Xu Lin generously walked down the path as he waited for the Kandarian guards to pass him by

It wasn’t that the walk took long or anything, it was more like he didn’t want to go home because of how he felt about seeing the man who was taking care of him

even though he respected brother David his heart would still fill up with dread because of how angry that man would sometimes become for no apparent reason at all but that was why he had come

and now he was going home and the man had taken the chance to go somewhere he could see more of the stars.

He sighed as he thought about how much his life sucked these days.

It wasn’t even that big brother David was cruel or something like that.

He actually seemed like a decent person overall despite his attitude towards him at times it was just, that the man was erratic

one moment he would be smiling and talking happily the next he would be so angry his displeasure would radiate out of his pores like fire

He really didn’t understand why his big brother's attitude always annoyed him

He couldn’t remember any time when he ever did something bad for Big brother David or anyone else.

Well maybe there was that time he had accidentally broken the glass of his mother's mirror but that shouldn't affect big brother David he wasn't even there when that happened

and the eyes, the eyes always scared Xu lin

for one there was no eyeball in the man eyes and he always stared right at you as if he could see the very soul of Xu Lin

revealing all of Xu lin's hidden truths and secrets to the man

Brother David was terrifying

because even though he could look innocent and calm he could be deadly when he wanted too

to that Xu Lin could attest to

and the hair? oh, the hair!

that man had hair so black so silky smooth that he never had a doubt that the man must have been born with long hair, and when the sun came through that man's hair would reflect beautifully the light of the sun making his hair look like it was glowing and made the man shine in the darkening sky

he shuddered at the thought of it

he didn't like to think of that man's face

his beautiful face was filled with anger, hatred and hurt whenever their gaze met

his skin was pale and flawless that at times Xu lin thought the man was a woman

Xu Lin let go of his breath as the guards finally crossed

he looked up at the night sky

Stars twinkled amidst the inky vastness, handfuls of glittering sand thrown across the darkness of infinity.

suddenly a cold wind blew across his face

unlike the days the nights in the mines were extremely cold

but Xu Lin was untouched by the cold as his body enlivened an uncanny warm heat keep in him warm

as he rustled forward dragging his every step

even though he disliked going back to big brother David's gaze but he hated going back to an empty cave even more

then the disheartening presence of big brother David

the silence was suffocating as he neared the caves

it had been almost two months since he had been gone

Xu Lin frowned with concern heavily weighing on his mind

if a big brother had told someone before going away it would not have risen so much concern as it had now

even the three pretty ladies had come after Xu lin asking if knew where big brother David was

and right after that, the mines atmosphere had changed drastically

Xu Lin wasn't sure what had caused the actual change but he had begun to notice the small changes that were happening all across the mines

Recently, especially within the last couple of months, the whippings had been more frequent.

From the rumours he’d heard, Xu Lin's captors were preparing for war.

Xu Lin was all too familiar with the horrors of war and he wasn't too keen to experience it again

so, for the first time in nearly ten months since being taken from his family to live in the mines, Xu Lin once again dreaded tomorrow's sun as no one was sure what that sun would be with it

but that was not all

the quotas for the ore, sand and mud were increased to an insane amount of levels of production

that had caused a frenzy among the workers

people disappearing in the mines was a regular accurate now he had even heard a practitioner war had broken out in the cavern

people were acting crazy to fill their quota

he had seen first hand the madness this increased Quota was causing

only yesterday as he was working in the mine a woman had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and flashed a sharp dagger at him

" Give me everything in your basket, and we will forget we ever met" she had said

Xu Lin had seen the desperation in her eyes as he handed his basket over even though he could easily handle the woman he wasn't keen to

test his luck with

the people in the mines weren't the most patient people

their patience had been tested often enough in the past few months that they had lost the trust and respect that some had gained during the years they had spent living there.

That day had been different though

he saw the fear in the woman' eyes even as she brandished her knife and asked him to do anything she wanted

" Just...just give me whatever you have" the woman pleaded to look around as she spoke

Xu Lin shook his head as he replied

" I don't have anything else"

"you lie" she shrieked as she charged him

xu Lin vaguely remembered seeing the woman around and thought her name was one of those weird names similar to big brother David

as the woman closed in he activated his oceanic tide technique allowing him to move like the flow of water as he easily disagreed with the woman by breaking her wrist and throwing her onto the ground with ease

The woman quickly picked herself up before running away screaming

as he watched her go he felt relieved not having to kill the woman

Xu Lin hourly missed his fried Xiao Shi and even found himself wishing big brother David would come back soon

the people were beginning to break under the pressure and soon chaos will

spread like wildfire

fueled by the whims and beliefs of broken people

...............................................

"Get Up"

a scream jolted me from the deep sleep I'd been in

I jerked awake instantly feeling a hot burning pain on my chest

I slowly sat up rubbing my temples whining the headache to go away

as I looked down to see what was going on

the room was always bright with the white light

and I found silver sitting in my chest staring at me intently with his big brown eyes with a look of impatience plastered on his face

" come on child we don't have any more time to waste"

I looked confused at the child

" what is going on?" I asked him

"We are running out of time child now get moving now"

I groggily began to move as I got out of the white bed and for the first time since I got here I stood up on my two feet

the floor was cold as I took a shaky step

I winced from the pain shooting through my foot

and as I took another step, the other foot followed suit

As I continued, I could feel my legs shaking

it hadn't stopped since I've gotten into bed

my arms shook violently but somehow I managed to stay upright with my weight

"Are you alright child?"

I nodded

silver grabbed my hand and began leading me

"come on we don't have time child"

I tried to ask "don't have time for what?"

but soon the room began moving as if we were travelling at breakneck speed

the painting around me began passing me as if was sitting in a spreading car

I felt sick with sudden vertigo, reminded all too well of the time I had divided for the very first time

as I moved forward the white world around me melted as a white brigade made of light materialised in front of me

I was started as my cry of surprise turned to a gasp of wonder

as I felt himself being buoyed up by a shimmering current of power, even as I felt my weight that had seemed to double.

I swallowed, feeling an odd sort of weariness, but even then I continued to move forward led by silver

Feeling an intense flood of relief when that buoyant wave of flexibility hardened into a road of shimmering ivory, as solid as

marble, and with its own unique charm

we travelled faster and faster

As we travelled the space around us seemed to twist in on itself and twist until I couldn't tell where we were going

I looked behind and to my left, and my heart almost stopped

as I stared in horror at the endless sea of white space in front of us.

I felt sacred said I was seeing the edge of the world's end

"Get ready child we are almost there"

silver shouted at me

I then noticed that

in the distance ahead of us, was a huge dark hole

the hole was surrounded by thick black clouds

"It's the place where we're going?" I breathed

Silver gave me an odd look

"Of course it's the place child

now come along we don't want to miss our stop"

I gasped in awe

" Come child we don't have any more time!" he said sharply

He then pulled me closer towards the enormous hole

my stomach twisted into knots as I stated into the dark abyss as stood on the eyes of the bridge

"I’m doing this for your own good, boy, so hold onto me as if your life depended on it "

was all I heard as the child jumped into the shimmering void dragging me along with him

I gasped and cried out as a surprisingly powerful arm clenched me by my waist and pulled me

For an endless, terrible moment I was at the apex of our leap,

everything utterly still and peaceful, a frozen slice of time.

And then they began to fall.

my stomach shot up my throat as I screamed,

recalling in that instant why I absolutely hated roller coasters, and that was when I was safely strapped into the damn ride.

Not falling hundreds of feet through the air with no parachute, to what I was certain would either be a very quick death or an agonizingly slow one.

fuck my life

I could think of nothing else but videos of young skaters screaming as limbs shattered and bones burst from their flesh when stunts failed spectacularly. And the ground was coming in faster than a tidal wave.

I inhaled and prepared for impact…

Then blinding pain and blackness.

my body ached with pain and stiffness my vision was pitch black

I tried to move but my whole body refused to work

only gaining an intense pain for my effort

I tried to activate my vision technique before a hand suddenly gripped my hands and legs

I struggled against the grip on my waist as the grip tightened further.

"What is happening?" I demanded

the grip on my waist loosened for a brief moment

I gasped for air and choked on the tears streaming down my cheeks as I gasped for breath desperately

something or someone made it so much harder to breathe

"Don't struggle or move the child," I heard the familiar voice of silver

but the hands gripping me were not that of a child

they were I soon realised I couldn't feel what they were like I couldn't feel anything from my neck below

my shoulder blade.

A piercing stab of fear cut across my chest

the force of my struggle weakened

I was losing consciousness

I felt losing the sense of the grip on my limbs as I completely lost the sense that they were even there

there was only darkness surrounding me

I could hear myself breathing raggedly, wheezing from the exertion I could feel my lungs burning in agony

I felt myself move as if the ground beneath was moving

as fast as it did while I floated in limbo, unable to control my movements

My chest hurt

My lungs hurt

My ribs hurt

My heart hurt

I didn't know how long I floated in the dark

it could have been minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, or just seconds

I let out a scream of pure terror