Suddenly Sage felt his body enter a space that felt like floating. The hits from Móði had sent him flying, and his vision was blurry from both pain and speed.
A golden portal appeared, trying to pull him in. The runes on his hand glowed brightly, clearly drawn toward that portal.
But because of the speed he was traveling, he passed right through it. Another portal appeared ahead of him. This one was dark red, and the energy it gave off was vile and wrong.
Sage could not sense anything properly. Even if he could, he had no way to stop himself.
When his body went through the red portal, he felt like something was tearing him apart from the inside. Suddenly he was floating again. Or was he?
He forced his eyes open and felt wind rushing past him. He looked down and saw his body was falling from the sky. The sky above was red in color.
As he fell, he tried turning his battered body but couldn't control it. At first he could see nothing below, but as he continued falling, mountains and rocky ground came into view.
He closed his eyes and gave in.
BOOM.
The moment he hit the ground, his body created a crater in the earth.
He landed on his back, staring up at the red sky. He didn't know how he was still alive. Bones in his face were broken from Móði's last punch. Even though it had only caught his nose, the shockwave had shattered his cheekbone and jaw.
His spine felt wrong. His arms were broken. His ribs were definitely broken.
He lay there looking at the crimson sky above.
But despite all the broken bones and torn muscles, none of that pain was in his mind. The physical agony meant nothing.
Only death filled his thoughts.
His mind kept torturing him, replaying the scene of his mother's death over and over. How she was stabbed through the stomach. How the blood ran from her mouth. The wild man's face when he killed her.
Hati exploding into blood that covered him. His mother. Everything. All of it repeating endlessly.
At first, he felt his will to live disappear completely.
But the more the scene played in his mind, the worse it became. His mind began fabricating new memories, making up things the mad man had said.
"Your mother died like the pathetic worm she was. She begged for mercy at the end."
"Uhht... umm..." He was trying to say 'shut up,' but his broken jaw wouldn't form the words properly.
"That wolf was just as weak as you. I barely had to kick it before it splattered everywhere."
"Your father was even more pathetic. He cried when I killed him. Just like you're crying now."
"Nho... nho..." Tears mixed with blood on his face.
"You'll die here alone, and no one will remember you. No one will care."
"Your mother never loved you. She kept you around because she was too weak to kill you herself."
The fabricated words felt real. They cut deeper than any physical wound. His mind was betraying him, creating new torture when the real memories weren't enough.
He wanted to scream, but his body wouldn't let him. He wanted to die, but even that seemed impossible now.
"It's all your fault. You caused this."
"Just die already. Your daddy is dead, your mommy is dead. Are you sure they loved you? I mean, they didn't live to be with you. Why don't you die and go ask them?"
Suddenly his puffy, swollen eyes turned from bloodshot red to actually glowing red. His entire body erupted in a crimson aura that pulsed with raw energy.
His broken facial bones snapped back into place with audible cracks. His jaw realigned itself. Out of his mouth came a sound that wasn't human, a raw, primal scream of pure anguish.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The scream tore through the red sky and echoed off the mountains. His body convulsed as the aura wrapped around him like fire. Broken ribs fused back together. His shattered spine straightened. Arms that hung at wrong angles popped back into their sockets.
But as soon as he tried to move, the pain hit him again.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
He collapsed into a fetal position. The scream dissolved into broken sobs that shook his entire body.
Hours crawled by like days. He would cry until exhaustion took him, sleep fitfully for minutes, then wake up screaming. The cycle repeated endlessly. Sleep brought no peace, only nightmares where he watched his mother die again and again.
Each time he woke, the memories felt fresh. Like it was happening for the first time.
The crimson aura had vanished after healing his bones and flesh. But it left the real wounds untouched, the ones carved into his mind and soul.
Those wounds festered. They grew deeper with each replay of that day. His depression wasn't just sadness anymore; it was a weight that pressed down on his chest, making even breathing feel impossible.
He wanted to move, to stand, to do something. But his body felt disconnected from his will. Even the thought of ending his own suffering seemed too difficult. He couldn't summon the energy to lift his hand, let alone take his life.
The voice in his head noticed his weakness and fed on it.
"Look how pathetic you are. You can't even kill yourself properly. A whole family of weaklings."
"Your mother died screaming, and now you're doing the same. Like mother, like son."
"Do you think your father begged before I cut his head off? Do you think he cried your name?"
"Ohh wait.. did he even know your name... your face? Hahhaha"
Sage pressed his palms against his ears and screamed, but the voice came from inside his skull. There was no escaping it.
"Even with all that power, you're still nothing. Still useless. Still weak. That's why everyone you love dies."
The words felt like poison being poured directly into his brain. Each sentence carved itself deeper into his mind until he started believing them.
Maybe he was weak. Maybe it was his fault. Maybe everyone would be better off if he had never been born.
The red sky above offered no comfort, .it looked like dried blood. The rocky ground beneath him was sharp and cold. This place felt like death itself, and he was trapped here with nothing but his pain and the voice that would never stop.