CHAPTER TWO: A WORLD THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST
1426 Words
Pain came first.
Not the sharp kind. Not the kind that made you scream and thrash and beg for it to stop.
This was worse.
It was everywhere.
Slow. Burning. Endless.
Lina’s body felt like it had been torn apart and stitched back together with fire. Every nerve screamed, every breath dragged against something heavy and unseen.
For a long time, she didn’t open her eyes.
Because if she did… this would become real.
And she wasn’t sure she wanted that.
“…is she breathing?”
A voice..
Soft. Unfamiliar.
Close.
Lina’s brows pulled together slightly.
“I think so,” another voice replied, lower, steadier. “But her energy… it’s unstable.”
Energy?
That word didn’t belong anywhere near her life.
Or whatever was left of it.
“She shouldn’t even be alive,” the first voice whispered.
“No human could survive that kind of crossing.”
Crossing.
The word echoed strangely in her mind.
Her fingers twitched.
The movement was small, barely noticeable..
But it was enough.
“She moved!” the first voice said, sharper now. “She’s waking up!”
Lina’s eyes flew open.
The world was wrong.
That was the first thought that slammed into her mind.
Everything was too… bright.
Not in a painful way. Not exactly.
But the colors were deeper. Richer. Like someone had taken reality and turned up the intensity until it no longer felt natural.
The sky above her wasn’t the dull gray she remembered.
It was a vivid, endless blue, streaked with gold-tinted clouds that seemed to shimmer faintly, as if light lived inside them.
Lina’s breath caught.
Where…?
She pushed herself up suddenly, ignoring the protest of her body.
Big mistake..
The world spun violently.
A wave of dizziness crashed over her, and she nearly collapsed again before a hand caught her arm.
“Easy,” the steady voice said.
Lina froze.
Touch.
Real.
Warm.
Her gaze snapped toward the source.
A man knelt beside her.
He looked… normal.
Too normal.
Dark hair, sharp features, calm gray eyes that studied her carefully. He wore simple clothing, though something about the fabric felt different. Finer. Almost… alive.
Behind him stood a woman.
Blonde. Tall. Her expression filled with something Lina couldn’t quite place.
Concern?
No.
That didn’t make sense.
“Where am I?” Lina’s voice came out hoarse, barely above a whisper.
The two exchanged a glance.
Not the kind of glance people gave when they were confused.
The kind that meant they knew something she didn’t.
“You’re safe,” the woman said gently.
Lina’s stomach twisted.
Safe.
That word again.
People loved saying it without meaning it.
“I asked where I am,” Lina repeated, sharper this time, pulling her arm away from the man’s grip.
He let her go immediately.
Good.
At least he understood boundaries. That already made him better than most people she knew.
“You’re in Elyndra,” he said calmly.
The name meant nothing.
Lina stared at him.
“…That’s not a real place.”
The woman hesitated.
The man didn’t.
“It is now.”
Silence stretched between them.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Lina’s mind raced, trying to make sense of anything.
Bridge.
Water.
Falling.
She remembered that.
She remembered letting go.
Her chest tightened suddenly.
“I should be dead,” she said.
No one answered.
Which, honestly, was the worst possible response.
Her eyes darkened.
“I should be dead,” she repeated, louder now.
The woman stepped forward slightly. “You were meant to be.”
Lina’s head snapped toward her.
“What?”
The man shot the woman a look. A warning.
Too late.
The damage was done.
“What do you mean I was meant to be?” Lina demanded, her voice shaking now. Not with fear.
With anger.
The kind that had been building quietly for years.
The woman swallowed.
Then, carefully, she said, “You crossed between worlds. That kind of magic… it usually destroys the body.”
Magic.
Worlds.
Destroyed.
Every word sounded insane.
And yet…
Everything around her felt too real to dismiss.
Lina laughed.
It wasn’t a happy sound.
It was sharp. Empty. On the edge of breaking.
“So let me get this straight,” she said, pushing herself to her feet despite the dizziness clawing at her. “I tried to die… and instead I ended up in some… magical place that shouldn’t exist… and now you’re telling me I survived something that should’ve killed me anyway?”
Neither of them interrupted.
Smart.
“Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”
The man met her gaze evenly.
“Yes.”
At least he wasn’t pretending otherwise.
That almost made it worse.
Lina turned away from them, dragging a hand through her hair.
Her heart was racing now.
Too fast.
Too loud.
This wasn’t real.
It couldn’t be.
“Send me back,” she said suddenly.
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Silence.
Again.
Always silence.
Lina laughed again, softer this time.
“Right. Of course you can’t.”
Because nothing in her life had ever been that simple.
She wrapped her arms around herself, her fingers digging into her sleeves.
The wind brushed against her skin, carrying a scent she didn’t recognize. Something clean. Almost… electric.
Everything felt too sharp.
Too alive.
“I don’t belong here,” she muttered.
Something shifted in the air.
Subtle.
But enough to make both the man and woman go still.
The man’s gaze snapped to her.
Not at her face.
At her chest.
Specifically… just above her heart.
“What is it?” the woman asked quietly.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Which was never a good sign.
“…Her mark,” he said finally.
Mark?
Lina frowned, glancing down at herself.
At first, she saw nothing.
Then—
Light.
Faint.
Flickering beneath the fabric of her shirt.
Her breath caught.
“What…?”
Before she could react, the light flared.
Bright.
Blinding.
Heat flooded her chest, spreading outward like wildfire.
Lina gasped, stumbling back as pain surged through her again.
Not the same as before.
This was sharper.
Focused.
Alive.
“What’s happening to me?!” she cried out.
The woman stepped forward, panic flashing across her face now. “It’s awakening too soon—”
“Move back!” the man snapped.
But it was already too late.
The light burst outward.
And for a split second…
Something appeared behind Lina.
Massive.
Wings of fire and shadow.
Eyes like molten gold.
Ancient.
Terrifying.
Watching.
Far away…
In a place where mountains touched the sky…
He felt it.
The Dragon King stilled.
Every muscle in his body went rigid.
For five thousand years, nothing had broken his control.
Nothing had surprised him.
Nothing had reached him.
Until now.
A slow, dangerous exhale left his lips.
“…So it’s true.”
His eyes burned brighter.
Not with rage.
Not with hunger.
Something far more unsettling.
Recognition.
“She carries it.”
The bond.
The one thing he had long since stopped believing in.
And yet…
There it was.
Alive.
Awake.
Calling to him.
His lips curved slightly.
Not into a smile.
Something sharper.
“She’s human.”
A pause.
Then, quieter—
“…This should be impossible.”
But impossibility had never stopped him before.
The air around him darkened, power bending, shifting.
The world itself reacting to his will.
“For five thousand years,” he murmured, his voice low, almost thoughtful, “I waited for something worth my attention.”
His gaze lifted toward the horizon.
Toward her.
“And now…”
Something dangerous flickered in his expression.
“…I finally have it.”
Back in Elyndra…
Lina collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath as the light faded.
The pain vanished as suddenly as it came.
Leaving only silence.
And fear.
Her hands trembled.
Her heart pounded violently against her ribs.
“What… was that…?” she whispered.
The man and woman stared at her.
Not with confusion.
Not with curiosity.
With certainty.
The kind that changed everything.
The man spoke first.
“…You’re not just a survivor.”
Lina slowly looked up at him.
His expression had hardened.
Shifted.
Like he was no longer looking at a lost girl.
But something else entirely.
“Then what am I?” she asked, her voice barely holding together.
He held her gaze.
And said the one thing that would destroy any chance of her life ever being normal again.
“You’re the one the dragons have been waiting for.”
- Writer
