Camden was still alive behind him—lights, sounds, and colors bouncing through the street. But Noah walked on, hands in the pockets of his funeral suit, collar slightly turned up against the soft evening breeze.
He didn't know why he was walking toward the bridge. Maybe it was instinct, maybe the silence of the canal's edge pulled him like gravity. The sun had dipped low, turning the water to molten silver under the railway bridge near Camden Lock.
There, just under the arch of the bridge, was a small path—half-covered in shadow and broken leaves. It wasn't a proper walking path. More like a forgotten trail that the city itself had stopped paying attention to.
Still, Noah went down it.
The noise of the world began to muffle behind him, as if each step into the darkness turned the volume down on reality.
The stone turned into dirt.
The dirt became grass.
Then taller grass.
Foliage wrapped around his calves. Brambles brushed his knees. He should've turned back. But something made him keep walking. Something just beyond reason, beyond mourning. Something... pulling.
He walked for what felt like ten, maybe twenty minutes.
The city should've ended by now.
But the path didn't.
It just kept twisting, bending, swallowing him in green.
And then—the fog came.
At first, it was thin, crawling low like morning mist. Then it thickened, rising around him in long, ghostly ribbons, shrouding the grass, the sky, even his hands.
Noah stopped walking.
His breath caught in his throat.
The silence was **unnatural** now. No birds, no cars, no distant rumble of the underground.
Only his footsteps.
Only his heartbeat.
"Where the hell am I?" he whispered.
His legs suddenly felt heavier. Not like exhaustion from walking—but something else. Like the gravity had increased.
His knees trembled. His vision blurred. He stumbled, catching himself on his palm as he dropped into the grass.
"No. No, not here…" he muttered, dragging himself upright.
His head throbbed. His heartbeat now a war drum inside his chest.
Sleep… something whispered at the edge of his mind. Sleep now. It's easier.
He slapped his own face, once. Twice.
The sharp sting kept his senses flickering. He bit down on his lip till he tasted copper, just to stay aware.
His limbs screamed to lie down, to give in. But he didn't trust this place. This fog. This sudden weight pressing down on him like the air itself was alive.
He dropped to his knees again.
Now trembling.
Now fading.
He clenched his jaw, nails digging into his palm, whispering to himself:
"Not here. Not like this."
But his body wasn't listening anymore.
His vision narrowed—his world turned to fog, pain, and silence.
The grass swayed around him.
The fog thickened, swallowing the world whole.
And then, just before his eyes finally closed...
He thought he saw a flicker—like a crack of gold light—glowing faintly from inside the mist.
He reached toward it instinctively, even though his hand barely moved.
Then the darkness took him.
And the world he knew was gone.
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5 mins later
Noah's eyes fluttered open.
His chest rose sharply with a gasp as he jolted upright, but instead of grass or fog or the cold air of Camden, he was staring at a vaulted ceiling carved in gold and ivory. Light shimmered off every corner like the place itself breathed gold dust.
He blinked once, then again. Slowly, his hands touched the polished white-marble floor beneath him. It was warm, smooth, and real.
The vast hall stretched farther than he could see, framed by towering pillars inscribed with swirling runes that glowed faintly like starlight. Between the golden columns were tall arched windows where light streamed through, though no sun could be seen.
And then—he saw her.
Seated on a delicately carved throne of silver and sapphire was a woman.
She stood.
Her skin glowed in a deep, radiant brown tone, with striking red eyes that shimmered like garnet. She wore a flowing blue dress that cascaded to the floor like a waterfall of silk.
She began walking toward him.
Noah, still on the floor, felt his breath caught in his chest. There was something timeless about her—like a goddess or queen from another world.
She smiled softly and said,
"Do not be afraid, child."