Chapter 2: Malleable bridge

Everything was black around him. He plummeted through darkness until there was a light, then burst into another sky.

The second sky he fell into was blue-green in color. The earth was gray, but a pitch black hole was opened like a mouth trying to expel him from this place.

The ground rejected him.

He was hurled into another sky.

And another.

Each time, a terrible stillness—a breath held in the throat of the world.

Then thunderous force. The skies spit him out like a bullet. Wind roared past his ears. He fell and fell, again and again.

Until finally—

A crimson-purple sky. The ground didn’t open.

He slammed into it, skidding across what felt like crystallized sand.

He panted hard, trying to catch his breath. He leaned on his back, and his chest kept rising and falling rapidly.

He swallowed hard and called out his siblings one by one.

“Taylor!”

“Celia!”

He lowered his eyes and nearly shut them. And with a soft, cracked voice, “Dab–” then he broke into tears.

He pulled his legs closer to his chest.

After a few moments of silence, realization crept into his mind that he didn’t have time to process it

I can’t see. It’s blurry.

Trying to scan the area. He wiped his tears and blinked rapidly. Shadows and colors, no shapes.

Everything was blurry.

He could tell he was probably in an empty space, with sand beneath him and a sky above, that he could barely make out its color. Everything was so blurry, he couldn’t even make sense of shapes.

His heart didn’t rest; he could still feel the panic since his vision wasn’t helping, and he didn’t know what he might encounter.

As the thought crossed his mind, he felt something making the ground shake with each step.

His eyes widened.

I am not alone. I am scared

He tightened his grip hard and closed his eyes.

He felt something approaching, and a gust of wind brushed over his face, and the wind kept blowing repeatedly.

He felt somehow relaxed.

It didn’t eat me. It's a good sign, right?

Is it a bear or a dragon or what? I can’t expect anything this far.

A weird sound was speaking, but he couldn’t understand it.

Huh?

Its language echoed in layers, as if multiple voices spoke and responded at once.

“I don’t understand, could you translate? I am not from here. Please let me out of here.”

The breathing sound got further away, then he felt something pulling him from behind and raising him off the ground, then it made multiple shocks to the ground with its legs before it leaped into the red sky.

Waitttt

***

After a few minutes, he felt the thing that was holding him finally land on the ground, and he could hear noise coming from a crowd, but he couldn't understand what they were saying.

He crashed to the ground and could feel all his bones aching, but still something felt strange, even though he couldn’t see. He felt his body was not the same; he was taller.

Then silence filled the air, and no one spoke. Then a horn sound echoed in the whole area, and everything was shaking around it.

I can only hear things that I don't understand–what’s happening

A magical sound, soft but respectable, was speaking

“Young man, you now stand before the great gathering of the First Jinn. You are bound to complete what your blood could not. That is your only way out. Our royal house stands on the brink of collapse. To survive, we must form an alliance with another royal family through a marriage. But for that to happen, we need a contract with a Strata Crosser. It is forbidden for our kind to cross borders to another royal house. Only humans can make the crossing. Your blood once took up that burden… but failed in the attempt.”

Young man? Do they consider sixth-grade men? And what do they mean by my blood? I can barely finish my own homework, let alone finish for others

“Before the cross is made, you need to prove your worth and pass the trials. You may take what your blood left behind, but it needs your ownership to bind.”

The sound paused, then continued, "On the Malleable bridge."

“I–” Only a sound of speaking attempt was made.

What? My vision isn’t clear, and I can’t even speak.

Dam it, Celia would be proud of that achievement right now

He turned his head right and left, trying to make sense of his surroundings, then felt many presences around him, like really close, it felt more like they were staring closely.

He gulped

Thankfully, I can’t witness what they are doing.

He heard things thrown in front of him, so he touched them.

A glove.

A book.

Then he checked the last item and found something similar to the lantern they had in the living room.

The sound spoke again, demanding. “Set him ready for the first trial.”

Trial? What trial?

He suddenly felt his body forced to stand.

What now? I can barely feel my legs. I can’t control them.

He stood up forcibly while holding the items, still trying to look around him, but everything was blurry, and he didn't want to think about what he could accidentally see, so he wouldn't panic. It was enough for him that he didn’t stand on his own will.

Suddenly, the ground shook beneath him, and he could feel that the ground was being ripped apart, and all the presences who were around him made space. He looked to his sides, and he could feel the ground that he was standing on rising above like a bridge that he was the only one standing on.

But he wasn’t really alone, he could feel behind him a heavy presence growing over time, and growling sounds became louder, that he could only hear in horror movies.

He was stunned, and his eyes widened.

‘Run’

As if there was anything I could do except that.

Without thinking, he took her advice and ran. His bare feet struck the ground that shifted beneath him. At one moment it’s rubbery, and glassy the next, then suddenly rocky. He couldn’t tell what it really was. He just kept running, hearing the growling sounds behind him, their bodies slamming into the same ground, each impact louder, closer, closing in.

He kept running until his shoulder hit something resting in the air, which was almost transparent but the reflection of light showing it purple from a different direction, as much as he could tell. It was like an air pocket the size of an egg but extending at its edges.

He skipped it and found another ahead of him, then another. There were many of them spread across the bridge. He tried to dodge one near his leg, but stumbled on it, and he fell, sliding further away until he was on his back, leaving all items scattered around him.

He turned his head and spotted one of them, which was very close to his face.

He felt drawn to it and instinctively bit it. He quickly peeled its sharp edges that felt like knives until it revealed its core.

It expelled a liquid like water, so he put his mouth under it and drank it.

I can’t believe I am drinking something like that, it’s gross

He looked ahead and realized that his vision became clearer, and the more he sucked from the air pocket, the more he could see what was behind him.

Huge black horned creatures with sharp teeth were hurling behind him. Their upper body looked demonic, and their lower body featured huge legs like wolves with sharp claws. Two of them stopped and ripped each other apart until they ate each other, while the last one made his way toward Belo.