I stumbled into a large cavern with a giant pool in the centre. This one hadn’t dried up, full to the brim with sloshing angry water. Endless eddies churned, thanks to the hypnotic spiral in the middle—a whirlpool pulling down into death.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose.
A sharp tug on my heart, sudden and hot—begging me to come quickly, come fast, comenow.
I staggered and broke into another run.
Skidding around the deep pool, my bare feet slipped as the roar of water hurt my ears.
The red glow brightened as I paused on the threshold of yet another cave.
In the distance, in the middle of a dried basin, I found him.
Exactly like I’d seen in my mind’s eye. Hunched over his crossed legs, clinging to his knees, every muscle rigid and quaking while savage flames burned him alive. Fire poured from him in violent surges, licking up the cave walls, turning dripping droplets into hissing steam.
I went to move.
I opened my mouth to scream—
But pure agony tore across his face. The intricate web of veins beneath his skin ignited bright gold.
Too late.
I was too—
A supernovaburstout of him—a roaring sphere of incandescent destruction.
It blasted toward me like a bomb.
Smacked into me harder than a devil’s fist.
It hurled me backward as if I was a flimsy butterfly caught in a flaming hurricane.
The cave shattered around me. Walls crumbled. Ceilings gave in.
And as his power fully unleashed, I was flung into the swirling water behind me.
I hit hard.
I sank quick.
My teeth punctured my tongue as burning water swallowed me deep, yanking me into its violent spiral.
I fought.
I foughtsohard.
I kicked and flailed, clawing toward the blazing fire on the surface.
But it was no use.
My back smacked against rock; my knees whacked against stone.
I couldn’t tell which way was up.
Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t scream.
My hair wrapped around my neck like a noose.
