Breath in, breath out.

1… 2… 3… 4… 5.




With her eyes closed, she inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with fresh morning air. Once again, the world felt brand new. She could feel the tingling in her skin, rough and dry from the cold air. Inhaling once more, she breathed in all the air she could before she was forced to exhale. The soles of her feet felt soft, like that of a rug; tips of her toes were still numb as if she'd fallen asleep after dancing... She felt warmth on the top of her head, the same sort of feeling she used to get as a child when she felt safe.

“I want to stay here forever,”

she mused, feeling neither sentient nor divine, she yet was both. She breathed as she always did, her mind serene and content. She felt at peace with the world around her, arms open and free. When she thought of the soft carpet of leaves under her feet, she felt joy overwhelm her. Soon, however, her head grew cold as intense pain wracked her spine. She was weak, feeling like a scourge of negative energy had swept through her body and left it full of pain. She could sense the massive cycle of negative energy welling up from the bottom of the mountain towards the peak—except that it was neither coming from nor heading to the peak. Instead, it seeped into the ground and into the cave itself.



Opening her eyes, the trees were different, they seemed to be more bent and gnarled. They appeared to have been diseased. The ground had blackened, even the bark of the trees was cracking with evil's presence. The dense mist of light that lingered above the forest floor gave the illusion that it was burning. Its heat pulsated with the beating of a drum and the sound of screaming people. 


A cacophony of sounds surrounded her. Unearthly screaming and cries punctuated by clanging steel and the sounds of pain and death, echoing through the woods where life was still trying to thrive, where hope was flickering in the hearts of the good. The trees swayed back and forth in the wind but she heard something else: a second heartbeat. The sounds of life, of hope gave her courage to move forward despite the unknown. She jumped down from her perch, then started running towards the source of this great evil. 


She didn’t need to run very far, she saw that shadows were emerging from the ground and walking out of the woods. All the trees were dying and assaulting her from everywhere. 


She had no idea how to fight such a force. Her body was being ravaged by the evilness of the trees. But she didn’t die. Instead, she heard a voice calling her by her name. 


“Evangeline… Evangeline…” 


Her pain, her wounds, her beating heart and her breathing, they all stopped. 


“Evangeline, wake up.” 


The sound of her name echoed in her mind, followed by a soft touch on her cheek. She wasn’t sure why she was on the floor or why her hand was being held. As she opened her eyes, everything came flooding back: the trees, the war, the beating of the drum, the sound of death. She had no idea where she was, or why there was a strange fox in front of her. 


His red fur was the color of blood and flesh, and it seemed to be creeping closer to her, like a hundred red ants, shedding their blood red backs and coming to crawl on her. The fox was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees to her chest, his eyes fixed on her.



“You’re not dead…” He said with a heavy voice, “I saved you by pulling you out before they got to you"

Entered by: 0x9568…F765 and preserved on chain (see transaction)