Kai drifted between consciousness and the void.
His world had ended in a blaze of heat and noise… and now there was only silence.
When he finally stirred, the first thing he felt was the weight pressing down on him - cracked stone, splintered wood, mangled metal. He groaned softly, barely able to move, buried under what remained of the town. His body screamed with every twitch, skin stretched tight and raw.
The only reason he was still alive was because of the blood barrier he'd instinctively formed before the explosion.
Without it… he didn't even want to imagine what would've been left of him.
With effort, he pushed himself up, a bloody hand breaking through the rubble. The heat still lingered in the air, and his vision wobbled as he staggered upright. He was still shirtless, the remnants of his trousers now scorched to tatters - barely hanging on. Most of his underwear had somehow survived, which was probably the only stroke of luck he'd had all day.
