The heart space
The pain of a sword piercing through the heart couldn't be described. It pushed the already delirious Hex over the edge.
Hex felt his life ebb away. His breath turned slow. His vision turned blurry. His thoughts were being engulfed by nothingness.
With the last bit of consciousness Hex pushed all the beast crystals he gained from the wolves' lair into his heart.
Just as the beast crystals stuck to his heart, his heartbeat stopped. His eyes closed and his consciousness slipped into darkness.
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"What a coward. I guess I presumed too much."
The man shook his head as he sneered at Hex's lifeless body. With Hex suicidal act he lost his desire for fun. He threw Gorge's unconsciousness body to the side.
The disappointment of losing a chance to break the mind of a tough opponent made him agitated.
His otherwise sharp senses failed to notice the changes occuring in his opponent's body.
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.
'This place again?'
Once again Hex found himself in a different space, with only a heart-shaped object glowing in the middle.
A couple of small crystals hovered around it, shining like little fireflies.
Unlike the other times, Hex had a good understanding about his situation.
'This should be some sort of inner space where I can see and interact with my heart. Or as the baron called it, the world stone.'
He got closer to his heart. It was close yet far. The space around it felt denser the closer he got to it.
A few meters in front of it, the density increased to a level where it felt too thick to penetrate. Hex felt like he was stuck in a sticky, viscous liquid.
'It's like a shield, protecting anything that comes too close to it. It seems even I am not allowed near it.'
Hex watched with fascination around him. Everything about it felt surreal.
If Hex hadn't experienced the effects in reality, surviving twice already in dire situations, he would consider it a hallucination.
His heart stood still. There was no beat in it. He could remember it pulsating vibrantly both times he was here in the past.
"This time I have damaged it very badly. My life is probably slipping away, unless I can activate it."
A sense of emergency overwhelmed Hex. He had to hurry or he might not make it out alive this time.
"The best way to start anything is to supply it with energy," Hex said out loud as he rubbed his chin.
Whilst thinking his eyes fell once again on the small crystals hovering around his heart.
"Those should be the beast crystals. All I need to do is get them closer, so they can be absorbed."
Hex was certain that it would work to make his heart beat again. But there was one obstacle he had to overcome.
"The sticky air around the heart makes it difficult for the crystals to reach it."
No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to close the gap between him and his heart.
He tried moving, pushing, punching and even kicking it, but to no avail. He couldn't move forward.
But his actions weren't totally futile.
The air around the air didn't only feel like a sticky liquid, it also acted like it.
Hex noticed that his movements spread out through the invisible space like a wave in water.
In this case it didn't spread too wide, but it was enough to let the crystals bob up and down in the air.
"That's it. I don't need to be close. The crystals need to touch it."
Having found a method, Hex started to put it in action. Once again his great control over his strength helped him out.
He tried to mimic superimposed waves in the air. It required some trials and errors, but he managed to find a rhythm to it.
His eyes never left the crystals. Slowly…but surely the crystals were getting closer to his heart.
The closest to it was inching toward it. Hex put his entire focus on maintaining the rhythm.
The crystal was getting near it.
Three inches.
Two inches.
One inch.
Half inch.
A hair width.
Hex stared at it as he moved his arms one more time.
The 'wave' spread out.
The crystals started to move.
The wave reached the last crystals, pushing it.
The crystal moved forward…hitting the heart.
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As soon as the crystal hit the heart, a flash appeared. It was as if a soundless explosion occurred.
The light spread over the surface of the heart. It looked as if the stone was set on fire.
The fire engulfed the entire heart. And just as it finished, a heartbeat sounded.
Boom.
Hex felt his body tremble as soon as he heard the beat.
Boom.
His body jerked. The air around the heart started to churn.
Boom.
Hex felt a great force pull him and his surroundings toward the heart.
Boom.
The whole space trembled. The other crystals flowed quicker to the heart. It was like a black hole, swallowing everything up.
Boom.
Hex tried to struggle but he couldn't. The force was too great. He was involuntarily pulled toward the heart.
Boom.
All the crystals crashed into the heart. The smoldering heart seemed to erupt as soon as the crystals hit it.
Hex watched all this happen with trepidation and helplessness. He too was pulled to the heart. He didn't resist.
"It might be the way out."
Boom.
That was the last beat Hex heard. He crashed into heart and was swallowed. Everything around him went black.
…
In the dark pathway, Hex's body started to give a red vapor like glow.
It started at his chest, then spread over his whole body. Unlike every other time, the light wasn't smooth and glass-like. It was fiery and chaotic.
As the light spread over his body, his wounds started to heal. Even bones were mending.
At last it reached the back of his hand. The single triangle with the bear shape inside, started to glow, one line at a time.
But it didn't stop with the final line. As the light finished the last line of the triangle, a second triangle started to appear.