The light came first.
Not bright. Not blinding. Just… soft. Like dawn that hadn't decided whether it wanted to stay or leave.
His eyes opened slowly.
For a moment, he didn't move.
Didn't think.
Just listened.
Silence.
Not the normal kind. Not wind-through-trees, not distant birds. This silence felt… complete. Like the world had been emptied and rebuilt without sound.
He inhaled.
The air was too clean.
He sat up.
Trees surrounded him. Tall. Still. Their leaves barely moved, yet the place didn't feel dead. It felt… too alive. Every detail was sharp. Too sharp. Like reality had been polished.
"This isn't…"
His voice sounded strange. Even to himself.
He pushed himself to his feet, unsteady for a second. His body felt the same. No wounds. No pain. No sign of what should have been the end.
His hand moved to his chest.
A heartbeat.
Slow. Heavy.
"I didn't die…?"
Or maybe he did.
His gaze moved through the forest again. No houses. No paths. No signs of people. Just endless trees stretching in every direction.
"Is this… heaven?"
The word felt stupid the moment it left his mouth.
He started walking.
No direction. Just forward.
Leaves crunched under his feet, the only sound that proved he still existed.
Then—
Something flickered.
A faint glow, low to the ground.
He stopped.
There, half-hidden beneath roots and fallen leaves, something pulsed with a soft, steady light.
A stone.
At least… it looked like one.
He crouched, brushing the dirt away. The glow intensified slightly, as if reacting to his touch.
"…Weird."
No hesitation. No fear. Just curiosity.
He picked it up.
The moment it touched his palm—
His heartbeat skipped.
Just once.
He froze.
Then it returned to normal.
"…Probably nothing."
He slipped it into his pocket and stood up again.
Behind him, far beyond the trees—
A figure tightened their grip on a weapon.
"…Idiot," the man muttered under his breath, barely audible.
He didn't move.
Didn't shout.
Because it was already too late.
The forest shifted.
Not visibly. Not clearly. But something had changed.
The air grew heavier.
From deep within the trees—
Something growled back.