The dragon lay on the ground, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his breaths broken as if the air itself was no longer enough.

  He tried to move, but his body refused to respond.

  With great effort, he lifted his head slightly…only to see the sharp branches creeping toward him.

  They crawled slowly across the ground, their tips pointed and cold, relentless.

  And behind them…

  The ravine.

  A deep, dark, terrifying ravine with no visible end.

  He didn’t know how far it dropped, or what waited at the bottom.

  Both paths felt like the end.

  The branches…

  Or the fall.

  His body trembled.

  He squeezed his eyes shut and whispered inside his mind:

  Is this my end?

  Am I going to die now?

  Will I disappear before I even know who I am…

  Before I know who my family is?

  Tears gathered in his eyes and slipped quietly down his face.

  A gentle breeze passed by, brushing against his face for a brief moment.

  It felt like a final goodbye.

  And in a broken voice inside himself, he thought:

  This is my end…

  Goodbye.

  Just before the branches reached him…

  The dragon slowly opened his eyes.

  He expected to see the branches above him.

  To feel pain.

  To fall.

  But none of that happened.

  The air was still.

  He lifted his head carefully and saw the branches …cut apart, scattered across the ground around him.

  And standing in front of him…

  Was someone.

  A strange figure.

  Not a dragon.

  Not a creature like anything he had seen before.

  The dragon stared at him in fear and asked in a shaky voice:

  “W-who are you?”

  The man didn’t answer right away.

  He looked at the dragon silently, then lowered his gaze to the necklace hanging around his neck.

  It was old and cracked, but the name engraved on it was still clear.

  He finally spoke:

  “My name… is Kodom.”

  The dragon’s eyes widened.

  Someone knew his name?

  Did that mean he hadn’t lost his memories?

  He asked quickly, panic in his voice:

  “Do you… do you know who I am?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Kodom slowly shook his head.

  “No. I don’t know you… and I don’t know myself either.”

  He paused, then added:

  “Only the name. I found it here.”

  He pointed to the necklace.

  The dragon felt even more confused.

  So… he wasn’t alone.

  He struggled to sit up and asked,

  “How did you get to this planet?”

  Kodom took a deep breath, as if pulling something heavy from within himself, then spoke quietly:

  “All I know… is that I woke up inside a destroyed spacecraft.”

  He lifted his head slightly, as if the image had returned.

  “The ship was in pieces…

  And my body couldn’t move.”

  He paused, then continued:

  “I looked around, and I wasn’t alone.

  There were others…

  But when I tried to stand, they were gone.”

  He looked at his hands, then at the ground.

  “The place was a desert…

  But the sand was white.”

  He raised his eyes to the dragon.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  He fell silent for a moment, then said:

  “Then I heard screaming.”

  The dragon’s body stiffened.

  Kodom continued:

  “I tried to get up, but my head was spinning.

  Everything felt new… unfamiliar.”

  His voice lowered.

  “I heard the screaming again…

  And I saw a small creature running.”

  He stopped.

  Then said with difficulty:

  “And behind it… was a terrifying creature.”

  Kodom clenched his fist.

  “I wanted to help it, but my body hadn’t recovered yet.”

  He swallowed hard.

  “I couldn’t move.”

  Silence fell.

  Then he said:

  “I watched it get eaten.”

  The dragon’s eyes widened. He couldn’t speak.

  Kodom went on:

  “I was terrified…

  I hid.”

  He breathed slowly.

  “After a while, when things grew quiet, I came out carefully.

  My feet sank into the white sand.”

  He looked up at the sky.

  “The air was filled with white particles…

  It was suffocating.”

  Then he said:

  “The wind grew stronger…

  Harsher… more violent.”

  He paused, then added:

  “I didn’t want to leave the ship.

  It was my only hope… the only thing that felt real.”

  His voice softened.

  “But everything changed.”

  He looked at the dragon.

  “The wind threw me…

  Far away to another place.”

  Silence settled between them.

  Then the dragon whispered:

  “So… this planet shows no mercy.”

  Kodom looked at him.

  “And it explains nothing.”

  They exchanged glances.

  Two beings without memories.

  On a planet they didn’t understand.

  And a voice that commanded… but never explained.

  Elsewhere on the planet, silence filled the cabin.

  A heavy, uncomfortable silence.

  Bani sat on the wooden floor, her back against the wall, trying to calm her breathing.

  Sora stood near the door, staring at it as if expecting it to open at any moment.

  Bani spoke softly:

  “What was that…?”

  Sora didn’t answer right away.

  Seconds passed before he said,

  “I don’t know… but whatever is outside, it’s no longer normal.”

  He stepped forward and looked around.

  The cabin was old.

  Wooden walls, cracked with age.

  The smell of dust hung in the air.

  “It’s clear someone used to live here.”

  Bani lifted her head quickly.

  “You think so?”

  Sora pointed to a corner.

  “Look.”

  There was a small, partially broken table.

  Old cloth scraps scattered on the floor.

  Cracked containers.

  And traces of an old fire in one corner.

  Bani slowly stood and looked around.

  “But no one is here now.”

  She paused, then asked,

  “Do you think this place is safe?”

  Sora thought for a moment.

  “Safe… temporarily.”

  Bani moved toward the back wall of the cabin,

  Then suddenly stopped.

  “Sora…”

  He turned to her.

  “What?”

  She pointed.

  “Here…”

  A small wooden box sat there, half-covered in dust.

  They approached cautiously.

  Sora knelt and opened it slowly.

  Inside was nothing useful.

  Only… bones.

  Small bones.

  Old.

  Arranged in a strange way.

  Bani froze. She couldn’t speak.

  Sora said quietly,

  “Someone… died here.”

  Bani felt her chest tighten.

  “So this cabin wasn’t just a shelter.”

  Silence fell again.

  Then Bani noticed something else inside the box.

  She reached in carefully and pulled it out.

  A photograph.

  Small.

  Old.

  She looked at it.

  Three figures.

  A man.

  A woman.

  And a small child between them.

  They weren’t dragons.

  And they weren’t like Bani.

  But they looked somewhat… human.

  Bani stared at the picture for a long time.

  Sora asked,

  “Who are they?”

  Bani slowly shook her head.

  “I don’t know…”

  But something stirred inside her.

  A strange feeling.

  As if the image wasn’t completely unfamiliar.

  She tightened her grip on the photo without realizing it.

  At that moment—

  The light inside the cabin dimmed.

  Sora froze.

  “Did you notice that?”

  Bani lifted her head.

  “The light…”

  Outside the small window, the blue sky began to fade.

  Shadows stretched slowly.

  Sora said tensely,

  “The darkness…”

  A sudden heaviness filled Bani’s body.

  Her head began to spin.

  “Sora… I feel like I…”

  She couldn’t finish.

  Sora suddenly dropped to the floor.

  His eyes growing heavy.

  “So do I…”

  The cabin sank into darkness.

  The photograph slipped from Bani’s hand and fell to the floor.

  And both of them fell into sleep.