Life Beyond End

I woke up with a jolt, my body stiff and sore, the gritty dirt under me doing nothing to cushion the ache in my muscles. My clothes were practically rags now—torn, filthy, and crusted with dried blood and sweat. A sharp pain shot through my side as I tried to sit up.

"Agh! Damn it," I hissed through clenched teeth, clutching my ribs. Great, that's probably bruised… or broken.

My eyes darted around the clearing. No snarling beasts. No giant claws ready to rip me apart. Somehow, I was still in one piece.

Still alive, I thought, letting out a shaky breath. Relief surged through me, but it didn't last. Elene hadn't come swooping in to save me and haul me back to the castle. Not yet, anyway.

Of course she hasn't, I reminded myself bitterly. She's probably sipping tea and laughing about how she "forgot" I was five.

The sour thought gave me just enough energy to stand. My legs felt like they were made of lead, every step a test of will. But lying here waiting for rescue wasn't an option. I'd seen enough of Hell's Pit to know it didn't hand out second chances.

"Time to move," I muttered, forcing myself to put one foot in front of the other.

The dense fog that had blanketed the forest was finally starting to lift. Visibility improved, though the eerie quiet made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The forest's shadows seemed to stretch and move, like they were alive. Every snap of a twig made me flinch, my hand hovering over the dagger I'd salvaged.

Thirty minutes passed—or maybe an hour. It was hard to tell. My stomach should've been growling by now, but instead, it felt… empty. Not hungry, just hollow.

Maybe I'm too scared to be hungry, I thought, trying to ignore the chill that ran down my spine. Or maybe my stomach had just given up.

The fog parted further, revealing the jagged cliff face that loomed ahead. My heart sank. There was no ladder, no hidden staircase. Just a sheer wall stretching endlessly upward.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I muttered, running a hand through my dirt-caked hair.

Panic started to creep in, clawing at the edges of my mind. What if I'm stuck here? Forever?

"Damn you, Elene!" I shouted at the sky, my voice echoing back at me. It didn't make me feel any better. She wasn't here to hear it, and even if she were, she'd probably just shrug and say, "Toughen up."

But wallowing wasn't going to get me out of here. I pressed my lips into a thin line and kept walking, following the wall's edge. The terrain was uneven, every step threatening to trip me up, but I pushed through. Two kilometers in, my legs were ready to give out. My breath came in ragged gasps, each one harder than the last.

Just as I was about to collapse, something caught my eye. A dark shape, jagged and unnatural, broke the monotony of the cliff face.

"What is that?" I murmured aloud, my voice hoarse. Curiosity, or maybe desperation, pulled me closer.

It was a hole. No, a cave. The entrance was rough and uneven, the kind of place that screamed bad idea. But right now, it was the only idea I had.

The air around the entrance was foul, reeking of something damp and putrid—bat guano, if I had to guess. Lovely. But if there was even the slightest chance this cave led to freedom, I had to take it.

"Alright, Flynn," I said to myself, gripping my dagger tighter. "Don't die."

With that brilliant piece of self-motivation, I stepped into the darkness. The walls seemed to close in around me, the dim light from outside fading quickly. My breathing was shallow, the damp air sticking to my lungs. Every sound echoed—the crunch of my boots on gravel, the drip of water from the ceiling.

This better not be the home of some giant, man-eating beast, I thought grimly. But deep down, I knew better. Nothing in Hell's Pit came without a catch.

The further I went, the colder it got. My breath started to mist in the air, and I couldn't tell if it was from the temperature or my nerves. My pulse pounded in my ears, each beat reminding me just how fragile I was. A five-year-old kid in a grown man's mind—alone, scared, and completely out of his depth.

But I couldn't stop. I wouldn't stop. There had to be something at the end of this cave—an exit, a clue, anything. Giving up wasn't an option, not after everything I'd survived so far.

_______________________________________

Oh, come on, this smell is actually killing me! My nose felt like it was about to revolt and walk off my face.

I kept moving deeper into the cave, my steps crunching against the uneven ground. The passage was getting tighter with every step—so tight I could almost feel the walls pressing in, like the cave itself wanted me to turn back.

Glancing around, I noticed something strange: no more bats. Not even a single drop of water dripping from the ceiling. The silence was eerie, heavy, and way too suspicious for comfort.

This isn't training. This is some sick joke!

Elene had called this "magic training," but so far, the only magic I'd experienced was the miraculous way my patience hadn't snapped in half.

The passage started sloping upward, and my chest filled with a flicker of hope. An upward slope? That had to mean I was heading toward the exit, right?

"Yes!" I shouted, my voice echoing back at me. "This cave actually leads somewhere! Finally!"

And then it happened.

SCREEEEECH!

A piercing, high-pitched scream cut through the silence like a blade, bouncing off the walls and drilling into my skull. I clamped my hands over my ears, but it didn't help. The entire cave shook violently, loose rocks tumbling down and dust filling the air.

What the hell was that!?

My heart slammed against my ribs as I froze, every nerve in my body firing on high alert. Forcing myself to breathe, I straightened up and tightened my grip on my awareness. I had no idea what made that noise, but I wasn't planning on sticking around long enough to find out.

The passage suddenly opened up, the cramped walls giving way to a cavern so massive it made my head spin. The ceiling stretched fifty meters high, maybe more. It was almost like I'd stepped into an underground cathedral.

And at the far end of the cavern stood something completely out of place.

A door.

Not just any door, either—it looked like it had been ripped straight out of a sci-fi movie. Smooth, metallic, and way too high-tech to belong in a place that reeked of bat guano.

I stood there, dumbfounded. "What… the hell?"