AXEL
My bed is damp. Like water was poured over it sometime in the night. I shift my weight lazily, tossing an arm to the other end of the bed… where tiny blades bite my skin. The pricking sensation stings flesh and burns through my thoughts, strong enough to clear the fuzziness in my brain. Wake up, Axel.
Slowly, my eyelids peel open. Streaks of early morning sunlight stun my sight, rousing me awake to full awareness. Lifting a hand over my brows, I sit up with a loud groan.
There's a faint trace of smoke wafting through the air, and I scrunch my nose. A huge boulder looms in my periphery to the left, half of it covered in mold. Ferns and wildflowers form a carpet beyond it, and the unrelenting croaking of frogs echo nearby.
I'm not on my bed. I'm in the woods. I glance downwards w
