Soldier Of The Dawn

I was known as the soldier of dawn of the Granger Squad. A military unit that achieved a lot of unbelievable feats within the last five years.

I, Heinz Kruger, was their sole leader, their captain, their advisor, and their trainer.

A squad that never knew defeat, failure, or retreat, for we are competent soldiers whose lives were solely dedicated to our country.

Despite how hard the mission was, whether it was infiltration, assassination, exploration, etc., we were known to be the best among the best.

But tonight, at this very moment, in the middle of an unknown forest,

Why am I running?

Why? I'm sure our plans were about to succeed until a group from another organization showed up and killed all of my soldiers.

There were no survivors left, excluding me.

Our routes have been leaked, leaving me no choice but to run in this unknown forest near the Congo.

Bullets were flashing as they passed from behind me. Flashing muzzles shone while concentrated gunshots were fired and were aimed directly at me.

The place was in total chaos, with people throwing grenades all over the forest just to kill me.

Explosions occurred; gunshots were heard everywhere in every direction I could run, but despite the horror of my situation, I felt calm and excited.

It was as if it were the best time of my life, or so I thought. Or was I just being delusional? Or was it because I knew for myself that this was the end for me?

Such thoughts occurred inside my head as I gasped for air while running continuously.

How will I survive in this jungle? I can't even see a goddamn thing.

My equipment was left behind the car after we got ambushed. The only thing I've brought is a pistol, a 9mm pistol that was somehow placed in my boot pocket.

As I ran, the sounds of gunshots became more frequent, until I could not hear a single gunshot fired anymore.

I stopped, took a breather, and surveyed my surroundings.

It was filled with tall trees, and thanks to the glowing fireflies, I was able to vaguely see the surroundings.

I somehow ended up in the deepest parts of the jungle.

Just by looking at it and knowing that I've been running for almost three hours.

"How far did I run through?"

Mumbling to myself won't help right now. So I began walking, heading straight deeper into the forest, but just as I was about to jump over a large tree, My left leg began hurting, and I saw a wound on my leg. Without being able to notice earlier, I somehow got shot, and due to the adrenaline rush, The pain was nullified. But now that I've calmed down, the pain has started hurting.

And so, I sat and glued my back behind a tree, attempting to tend to my wound, trying to suppress the blood from coming out, and ended up tying it with a piece of my uniform cloth.

Just then, an explosion behind me occurred, lighting the entire area as flames burst and burned the surroundings.

My body felt stiff at that moment; my ears began hurting after the explosion occurred; my eyes were flashing; and my wound kept on bleeding as I tried to force myself to get up.

More noises occurred; I heard men talking while some fired gunshots all over the trees near me.

It was a terrifying yet exciting situation for me, who had never felt such fear in my life.

Knowing that it was the end of the road for me, I sat back, accepting the fact that it was already over for me.

Their guns, reloading reverberated as gunshots ceased and footsteps began closing in towards my location.

There, I could not fathom nor think of a solution to break through; giving up was the only thing stuck in my mind.

"The Soldier Of Dawn."

"What a meaningless title to uphold."

Just as the footsteps were getting closer, a bright light shone in front of me. It was so transcendent that it even fazed my eyesight.

But contrary to my expectations, neither I nor the soldiers that pursued me could see the radiant light shining in the middle of the forest.

It somehow turned into a portal that suddenly sucked in my existence slowly, as if I were being pulled by a vacuum of some sort.

Making my consciousness hazy until I fainted.

By the time the soldiers went over the tree that Heinz stayed under, he was nowhere to be found.

"Keep moving! I'm sure he's somewhere around here. Don't let our prey escape!" A man covered in black attire uttered as he ordered his men to search for the last remnant of the Granger squad that was ordered to be eliminated.

"Pause."

"I get the feeling that time somehow paused."

My consciousness returned, but random colors, most likely a glitch-like phenomenon, struck my eyes after I opened them.

I fell continuously, but somehow I didn't feel like I was falling.

It was a weird sensation that could not be explained. Most of my body would not react or follow what I wanted to do; I could only stare at the random colors surrounding me helplessly.

"Where am I?"

"A weird phenomenon; is this how death feels like?" I uttered, as words could not describe the things I'm seeing.

Just then, a bright light once again occurred below me, sucking me all the way in as if I were being turned into spaghetti.

Before I knew it, I was lying on a rough patch of land with no grass. Leaving me to think, Where the heck am I?"

I then stood up from the ground, and I noticed that the wound on my left leg had disappeared, and somehow my body felt different.

I raised my hands.

Silence occured.

"What is this?" I muttered.

I could not believe what I was seeing.

My rough, scarred hands, to which I completely entrusted my entire life, have now turned into pale, thin, clean hands.

Even the scars from my past achievements have disappeared.

"What is happening?" I said, conscious of the fact that my hands looked like those of a young boy in his early teens.

A bird flew by me, and then I realized that the place I was currently at was as bright as the morning sun rising, which made me feel uneasy, knowing that it was still in the middle of the night.

I raised my head and glanced at my surroundings, only to see several trees that were bountiful and filled with fruits.

Where am I right now?" I presumed, mumbling inside my head as I surveyed the place.

Just then, a large silhouette covered my entire existence. As I raised my head, I gulped.

I could not believe what I was seeing. I'm sure these types of creatures don't exist in reality.

My mind went blank after seeing a creature that I'd only seen in TV shows since I was a child.

"It's a dragon."

A big red-scaled dragon was flying above me, owning the sky as if it were his own precious front yard.

"What's going on? Why am I seeing a dragon?" I mumbled as my head stopped working.

The dragon flew and went beyond me as it flew down, and while my eyes followed, I realized that I was standing on a cliff.

There, I stood and observed what was in front of me—a world that I'd never seen before or heard of.

Floating Islands that were blemishing to see while several rainbows floated above them like haloes and huge waterfalls that gushed downwards, leaving me unable to see what lies beyond as steam covered the very sky.

Chains of rocks floated, acting as a bridge-like structure, connecting several floating islands while a large and beautiful sun shone above, lighting up everything beneath it.

"Where the hell am I?" I mumbled in confusion and unexpectedly ended up stepping on a puddle.

Silence occurred as I stared into the puddle.

"Are my eyes deceiving me?" I said, unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Why do I look like this?" I muttered while holding my bare face, unable to accept the fact that I, who was once in his mid-thirties, somehow turned into a pale young boy that had the exact same appearance when I was still an orphan.

I had slanted piercing black eyes, thick sword-like brows, sharp small nose, firm jaw and small lips. The only difference is that my hair became white as snow. I remembered that I had pitch-black hair before and I never dyed it into any colors that could possibly stand out. Since I was an asian to begin with, but the calluses in my hand, the bruises and scars that covered my body has now disappeared. I'm technically a malnourished-looking kid right now.

"Am I in heaven? Preachers did say that when people die, they turn back into young children."

I pinched myself and breathed in the air around me as I closed my eyes.

"What the heck am I saying? This sensation, this feeling—I'm sure I'm not dead yet."

I immediately got close to the end of the cliff, staring down at the beautiful scenery in front of me.

"Now that this has happened, what should I do?"

Chapter End.