Time, is a thing unknown

"It's now time, we will leave this place and you have nothing to say!" The man screamed, he pointed at him with his finger showing off the anger that's been dwelling within him.

"Time, a fun concept isn't it. It flows by and never stops, no matter what you do it will always go on, but what if one will slow it down? What if someone defies the rule of nature and science, what if the time was slowed and didn't work as we want it to work." Everyone around me, everyone around me who looks at the general, their faces were that of someone who's seen a ghost. Or even something far beyond that, dread.

"What are you talking about! You are a madman!" The old man once again screamed towards him, his smile has disappeared, his face has gone dark right after.

"Well, I may indeed be one crazy bastard. One, really crazy, bastard. You know, this entire place, all of this, everything here all the way from the hall of memories. It's all under a spell, the time here, is five times slower than on the outside. So, for those that lived here for a year, five years have passed on the outside world, how do you feel!? How, do, you, feel!?" He was screaming and laughing at the same time, doing everything to give men even more pain, and he did just that. All of the people around me, everyone looked just shocked.

"You are sick! You are corrupted beyond measure! Why would you ever do it?!" He screamed, but, that means Estel was here for ten years… He is here… He was here before I was even 6. He is not 18, he is… 28, his mentality is that of a 28 year old. He was here for this long, and I thought only just after I came has he changed so much that his mind just started getting completely destroyed. But apparently, not, it was much more than just me.

"Why shouldn't I? You are supposed to be dead already, for a long time now. Why would I make it easy for you? Now that you know the truth, it's time for you to die. Our oldest prisoner, a man who has been here for 20 years and not died yet." The old man… He has been here for 20 years? That means… That means that for the outside world, he is already just a myth of legend. He must have been forgotten here for that time. A whole hundred years.

"You… You wasted 100 years of my life here! How, how did no one see it before?!" The old man screamed loudly while throwing his hand to the right.

"Well, who would care about this place anyway, there is just a village here, two villages and that large damn tree. Okay, I will just make it short guys." He slit his finger with a dagger once again, a drop of blood started going down. Once again, it's the very same thing. The fourth time I would be the only one surviving, the massacre will happen once again, and I shall be the one responsible for all of it. All of the people that will die today, I will be the one to kill all of them once again. The smell of death around me will be even stronger…

"Create a barrier on all sides! Do anything to keep all sides protected!" The man screamed, everyone got into their highest gear and started moving. Everyone in a position to create something big, something strong from every side, a window to protect us. Then we were in a dark ball, right at the moment when it fell down, everything was covered with the dark barrier itself, they, not me, as one. They all created an enormous shield that is protecting over a thousand men from being mindlessly slaughtered.

I felt a ground shake, it was so powerful that almost everyone was thrown down their feet. Everyone seemed amazed, but the old man was the only one whose face went sour, the barrier… Cracked, white light has shone through the barrier. Then it all also dispersed, all of it has been destroyed, and a stroke of the dark was about to destroy all of us.

"I'm sorry everyone, I failed you. I failed to protect you… But for this one last time, I shall do anything to help you escape, I am already a dead man for the outside…" The old man has looked directly at the string of his fate, the dark arrow in the size of a building, flying in our direction. He has made a circle in the air with his hands, a great clock of sorts appeared in front of him, it wasn't black, it was golden. From the normal three hours that are on a clock, there was only one on his. Still ticking, but now… It has stopped. It stopped as well as the attack created by that monster, the attack so strong, that even the general himself has fallen onto his knees. And as all of this disappeared, the old man that was trying to protect all of us has collapsed. His dead corpse that was on his knees slowly started disappearing. Like a board with puzzles on it, slowly, all of him was torn apart into the air. Afterward, it disappeared. Just like the man himself. He wasn't there anymore, those that had strength started running, everyone did. Including me, me being already at the end which now got another meaning.

"What are you doing! Start firing or chasing! Don't let them run!" The general screamed, but I was right at the beginning of the run, there were only three people behind me, Marcus, Estel and… Lucas. Matthew's legs were too small, he isn't able to run as quick as everyone else. Natural selection has caught up to him. I heard strong explosions behind my back, the explosions coming from there, they were sending people flying high into the air. The only thing left for us to do, is just run, run for our lives.

More explosions, more corpses, more death. Fewer people, less life, less will. Everyone was slowly going crazy, their legs, my own, everyone. They were trembling, who is going to be next? The explosions were even louder with each second, they were closer, the impact was strong enough to make some people fall or almost fall. Just like me, about to fall down. But I didn't. I had to keep going, if I would fall here, I would die, I would disappear just like them, just like the old man that saved us did, just like anyone who dies does.

We were closer to the village, just several more meters. I looked behind me, what was there? Nothing, Matthew was long gone, the dark pillars were getting closer, the three people behind me still alive as probably a hundred more behind us were. Just a few more and it will be our turn… But no, I can't die here, I need to run! I need to run faster!

We appeared in the village, but at that moment… The explosions have reached us, I was sent flying as all three behind me did. The fire was seized as they didn't want to destroy the village. The explosions didn't follow us anymore, but one of the reasons was that all four of us, we're in the air. Flying in the direction of the hall of memories. Spinning several times in the air I was able to take a glimpse of the others, I was a lot further than they were. It's because of the darkness not wanting me, just because of that I was able to reach the hall of memories, the place where everything began. The beginning of the end, the beginning of me, the place where I have become myself, and with it… God shall lend me his power go on, even when flawed with emotions, I shall go.

I landed on the ground and several feet behind me, the three people as well. My rib cage must've been broken somehow. I landed on my arm, it took the full force of the impact. It was broken in several places, it must be that because I don't feel that arm anymore, even the pain itself disappeared. I went to the three behind me, their injuries were rather, much smaller than mine. Then I noticed another thing with me, I was bleeding very immensely, from ears, from the mouth, and even from my ears which appeared almost like tears of blood. Estel was able to come back quickly and regained consciousness, he had broken both of his hands but his face seemed more devastated about something else, Marcus followed him. He was a demon, he wouldn't die like that, but his leg was broken, we will have to take him out from here in another way. Then… Lucas, the first man to show love to me, the first one after Flora that showed me that not all humans were trash, that not all humans were evil. That not all men were cruel.

He wasn't waking up.