[66.5] Frozen in Time

[****Disclaimer: This chapter includes blood, gore, and death that some readers may find uncomfortable. Reader discreiton is advised.]

As I fell through the ground, I found myself getting used to it this time. It wasn't as scary as it was in the beginning, but now it was starting to feel nauseating. 

So… What exactly is this space?

Are those squares time portals or something?

I went through the next multi-colored square and opened my eyes in surprise as straw came into view. I smacked into it, rolling off of it and along the ground. 

"Eek!"

I blinked in surprise at the scream and looked over to see a woman in a plain brown dress staring at me in shock. I glanced at her hand and noticed she was holding a carving tool. I sat up and looked around me.

Am I in a type of barn?

Wait-

The wood had a strange carving on it that she had been working on. I raised my eyebrows and asked, "Are you making a magic circle?"

She quickly smacked her forehead on the ground as she bowed to me, "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

  I was so shocked I leaned back, "W-Why would I kill you?"

She stared at me as if I was crazy, "Because it's sorcery?"

"And?" Now it was my turn to be confused, "Everyone uses magic circles."

She looked me up and down, "...You must not be from around here."

"Well… That depends where here is."

"You're in the Land of Lord Perrious."

I blinked dumbfoundedly, "Um… Who?"

"Lord Perrious?"

"Uhh-"

She crossed her arms, "How have you not heard of him? It's THE Lord Perrious!!!"

"It… Doesn't sound familiar…"

She blinked in astonishment, "So then… Where are you from?"

"I'm from the Odalis Kingdom."

"Oh… Where's that?"

"It's-" I paused, "Um… I don't know how to explain it."

"Oh."

I glanced at the magic circle and held out my hand, "Can you hand me your carving tool?"

"Oh. Sure."

I took it from her and started etching in the correct design, "I noticed you were trying to make a magical circle to create a barrier. It will protect you from anyone who wants to do you harm… Your symbols were too crude, so that's why it wasn't working. Try to work on making the line smoother. See the parts I changed? "

Her eyes widened in understanding as she watched me, "Oh! It makes sense now!"

I handed her back the tool, "If I were you, I would switch to chalk. If you make a mistake, you can wash it away. When you use a carving tool, you can't fix it… There's also less control over the magic."

A black square opened below me and I sighed, "Here we go again." 

Once again I free-falled into it.

The woman was shocked to see me fall through the floor and disappear. But, she turned to the marking on the ground and placed her hand on it. A bright light poured over the magic circle until a soft blue beam appeared around the space. Her face lit up, "It… It worked! I wonder if I can carve it into the ground to protect the village…"

I fell through the blinding white space with my arms crossed and an irritated frown on my face.

Ugh. How much longer will this last?

I'm really going to puke if this keeps going!!!

I entered into the next multicolored square and was immediately met with screams and explosions. I landed on something soft and wet as my ears rang from the sudden onslaught of noises. I rolled over and as I moved, there was an uncomfortable sound of squelching under my hands. I finally opened my eyes to see what I landed on.

My pupils retracted as I saw a bright red liquid drenching my clothes and hands. 

Panting in panic, I raised my hands.

No…

Was I…

Was I hurt?

As my eyes finally focused past my hands, it was only then that I realized…

I had landed on corpses…

Fresh corpses.

"LOOK OUT!"

My head snapped up and saw a person in armor pointing at me.

A powerful breeze blew past me as my eyes slowly widened in shock. I prepared for the attack to hit me from the person in front of me, but instead, it went over my shoulder.

"Urgg!"

I slowly turned my head, my pupils trembling as I came into contact with a giant man in armor raising a huge hammer above his head as if he would smash me like a bug. 

Whatever the other person had done, it left a wide hole in the middle of the giant man's torso. I could see directly through that hole and the horrors that lay beyond it.

I held my breath in the back of my throat, my entire body frozen in terror.

I was on a battlefield…

No. 

Not a battlefield.

The site of a massacre.

Explosions in the sky.

Bodies were strewn all over the ground, covering any inch of grass.

Fire and water.

Metal and lightning.

It was complete…

Chaos.

"Oi! Snap out of it!" The person who had saved me pulled me up to my feet, "You're going to get yourself kill-"

*SSSSHHHNG*

The person's eyes widened as a gurgling noise came behind their throat.

My eyes trembled as I slowly looked down.

A large knife was through their throat, just inches away from mine.

I watched completely mute as the one person who just saved me, fell over limp.

"ONLY ORDER SHALL REIGN!"

Shell-shocked, I stared at the person in front of me whose arm was like that of a sword. They held up their arm as they cheered, "Prepare to-"

*BBBBOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM*

I fell back from the sudden impact, feeling soft, squishy things collide against me. I quickly opened my eyes, knowing that my life was in danger.

In front of me, there was a giant hole in the ground.

In the middle, was a single person covered in blood. 

They looked around in a panic, "Danggit! I lost control again!"

Another shouted at them, "JUST WHAT SIDE ARE YOU ON?!"

They turned to them, "It's not my fault!!! I can't control how big the explosions are!!"

"You killed OUR people!!"

"I said I'm so-"

*THWACK*

An arrow entered into the person's skull at the bottom of the crater. They fell forward, lifeless amidst the blood and limbs of their victims.

My voice cracked, "T-This can't be h-happening…"

It has to be fake.

It can't be real.

It can't-

"DIE!"

My heart froze, and just as it had, the noises stopped.

The world around me froze.

Then, like a videotape being skipped forward, I watched as the war suddenly ceased as there were no survivors left.

Small balls of light rose out of a few bodies and disappeared into the horizon.

Then, the bodies decayed rapidly before my eyes, turning into skeletons.

From the skeletons that didn't have balls of life raised from them, they enriched the land and became covered in plants.

Those plants became trees and bushes.

And soon…

It was as if that battlefield was washed away and replaced by a lush, vast forest.

As my body trembled from the shock, I felt as if someone was squeezing my brain. However, I was too frozen to lurch over in pain.

I felt a strange trickle crawl down my nose and land on the ground at my knees.

My vision darkened as I watched my own blood disappear into the soil covering the bones.

I lost consciousness and collapsed just as one last black square opened and swallowed me up.