Chapter 56 Mind-melting Agony

Time had no meaning. My body was nothing but a battered, weightless thing, tossed and rattled through the river’s wrath, carried like a leaf in a storm. The world was a blur of darkness and cold, the water pulling me down, dragging me, twisting me. My consciousness flickered in and out, my mind adrift in a void of pain and exhaustion.

And then… light.

A harsh, golden light seared my vision, and I gasped, sputtering, coughing up river water as my senses came rushing back. My body felt heavy, sinking into the muddy riverbank where the current had finally spat me out. I was tangled in thick, overgrown grass, half-submerged in water that had become strangely calm, almost lazy compared to the roaring fury that had swallowed me days before.

Days.

That realization struck me like a hammer as I groggily pushed myself up, every inch of me screaming in protest. My skin was stiff, my muscles sore, and the wounds that should have still been raw and bleeding had scabbed over, some even healed completely. Only one remained—the arrow in my leg, the shaft broken off, its jagged end still buried deep in my flesh.

Pain flared as soon as I shifted, a sharp, searing agony shooting up my thigh and nearly making me collapse back into the water. My breath hitched, and I gritted my teeth, willing my body to stay upright. My arms trembled as I steadied myself, hands gripping the damp grass as I forced my aching limbs to obey.

My stomach growled violently, the hunger twisting inside me like a gnawing beast. How long had it been since I last ate? My belly felt like an empty pit, a void screaming for anything—anything—to fill it. My head was spinning, my vision still hazy, but one thing was clear: I had to find food. I had to move.

But first…

I looked down at my leg, at the broken arrow jutting from my wound. The sight alone made my gut churn. If I left it there, it would fester. If I pulled it out, it would bleed.

Either way, I was in for a world of pain.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry and scratchy, then clenched my fists. No one was coming to help me. No one would patch me up or ease the suffering. I was alone.

I took a deep, shaky breath.

And then, with every ounce of strength I had left—I reached for the arrow.

Agony. Pure, unfiltered, mind-melting agony.

Just touching the broken shaft sent bolts of pain tearing through my leg like white-hot lightning. A pathetic squeal escaped my throat, my body convulsing in sheer torment. My vision blurred as my bladder betrayed me, warmth spreading down my filthy legs as I pissed myself from the unbearable pain. My whole body trembled, my breathing came in shallow, pitiful gasps, and I knew—this was going to be hell.

I needed something—anything—to keep me from screaming like a dying pig. My trembling fingers clawed at the muddy ground until I found a thick, gnarled stick. Without thinking, I shoved it into my mouth and bit down, my teeth grinding against the wood as I grabbed hold of the broken arrow.

Then I pulled.

A fresh wave of suffering exploded in my leg, so intense my muscles seized up, and for a moment, I felt like my entire body was being ripped apart. My vision pulsed black, my heartbeat a deafening drum in my ears. I pulled again, harder, but the hooked tip only dug deeper, shredding flesh with every miserable attempt.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. The pain swallowed everything.

Tears, snot, and drool poured down my face as I tried again—again! —but it only made it worse. My body buckled, my fingers twitching as I let out strangled, pathetic whimpers around the stick, now slick with my spit. My hands were shaking so violently I could barely hold onto the cursed thing. The barbed tip was doing exactly what it was designed to do—stay lodged, tear deeper, and refuse to come out.

I was too weak. Too pathetic. It wasn’t going to work.

There was only one way.

My body sagged in defeat, my ragged breath coming in sharp, panicked gasps as my gaze landed on a large, jagged rock half-buried in the mud. My stomach twisted. My whole body screamed at me not to do it. But there was no choice.

I grabbed the rock.

Bracing myself, I raised it high above the arrow, my hands shaking so badly that I could barely keep my grip. My mind screamed, begged, pleaded—don’t do it, don’t do it!—but my body moved on its own, fueled by desperation.

I swung the rock down with all my strength. The arrow punched through and came out the other side of my thigh.

An explosion of pain unlike anything I had ever known ripped through me, so violent, so all-consuming, that my mind shattered. My jaw clenched so hard the stick in my mouth snapped in half, splinters stabbing into my tongue. My bowels gave out, hot, disgusting shame leaking from me as I shit myself, my body spasmed uncontrollably.

A shrill, gurgled wail tore from my throat, but it was cut short as my vision exploded in white-hot agony. My ears rang. My body shook.

And then…

Darkness.

I collapsed, face-first into the slick, muddy ground with a wet flop, my body twitching once before going completely limp. The world faded away, swallowed by the black void of unconsciousness.

The water around me was no longer the raging torrent that had swallowed me whole—it was gentle now, cradling me in its cool embrace, letting me drift as if I were no more than a leaf fallen from a dying tree.

My eyelids fluttered open, and golden light flooded my vision. The sun was just beginning to rise, its warmth crawling over the horizon like slow-moving embers. The sky above shifted from deep purple to soft pink, then into the brilliant oranges of morning. It was beautiful. But I barely had the strength to admire it.

I turned my head sluggishly, the water sloshing around my ears. My body ached—no, burned. My leg, my ribs, my arms… everything hurt. But I was alive. Somehow.

Slowly, I forced my weak limbs to move. My feet found the riverbed, and I tried to stand, only to realize the water was still neck-deep. My trembling legs barely held me upright, so I did the only thing I could—I crawled forward, my hands sinking into the soft riverbed, dragging my useless body toward the shallows.

I reached dry ground and collapsed onto my side, heaving for breath. My body shivered from the chill of my soaked skin, but the warmth of the rising sun soon kissed my face, reminding me that morning had come.

Morning of a new day. A new day… but for what?

My head spun, but I forced myself to focus. I needed to figure out where I was. I turned my gaze to my surroundings, scanning the trees, the moss clinging to the trunks, the formation of the rocks, the swaying grass. There was something familiar about this place, something that pulled at my fogged memories like an old whisper in the back of my mind.

Then it hit me.

I knew this place.

I had wandered here before. The open plains weren’t far from here. My breath hitched in my throat as realization set in.

Grub and Grill.

The hatchling.

Our cozy little cave in the open plains, hidden in the tall grass…

A surge of energy, weak as it was, pushed me to move. I knew where I was. I knew where to go.

And with that thought, for the first time in a long, long while… I felt something other than despair.

My breath caught in my throat. My weary legs trembled as I limped forward, dragging my mangled body across the last stretch of land that separated me from the open plains.

For a moment—just a brief, fragile moment—things looked… right. The tall golden grass swayed in the breeze, the rolling fields stretched into the horizon, and the cave—the place I had once called home—stood in the distance, just as I remembered it.

But as I got closer, something changed.

A creeping, gnawing dread slithered into my gut. The closer I got, the more wrong everything became.

My cave… my home… It was ruined.

The small, cozy entrance had been torn apart, shattered into a mess of broken rock and clawed-out earth. The walls had collapsed inward, leaving jagged scars across the ground where something massive had torn through. My pulse pounded in my ears, but I couldn’t stop myself—I had to see. I had to know.

I stepped inside, my feet crunching against the filth covering the ground. And then I saw it.

A wave of nausea hit me so hard that I nearly collapsed.