Volk plummeted down, his body stretched and twisted in the strange kaleidoscope of colors and shapes around him.

A chaotic blur of shimmering light and unfathomable darkness surrounded him.

The sensation of weightlessness turned to an all-consuming, pulling force that yanked at him from every direction, like he was being unspooled through space itself.

His vision warped, narrowing to a pinpoint before expanding again, colors flashing and swirling in dizzying patterns.

His ears rang with a high-pitched whine that rose to a fever pitch, drowning out all thought and reason.

WHOOOOOOMPH!

Another tug pulled at him, harder than before, a pull so intense it felt like his very bones might dislocate.

His skin burned, the force tearing at him as though it meant to scatter him across this strange void.

“Raaaaaagh!”

He snarled, but his voice vanished into the endless maw around him, lost in the terrible, roaring silence.

His thoughts began to blur, slipping, sliding—No!

He shook his head furiously, clenching his fists.

He wasn’t going to let this damned force swallow him whole.

He was Volk, Warchief of his horde, bound for Orzaroth with a purpose.

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This would not be the end of him!

With a savage growl, Volk swung his fist directly at his own jaw.

CRACK!

The impact echoed inside his head, pain slicing through the fog as his teeth clashed, the sting forcing him back into focus.

His jaw throbbed, but he held onto that sharp, biting pain, clenching his fists tighter.

Another surge of force tugged at him, yanking harder, trying to drown him in the storm of spinning colors.

No…! Stay awake!

He jabbed his fingers into his arm, digging his nails into the flesh until they nearly pierced skin.

The pain seared through him, bringing a brief, blessed clarity. But then, like a wave rising from the deep, the pull intensified again, stronger than ever.

His head swam, his vision blurring as if he were looking at the world through fractured glass.

With a wild, desperate snarl, Volk punched himself square in the chest, BOOM!

His ribs jolted with the impact, and his heart skipped a beat, but it was enough to sharpen his mind for another agonizing moment.

“Come on, you bloody brute, stay awake!” he grunted, fighting the weight that pulled at his limbs.

Another heaving yank twisted his body, and he felt his senses slipping again, like trying to grab smoke with bare hands.

BITE!

He clenched down hard on his tongue, the metallic taste of blood flooding his mouth.

The pain lashed through him, fiery and raw, forcing his eyes open against the dizzying vortex of light.

He could feel his heartbeat pounding against his ribs, faster, harder, each thud a fight against the pull threatening to consume him.

“Hrrrrgh!”

He hammered his fists into his own shoulders, each blow sending bolts of pain through his body as he battled to keep his senses intact.

However, the force—oh, that relentless, merciless force—was like a monstrous hand, reaching deeper with each tug, prying apart his thoughts, scattering his focus into the maelstrom.

The grip tightened, and his body felt heavy, his arms like weights.

But Volk wasn’t finished yet.

His mind was screaming, his instincts roaring, “Do whatever it takes, Volk, don’t let it win!”

He clawed his face, scratching along his cheek, the sharp sting lancing through the haze.

He forced his eyes to stay open, even as they felt like they were going to pop out of his skull.

His breaths came in short, choked gasps as he fought to keep from slipping into the void, every second another battle, another desperate attempt to stay conscious.

The pull grew stronger, dragging him down, faster and faster.

His limbs felt like lead, his breaths shallow, each one a struggle.

His mind blurred, consciousness slipping further and further from his grasp, a faint sliver of light in the growing darkness.

His hand jerked up to

strike himself again, but the energy wasn’t there.

No…! Not yet!

With one last, exhausted effort, Volk tried to clench his fists, but his fingers twitched uselessly, his strength drained, his mind a fog.

The tugging force finally tore through him, relentless, devouring.

His vision darkened, a cold numbness swallowing him.

His eyelids felt impossibly heavy, his mind drifting, his thoughts fading like whispers in the night.

…

Beneath the thick canopy of towering trees, two women ran frantically, their feet bare, skimming across the moss-covered forest floor.

The moonlight filtered in patches through the leaves, casting an eerie glow on their deep brown skin, slick with sweat and dirt, blending almost seamlessly into the shadows.

Their expressions were painted with pure terror, breaths coming in short, panicked bursts as they glanced over their shoulders, eyes wide with dread.

The taller of the two, her long, dark hair tangled and wild, looked at her companion with frantic eyes.

“D-Do you think we can hide up ahead?” she whispered, her voice trembling as her gaze darted through the dense trees.

The other woman, shorter but muscular with sharp, fierce eyes, shook her head.

“I… I don’t know!” she replied, her voice barely a whisper, though every syllable seemed to echo in the dense silence.

Her heart pounded so loudly she was sure it would give them away.

She could feel the eyes of the forest on her, every shadow twisted into a lurking figure.

“We need to be smarter,” the taller woman murmured, gripping her friend’s arm, a trace of desperation in her touch.

“Maybe if we split up, he won’t be able to follow both of us!” But even as she spoke, her voice faltered, uncertainty clouding her expression.

“No, we can’t!” the shorter one hissed back, her dark eyes flicking around wildly.

“We’ll be weaker alone. And you’ve seen what he does to those he finds alone…” She trailed off, and the horror in her eyes told a story of its own.

“But where do we go?” the first woman whispered, swallowing hard, her hands shaking as she wrung them together.

Her gaze shifted to the left, then the right, searching desperately for a way out. “If we keep running, we’ll exhaust ourselves before he even catches up.”

The second woman sucked in a deep breath, glancing up at the trees around them.

“Maybe… maybe we can climb, find a spot up high?” She looked up into the dense tangle of branches overhead. “If we’re high enough, maybe he won’t see us. We just have to be quiet.”

“No,” the taller woman shook her head. “He has those dogs—they’d sniff us out, and there’s nowhere to go if he catches us up there!”

Her face twisted in frustration, torn between choices, every option leading them to possible doom.

“Why can’t we think of anything? We’re trapped, aren’t we?”

As if on cue, a low, guttural sound echoed through the forest—the unmistakable, menacing bark of a hunting hound.

Both women froze, eyes widening as they stared into the shadows from where they’d come.

Another bark, closer this time, followed by a snarl that sent shivers down their spines.

They exchanged a glance, terror mirrored in each other’s gaze.

“I told you,” the shorter woman mouthed, hardly able to breathe. “They’ll find us no matter where we go. We can’t… we can’t outrun him.”

“Shh,” the taller one whispered, clutching her friend’s arm. “Maybe… maybe if we’re quiet, they’ll pass us by. Just stay still.”

But as the two crouched low, every muscle tensed, a figure emerged from the shadows, the silhouette of a man trailing behind a small pack of massive, hulking hounds.

His voice slithered through the darkness, cold and dripping with amusement. “Where are you…?” he called, his tone deceptively sweet, mocking, each word laced with cruelty.

The two women pressed themselves tighter into the shadows, but it was futile.

The man’s dark figure loomed just beyond the trees, his sharp, calculating eyes scanning the area with an eerie calm.

His dogs began to sniff at the ground, inching closer to the spot where the women had just stood moments before.

They were huge, with jaws powerful enough to snap bones, eyes glowing faintly in the dim moonlight as they caught their quarry’s scent.

“Ahh, there you are…” the man murmured, his voice almost a whisper, yet somehow carrying with a weight that chilled them to the bone.

He chuckled, the sound low and mocking, savoring the chase like a twisted game.

The shorter woman clutched her friend’s hand, eyes wide as she whispered, “He’s going to find us. Any second now, he’ll… he’ll—”

Her words were cut off as one of the hounds raised its head, ears perked, its nose twitching as it caught their trail.

It let out a low growl, beginning to edge toward them, lips curled back to reveal rows of sharp, lethal teeth.

The taller woman squeezed her friend’s hand, heart pounding so hard it threatened to burst.

“Run, just run!” she mouthed, barely breathing as she felt the oppressive presence of the hunter creeping closer.

The shadows seemed to close in, and there was nowhere left to go, nowhere to hide.

But just as the dogs were about to find them, a strange light appeared in the sky, flickering faintly before bursting into a fiery streak.

It was a meteor, blazing through the night like a beacon from another world, growing larger and brighter as it descended.

The hounds halted, their gaze lifting to the sky, ears pricked in confused alertness.

The man’s mocking smile faltered as he, too, looked up.

His eyes narrowed, suspicion flickering across his face as he watched the meteor hurtle toward them, its descent rapid, trailing fire and smoke.

The women clung to each other, momentarily forgotten in the spectacle.

Boom!

With an earth-shaking crash, the meteor slammed into the ground nearby, sending a wave of heat and debris through the air.

The shockwave hit the man and his hounds, knocking them back, scattering them like leaves in a storm.

The two women shielded themselves, eyes wide with shock, barely able to comprehend the miraculous intervention that had saved them.

As the dust began to settle, the forest fell silent once more, save for the faint crackle of embers where the meteor had impacted.

The two women, still trembling, watched as their pursuer scrambled to his feet, disoriented and enraged, a mixture of shock and fury on his face as he realized that his prey had just slipped from his grasp… for now.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep