Entry 3

The voice of the creature was as cold as the air itself, its tone chilling the very marrow in my bones. "Welcome to the Underworld."

Okay, if I had any doubts before, they were completely gone now. The Underworld? Really? Couldn't we have gone with something less… dramatic?

I mean, seriously, that was straight out of a bad fantasy novel. Maybe I'd been around too many video games, or maybe it was the bronchitis screwing with my head, but I couldn't help it. My brain was already filing this whole Underworld thing under "Things I'll Never Experience In Real Life"—and in a year's time, I'd laugh about it with my friends. Maybe I could turn this into one of those "ha-ha" moments during a gaming session later on.

But no. Of course not.

Instead of laughing, I just hacked up half my lungs, making an embarrassing, disgusting sound. My chest felt like it was being slowly squeezed by some invisible hand. I tried to hold it together. I really did.

"Uh, sure," I said, trying my best to keep the sarcastic edge in my voice. "I always pictured the Underworld as… I dunno, more like a creepy basement with some lava and skulls, not, y'know, a foggy swamp. But hey, to each their own."

The creature before me—this giant—didn't seem remotely amused. It was as though it hadn't even heard me. It stood there, the mist swirling around it like an unholy halo, and I couldn't help but think how terribly cliché this all was. Maybe it was the eerie, suffocating silence or the way the fog clung to everything, but I felt like I had somehow been thrust into a bad movie. Or worse—an unskippable cutscene.

It didn't flinch. Didn't even blink.

I figured that was enough of that, so I went on, "Let me guess, you're some sort of ancient guardian of this place, right? Bound by duty to keep trespassers from leaving, and you've got this whole 'foreboding and mystical' thing going on. Is that it?"

The giant finally moved. But not in the way I expected. Its massive head turned, those glowing, fiery red eyes fixing on me. There was no emotion behind them, just an ancient coldness that made my skin crawl. "You mock me," it said, its voice like thunder cracking through the fog.

Okay, maybe I had it coming. But I wasn't about to backpedal. I wasn't going to get caught in some monologue about fate and destiny. This wasn't some ancient prophecy I had to be part of, and frankly, I wasn't buying into it. My lungs were still on fire, and the last thing I needed was some big guy talking about how the universe had some dark purpose for me. I'd had enough of prophecies in my life. I just wanted to go home, maybe eat a bowl of tomato basil soup, and cough up whatever disgusting mess was still lodged in my chest.

The giant took a step forward, the ground groaning beneath its massive feet. My shoes squelched in the mud as the creature loomed closer, casting a shadow that could've swallowed me whole. I could hear the chains clinking with every movement, heavy, ancient, like they'd been forged in the depths of some forgotten forge. It stopped right in front of me, towering over me, its presence an unshakable weight. Every part of the swamp seemed to recoil, the fog pulling back as if it were afraid of the thing.

"You dare mock me?" the giant rumbled, its voice a low, echoing growl that vibrated through the ground beneath my feet.

"Uh… yeah," I coughed, wincing as my chest tightened even more. "I thought it was funny."

The giant said nothing for a long moment, its massive form so still that even the wind seemed afraid to blow.

The next thing I knew, the air shifted. It wasn't a breeze, though. No, it was like the very atmosphere had turned heavy, like the fog wasn't just something floating around—it was pressing down, suffocating me. I could feel the weight of the creature's stare, its eyes boring into me like they could see every secret I'd ever kept, every moment of weakness I'd ever shown.

And then—it happened.

The Creature, the mindless thing that had been lurking behind the giant, moved. Its jerky, twitching form shambled forward, its hungry, vacant eyes fixed on me, the pitiful excuse for a soul that had wandered into this place. It had been waiting. Waiting for its chance to feast.

But it never saw the giant's hand coming.

In one smooth, terrifying motion, the giant's hand snaked out, crushing the creature without a second thought. The sound of snapping bone was louder than the creaking of trees. There was no struggle, no desperate screech—it was over in an instant. The creature's body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

And that was it. The giant didn't even look at it. It simply turned back to me, its eyes narrowing. There was no satisfaction, no hint of joy—just a cold, unwavering finality. "You mock me, yet you know nothing of what lies ahead."

I swallowed. This thing wasn't a person. It wasn't even an animal. It was something ancient, something so far removed from humanity that it might as well have been a god.

I wanted to tell it off. I wanted to say something to show I wasn't intimidated. But my voice caught in my throat. The giant's mere presence made the fog seem less oppressive, less claustrophobic, but somehow far more dangerous.

But then it spoke again, as if my silence didn't matter. "You are one of them," it said, its words dripping with disdain, a low growl laced in each syllable. "One of the meddlers who disturb what should remain undisturbed."

"Yeah, sure. Keep it up," I muttered under my breath. I wasn't in the mood for riddles, especially not from a giant who'd just squashed a creature for no reason other than because it felt like it. But something told me I wasn't going to be let off that easily.

The giant leaned in closer, its towering form making the ground tremble beneath my feet. "You have two choices," it said, its voice quieter now, but still every bit as cold. "You can remain here… lost to the fog, a thing without purpose, or you can follow me."

I didn't know how to respond. Every instinct screamed for me to run—to do something, anything, to get away from this nightmare—but the fog kept me tethered. My feet felt stuck in the muck of the swamp, as if the earth itself didn't want me to leave. And besides, where would I run to? The Underworld? Yeah, that was a place I was eager to explore.

"Follow you where?" I managed to croak, coughing again as my chest tightened.

The giant didn't answer right away. It simply turned its back and began to walk, its heavy steps echoing through the fog like the sound of a thousand thunderclaps. The chains rattled, but it didn't care—whatever was out there in the mist had nothing to do with it. It was too important, too old, and above everything, it was unfazed by whatever small, insignificant life I was leading. It had its mission, its purpose, and I? I was just a piece in its game.

I thought for a moment, feeling the weight of its words. What did I have to lose? I could stay here. Let the fog swallow me, become another lost soul in this cursed swamp. But something in me—something stubborn—refused to let that happen.

"Fine," I said, finally. "I'll follow you. But don't think you're getting off easy. If this whole thing ends in a giant disaster, I'm blaming you."

The giant didn't even turn around. Its voice came from the mist ahead, cold and unmoving. "Good. Then you will know your path is clear. Follow."

I stepped forward, the mud squelching beneath my sneakers. The fog wrapped itself around my legs, but I pushed forward.

The landscape stretched endlessly before me—trees twisted and contorted, their limbs gnarled and thick, as though they'd been growing in these conditions for eons. The swamp water that lapped at my feet was dark and murky, the occasional ripple showing the presence of something unseen beneath the surface. The air hung thick with the smell of decay, like the world was waiting to collapse under the weight of its own history.

It was a world that had never known warmth. A world that existed only in the shadows, where time itself seemed to stretch and bend in ways that made no sense. This was a place far removed from anything I knew, and yet, the more I walked, the more it felt like the fog wasn't just in the air—it was in my head, too.

The giant, ahead of me, never slowed. It moved with purpose, its form almost blurring as it marched through the mist. The chains it wore rattled like they carried the weight of centuries. It didn't speak, but I could hear its breath in the air, steady and patient.

And I? I was just another soul lost in this forsaken land.