The Chronicles of Kyle

Chapter 5

Darkness enveloped Kyle as he drifted farther and farther into nothingness. His weightless limbs floated slightly above him as some unseen force gently pulled him down. It was almost like he was underwater. Even if he felt less pleasantly sleepy, opening his eyes wouldn't have made a difference. Though there was no light to be seen, a comforting warmth surrounded Kyle's body. The air was too thick for him to breathe, but that didn't seem to matter. It was like time itself had frozen to give Kyle's lungs, heart, and mind a chance to rest. 

A sharp tug on the small of his back sent ripples coursing through Kyle's nervous system. His finger twitched. Confusion clouded his groggy mind. He could feel again. He slowly closed his fingers into a fist. He was in control of his body. He opened his eyes and blinked away the lingering weariness. Pitch blackness surrounded him. A prick of fear pierced Kyle's warm, unconscious bliss. Disorientation overwhelmed him as he snapped his head in every direction searching for something familiar. A wave of panic surged through his body as he tried to sit up. Something was slowly pulling him deeper and deeper into the black abyss, and Kyle couldn't escape it. His torso remained rigid as his limbs struggled to set him free. He opened his mouth to scream, but the thick, opaque air seemed to rush down his throat and extinguish any sound he made. 

The pull on Kyle's back grew stronger as his body silently thrashed. The peaceful drift into nothingness morphed into a terrifying free fall, and with a final rough jerk, the pull was gone. As if he had been yanked over the edge of a cliff, Kyle began twisting and somersaulting in the air as he fell. He was in control of his whole body now, but he was powerless to slow his descent. His formerly stagnant heartbeat pounded in his ears as adrenaline rushed through his veins. The lungs that were once content to remain peacefully still now screamed for air. Kyle gasped for breath as sharp pains pierced his chest. He clawed at his throat in desperation as the air refused to fill his lungs. Tears streaked across Kyle's cheeks as he squeezed his eyes shut. A blinding light flashed against the back of his eyelids followed by millions of images in rapid succession. His first day of training with the Horde. Hiding on the roof from the older kids. The moon shining through the small window in his bedroom. Kyle watched in horror as his entire life played before his eyes in a matter of seconds. He saw himself on the battlefield in front of the castle of Bright Moon. With a malicious smile, Catra threw the knife. As it hit, fiery pain flared up in Kyle's chest as if he were reliving his own death. He tensed as a ripple of light flashed across his vision. The image of an unfamiliar symbol drawn by a twinkling purple arm disappeared so quickly that Kyle couldn't be sure it had even happened. 

A new scene materialized around him. He was falling towards a rocky terrain decorated with rivers of lava. Kyle braced himself for impact, but his breath was violently knocked out of him as his back slammed into the ground. The pain in his chest seemed to quadruple, but Kyle's desperate gasps for air were futile. His eyes darted to the right as a heavily armored woman on a horse charged past him. Close behind her was something more terrifying than anything Kyle had ever seen. It was a giant creature that seemed to be made up of the mountain and lava itself. Letting loose a horrifying roar, it swung a red-hot chain at the woman and struck her so hard that she flew off her horse and landed several feet away in a lifeless heap. As the woman hit the ground, pain raged through Kyle's entire body. Fire ravaged his lungs, and his chest cried out in agony as if someone had taken the knife in his chest and violently twisted it. He tried to scream, but all he could do was gasp for air that would never come to him. He writhed on the ground in a useless attempt to free himself of his invisible strangler. As he struggled, he heard a small voice in his ear that was barely more than a whisper, "breathe."

Small stars started appearing in his vision as he frantically grasped at his throat. The voice returned a second time but a bit stronger and more compelling, "breathe!"

With one last gasp for air, Kyle's head fell back to the ground as the sky above him began to fade to black. He let his arms drop to his sides as the pain began to ebb away. He let out the only air he had in his lungs in a long sigh as he once again began to fall into nothingness. 

"Breathe!" 

Kyle's body jolted upwards and broke free of the endless downwards pull as he gasped. His hand instinctively flew to his throat even though his lungs were working again. He took in several more desperate breaths before they began to regulate into quick, short inhalations. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, "just breathe, okay? Are you alright?"

Kyle opened his eyes and blinked a few times to get used to the light. A woman was kneeling next to him. Though he didn't know her, she seemed oddly familiar. Her sleek, dark brown hair shone in the sunlight that streamed through the canopy of leaves above them. Two horses stood nearby grazing the forest floor. 

"You're bleeding!"

The woman's hand brushed against his skin through the tear in his shirt, and her warm, brown eyes gazed at him in concern. Her brow furrowed, "how..." she whispered in confusion.

Trembling and still breathing rapidly, Kyle looked down at his chest. He was still wearing his Horde uniform, and he was covered in blood. The woman removed her hand and stared at her red fingertips in bewilderment. Remembering what had happened to him, Kyle quickly reached his hand into his shirt and felt where the knife had wounded him. Despite the ragged hole in his shirt, all he could feel was smooth, unblemished skin.

The woman's eyes darted past Kyle, "there's no wound!" 

Kyle followed her gaze and saw another woman that looked strikingly similar to the first. Her eyes narrowed. She got down on one knee on the opposite side of Kyle and inspected his shirt. Kyle gasped in shock. This was the woman he had just seen get attacked by that monster! Surely she was dead? And he should be dead too!

The new woman's eyes widened in concern at Kyle's outburst. She glanced at her companion and gesticulated quickly leaving Kyle more confused than he already was.

"Are you hurt?" the woman to his left asked.

Kyle's eyes danced back and force between the two women, "um..." he took a moment to examine his body and search for the pain that was all too familiar to him, "I don't think so," he said shakily.

"How did you get here?" the woman glanced down at his shirt, "and why are you covered in blood?"

"I... don't know," Kyle said while trying to make sense of his jumbled memories, "I got stabbed, and I thought I was dead, but then I started falling, and I think I saw you die," he gestured to the woman on his right as the words tumbled out of his mouth, "and I felt like I was suffocating, but then I woke up here!" Kyle shook his head in confusion. "Is this the afterlife?" he questioned stupidly.

Silence fell over the forest broken only by the horses whinnying nearby. The women looked at each other, and one signed an unknown message to her companion. The woman on the left directed her attention back to Kyle.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Kyle," he responded softly.

"Kyle..." the woman repeated pensively, "what an unusual name. I'm Sarai, and this is my sister Amaya. Would you like to come back to the kingdom with us and rest? Maybe when you're feeling better you can remember what happened to you."

Kyle gaped at Sarai. Her motherly smile indicated no bad intention, but Kyle wasn't used to people being so openly hospitable with him. Amaya smiled and gestured to him once again in a manner he couldn't understand. 

Sarai let out a soft giggle as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "don't worry," she translated, "we don't bite!"