1. Where am I?

*It's cold...*

Elliot drifted in darkness, the cold biting down into his bones. He couldn't feel his fingers, couldn't find his breath. Panic clawed at his chest.

*Where am I?*

He tried to inhale, but water filled his lungs, a brutal, freezing burn. He choked, kicked out, struggling against the weight crushing down on him.

*I can't breathe!*

The pressure was suffocating. His head pounded, and every inch of his body screamed in agony.

*It hurts...*

He forced his eyes open, only to find himself surrounded by endless, dark water. Wreckage floated around him—splintered wood, shattered glass, torn sails, all drifting in the vast, silent sea. The remains of a ship, swallowed by the deep.

*Is this a dream?* His mind raced. *I swear, I was just walking back home.*

Before he could gather his thoughts, shadows shifted around him, massive forms slithering through the water. His eyes focused, widening with horror as he saw them—giant sea creatures, monstrous and alien, circling the wreckage, eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Shit... shit!" His heart pounded, fear surging through him. "What the hell! This has to be a dream. Wake up! Wake up!"

In sheer desperation, he kicked his legs, swimming upwards with everything he had. His lungs screamed for air, his arms shaking with the effort. He broke the surface, gasping, sucking in the cold, sharp air.

*I'm alive… I'm—*

But before he could process it, something yanked him back down. A tendril—slimy, cold—wrapped around his leg and pulled with brutal force. His scream was swallowed by the water as he was dragged under. Another tendril snaked around him, squeezing until he thought his bones would break.

*No!*

In a blind frenzy, he grabbed a piece of jagged wood floating by and drove it down, piercing the tendril. The creature recoiled with a screech that vibrated through the water, releasing him just long enough for him to struggle free.

But there were more. Shadows closed in around him, eyes gleaming with predatory hunger.

*It hurts...* Blood seeped from a fresh wound in his side. His mind raced, desperation consuming him. *Is this how it ends? Am I going to die? Here? Like this?*

"No…" he muttered, bubbles escaping his mouth as he kicked frantically. "No, I don't want to die!"

He fought with everything he had, striking, clawing, but his strength was fading. His limbs grew heavy, the edges of his vision darkening as he began to sink. The cold seeped deeper into him, numbing his body. The creatures closed in, teeth gleaming, jaws snapping, ready to tear him apart.

*Someone… please… anyone... help me.*

A massive shape loomed ahead, jaws stretching wide. Before he could react, he was swallowed whole. Everything went dark.

As he drifted on the border of life and death, fragments of memory flickered through his mind—visions of battles fought in places he'd never seen, struggles and victories that felt both alien and familiar. Images of fire and blood. Of roaring winds and crashing waves. And a name, a single name echoing through it all:

*Rhaegos.*

In the depths of his chest, something awakened—a spark, a pulse. And with it, a surge of power rushed through his veins, spreading like wildfire. His heart thundered, a strength he'd never known filling his body.

The darkness around him began to pulse. Energy built up within him, boiling, desperate for release.

With a guttural scream, he extended his hands, and a massive beam of energy erupted from his chest, tearing through the beast from the inside out. Flesh and bone disintegrated in a flash of light as he broke free, the water around him tinged with dark blood and shadows.

*I'm alive...*

But there was no time to think. More creatures surrounded him, their eyes wide with hunger. Without hesitation, he raised his hand, and shadows coiled around his arm, solidifying into a blade—a dark, shimmering weapon forged of pure energy.

The nearest creature lunged at him, jaws wide. Elliot swung the blade with a roar, slicing through its flesh like paper. Blood exploded from the wound as the creature twisted, recoiling in pain.

Another monster lashed out with tentacles that wrapped around his arms, pulling him down. He growled, clenching his fists as tendrils of dark energy burst from his fingers, slicing through the tentacles like knives.

With a thrust of his hand, he sent another surge of mana through the water, forming a massive sword that hovered above him, dark and deadly. With a flick of his wrist, he brought it down, slicing through another beast with a satisfying *SLASH!* Its body split apart, blood clouding the water.

*I'm not going to die. Not here.*

One of the creatures lunged at him from behind, but he spun around, his fists crackling with energy. He punched forward, his hand piercing through its scaly hide, tearing flesh and bone apart. He pulled his hand back, fingers dripping with blood.

More of them surrounded him, but he was ready. He thrust his hands out, the water around him parting as a wall of dark energy surged outward, shoving the creatures back. They shrieked, retreating momentarily, but they were relentless.

Propelling himself forward with a burst of magic, he tore through the water, slashing, stabbing, his every move filled with a lethal precision he hadn't known he possessed. His hands became weapons, dark blades of energy slicing through tentacles, severing limbs, ripping apart anything that dared approach him.

*Come on,* he thought, his breaths ragged, his muscles screaming with the effort. *Come on, is that all you've got?*

A monstrous tentacle lashed out, thick as a tree trunk, wrapping around his waist and squeezing tight. He grit his teeth, focusing all his energy into his hands. Shadows coiled around his fingers, forming into a massive spear of pure darkness. With a furious yell, he drove it down, stabbing through the tentacle and watching as it writhed, releasing him with a final, pained shriek.

The water around him was a haze of blood and ink, the creatures retreating, their numbers dwindling. He could barely see through the murky depths, but he felt it—the fear radiating from them as they scattered, unwilling to face the power that he now wielded.

*I did it...*

But the power within him began to fade, the energy slipping away, leaving his body feeling hollow, exhausted. His vision blurred, his limbs heavy as the last remnants of mana ebbed, the pain flooding back in full force.

*No… I can't stop here… I have to...*

He tried to swim, but his strength was gone. His wounds throbbed, his head spinning as he sank, unable to fight against the weight pulling him down.

*Not yet…*

But his body refused to respond, the darkness closing in around him, swallowing him whole as his eyes drifted shut. The last thing he felt was the icy touch of the water, the pain ebbing away as he fell into unconsciousness, the world fading to black.