. The chariot shifted its direction and launched straight upward. Toram gripped the edge of the chariot tightly. Looking down, she saw the land of Rama shrinking at an astonishing rate. The rivers flowed across the earth like liquid silver, while the forests glittered like fields of green diamonds.
"Where are we going?" Toram asked, her voice nearly stolen by the howling wind.
"To the City of Light," Saruel replied, his eyes locked straight ahead. "That is where your secret will be revealed. That is where you will understand why that sword chose you."
Toram felt the sword strapped to her back. It was now radiating an unusual, comforting heat. As if possessing the heartbeat of a living creature, it pulsed softly against her spine. It felt less like a mere weapon and more like a tether connected directly to her very soul.
Flying through the sky and piercing through the clouds, the mist caressed her face like a cool fog. Toram closed her eyes, trying to adapt to this entirely new sensation. The formulas of physics had completely lost their meaning now. The law governing this place was the law of emotion, raw power, and ancient mysteries.
To be continued…❤❤❤