Eclipsed

Chapter 47

Ren looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings, his mind still reeling from the battle. Zhaakari's lifeless body lay sprawled on the ground, and for a brief moment, Ren considered how the fight had unfolded. "Man, I should've kept this bastard alive, so I could get out of here," he muttered to himself. He surveyed the eerie, distorted environment, a sense of unease creeping up his spine. The air felt oppressive, and the twisted landscape seemed to stretch endlessly.

Suddenly, in the distance, Ren spotted something that gave him hope—a small vortex swirling faintly, glowing with a dark purplish hue. With a surge of adrenaline, he sprinted towards it, desperate to escape. Without hesitation, he leaped into the vortex, his body pulled through the energy as everything around him distorted into a blur.

When he stumbled out the other side, Ren found himself in a completely different place. The familiar sight of the battlefield was gone. He looked around, his heart sinking as he realized that Aiko and Valen were nowhere to be seen. "VALEN!!!" Ren yelled, his voice echoing in the empty air. "AIKO!" He repeated their names, frantic and worried.

Then, in the distance, he saw a cloaked figure approaching. Ren raised his blade instinctively, prepared for another fight, but as the figure drew closer, something clicked in his mind. His eyes widened in recognition. "Thank goodness, you're both alright!" he called out, relieved.

Aiko, walking towards him with a scowl, snapped back. "What the hell took you so long?"

Ren blinked, confused. "Wait, how long has it been?" he asked, looking between her and the background.

Valen's voice came from behind him, casual as always. "Two days."

"Two days!?" Ren said, his shock evident. "It only felt like a couple of hours in there!"

Aiko shot him a pointed look as she surveyed his bloodied form. "You're lucky to be alive," she said, pulling him gently to sit down. "Sit. I'll treat those wounds."

Ren sat down, wincing slightly as his body protested from the exertion of the past few days. Aiko knelt beside him, her hands glowing faintly with healing energy as she began to tend to his injuries.

As Aiko worked, Valen leaned against a nearby rock, speaking nonchalantly. "Zhaakari may have teleported you to an alternate dimension."

"Alternate dimension...?" Ren asked, his confusion deepening.

Valen nodded, his arms folded. "Yeah. Dimensions do exist. This is the main reality, of course, but there can be multiple distortions of it. The one you were in? That was Zhaakari's." He paused as if contemplating something. "And you're lucky to have made it out."

Ren's brow furrowed as he listened. "What do you mean lucky?"

Valen shrugged. "Well, I'm assuming you killed Zhaakari in there, right?"

Ren nodded. "Yeah."

Valen's expression darkened. "Well, that dimension would've collapsed with Zhaakari, and you would've been destroyed along with it. Gone forever. That vortex you saw? It was your one shot at survival."

Ren's eyes widened in horror. "What!? Why didn't you tell me about this before entering?!"

Aiko, still working on his wounds, snapped, "Stop moving around so much!" Her voice was sharp, but there was an underlying concern in it. Ren winced and calmed down, realizing the gravity of the situation.

Valen sighed. "Well, I didn't know Zhaakari had his dimension. Guess it slipped past me."

Ren clenched his fists, the weight of Valen's words settling on him. "Whatever. But there was a vortex that appeared at the last minute—kind of darkish purply. I just sprinted towards it and went through."