Adao gasped and wheezed, barely able to get oxygen into his lungs. The force and power of his cousin's magic having been too strong against his weak body. As his body shook with both pain and fear, the magic that once crushed him began to lighten up before the feeling disappeared completely.
The blinding light began to fade as they materialized into the world. The sight of countless ethereal trees greeted him, their bright glow giving him a sense of comfort.
Water fell from the sky, at first it was slow, but it quickly picked up in speed and ferocity. Only a loud clap of thunder was enough to snap him out of his daze and bring upon him deafness and disorientation.
new sensations were proving to be a bit much.
Though all these new sensations overwhelmed Adao, one thought managed to scratch and claw its way to the surface. Where was Nobuyuki?
His body reacted as soon as the alarming thought surfaced. He began frantically looking around, thankfully it didn't take long to spot Nobuyuki who was lying unmoving face down on the ground.
Adao moved cautiously, but quickly over to Nobuyuki. The ground beneath him felt gross and the mud stuck to his feet.
"Yuki?" He managed to rasp out, his throat parched from the flames that threatened him only moments before. Nobuyuki didn't respond, but he quickly realized why. The ground beneath him was turning a murky red as blood and mud mixed together.
Quickly, Adao rolled Nobuyuki onto his back to find that the blood was escaping from a large gaping wound in his stomach. A strangled cry of panic left Adao's mouth as his hand flew up to his mouth. He felt sick to his stomach. The gore was enough to send his mind into overload.
It took a moment for Adao to feel as though he wasn't going to hurl and it took even longer for him to collect his thoughts and begin thinking of what to do. They were in a world they had never seen before, had no map, and no medical aid.
Taking in a deep breath, Adao shakily reached out and managed to pick Nobuyuki up. Though he was weak and underfed, he was thankful for the demon blood that allowed him to keep pushing himself past a breaking point.
"Don't worry, I'll pick up from where you left off" He whispered in hopes that maybe Nobuyuki could hear him and it'd bring him some peace in his comatose state.
It had been hours... or at least, it had felt like hours.
Time and direction had all but began to blur together leaving Adao confused and disoriented. He had no way to leave a trail to prevent himself from going in circles. the only indication that he might have been in an area before was his footprints and those were even beginning to fill up with mud.
At some point, he had begun to call out for help in hopes that maybe someone would spare him and his cousin. Time was of the essence with Nobuyuki's wound and it was working strongly against them.
The rain had only worsened and it greatly diminished his ability to see. It also left him cold and shivering, however, there wasn't anything he could do about it as there was no dry place to take shelter in.
As if someone had heard his plea for help, he began to see faint lights through the trees. They glowed yellow, unlike the lilac glow the trees gave off.
He felt as though his heart was beginning to constrict with how happy he was to see the lights. Though it was hard for him, he began to pick up his pace.
Upon reaching the end of the trees he could see many small and large buildings made of wood and stone. It didn't look like a city, but a small town or village.
As Adao began walking down the gravel road his vision began to blur, in a panicked state he began moving faster. Approaching a house, he began frantically knocking on the door.
Darkness began to weave its way into his vision as his legs felt weaker than they ever had in the past and as he began to fall he could see the door open... and then nothing else.
