"We can't stop! We need to find a hiding spot!"

  The words came from his own mouth, yet they felt alien. His voice was rough, coarse... exhausted.

  Each breath burned. Something trickled down his forehead, stinging his eyes. He couldn't tell if it was sweat or blood.

  Beside him, a girl ran, her movements fast but faltering. Her leather armor hanging in tatters, exposing a dark green tunic at the ribs. Metal vambraces clinging to her wrists, dulled and spattered with blood, as well as a sword resting at her hip.

  Her hair was dark, shoulder-length, whipping in the wind, tangled with leaves and dirt. Rain couldn't quite see her face, but a deep bleeding gash filled the left side of it.

  His head turned on its own.

  Far behind, half-hidden between the trees, loomed the silhouette of something monstrous. A glimpse of it, but enough to send ice down his spine.

  'That's... a Shard. It has to be.'

  Shards came in countless shapes and sizes, from bipedal or quadrupedal figures to indescribable masses. Their strength isn't always clear; a small wolf-shaped Shard could be much deadlier than a looming giant. The only way to truly identify their power is the colour tint in their bodies, visible only to the Blessed: Amber, Jade, Amethyst, Ruby, Diamond, each a measure of their strength.

  In that short glimpse, Rain couldn't see any tint. But if he and this mysterious girl were running for their lives from it, that wasn't good news.

  'What is this? What's going on?'

  Rain tried to move himself, to take control, but to no avail.

  He was trapped in his own body. Merely a passenger. He could feel every step, every jolt of pain, every scream from his muscles, but his body wasn't following his commands.

  Helpless and confused, he began to think.

  'Is this... my selected memory?'

  It had to be. But it wasn't from his past.

  'Then is this my future?'

  He'd never heard of such a thing. Not from the Blessed. Not from the district chief during the Selection briefings. No one had ever said the Mirror could show your future.

  Normally, the rules were simple: know the memory, and you could either let it play out or try to force a change. But he didn't know this memory. He didn't know what would happen next. So far, he couldn't change it either.

  Suddenly, Rain felt a jolt of excitement run through him like a spark catching dry tinder.

  'If this really is my future... then when this moment comes, I'll know exactly what to do.'

  He didn't know how this memory would end, but if it truly belonged to his future, every second could carry information he might one day need to survive. Even the smallest detail could matter.

  Minutes passed in a blur of pounding footsteps and ragged breaths before the pair finally slowed. They pressed themselves against the thick trunk of an ancient tree, its bark rough against Rain's hands, the earthy scent of moss and damp soil clinging to the air. Somewhere behind them, the sound of heavy, measured stomps still echoed faintly, a reminder that their pursuer had not yet given up the chase.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Rain dropped to one knee, carefully lowering the weight from his back. The limp body of a boy, maybe his own age, slumped into view. His wounds were ghastly, deep claw marks carved into his flesh like a cruel signature. His clothes hung in tatters, drenched in crimson, with rivulets of blood dripping from his arms and chin, staining the leaves below in dark blotches.

  Shocked by this view, his mind stopped for a second. He had seen his fair share of fights, even bloodshed, while in the slums...but not like this.

  'It's a miracle he is still alive.'

  The sudden absence of the weight made it easier for Rain to breathe, but the relief was short-lived, replaced instead by a familiar frustration:

  'Damn it... Why can't I know my own thoughts?'

  He could feel everything his future self felt, the ache in his shoulders, the tightness in his chest, the faint tremble in his fingers, but the mind behind those actions remained a locked door.

  The girl was already at the boy's side, her hands moving with practiced speed as she tore into rolls of bandages and crushed healing herbs between her palms. She pressed the mixture into the wounds without hesitation, her expression set in fierce concentration despite the blood still trickling from the gash across her own face.

  Rain straightened and looked beyond the trees. The forest here was thinning, the oppressive wall of trunks breaking apart to reveal patches of tall, swaying yellow grass. Beyond them lay rolling hills that melted into jagged mountain ranges.

  Future Rain didn't even acknowledge it, but the present Rain was struck silent. He'd never seen a landscape like this with his own eyes. Even before the Mirror appeared, humanity had burned away most of the natural world in its hunger for space and resources. What little remained had only worsened afterward.

  But there was no time to admire it.

  The boy's breathing was shallow, his skin pale under streaks of dirt and blood. The girl was still on her feet, but she was in no condition to fight; her bandaged face left her with one working eye, and her armor hung in torn strips. If that thing came back, she wouldn't survive another hit.

  Compared to them, Rain was almost untouched, held back only by fatigue and the burn in his lungs.

  "We don't have a lot of time," he said, his voice firm in a way that surprised even him. "We need to keep moving away from the forest."

  The tone sounded foreign to his own ears...Serious, commanding.

  "You alright?"

  'What a useless question... Her armor's in tatters, she's still bleeding, and she's half-blind. In what world would she be alright?'

  "I'll live," she answered quickly. "But we need to get him out of here. Regroup with the others, he needs proper treatment."

  Her voice was rough and breathless, the sound not quite matching her otherwise refined features. Standing, she pointed toward the distant hill Rain had just noticed.

  "We should head for the open ground. We'll have visibility there, maybe we'll see the others leaving the forest and ruins."

  Rain rose to follow her, but before he could take a step, a faint, whistling hiss sliced through the air to his right.

  His head snapped toward the sound, just in time to see a massive boulder tearing toward them with terrifying speed.

  "Look out!"

  He tackled the girl, throwing them both to the ground as the boulder screamed past and smashed into the earth where they'd been standing. The impact shattered logs like brittle twigs, dirt erupting in a violent spray.

  "Grab him and get out of here!" Rain barked, still half-lying on the ground. "I'll distract it. Meet me on the hill."

  Their eyes met for the briefest moment. She nodded once.

  Then they moved; she hoisted the boy over her shoulder and bolted in one direction, while Rain sprinted the other way.

  "Go!"

  A hundred meters away, the attacker emerged from the trees. The hulking thing, a nightmarish blend of living wood and brute muscle, bent down, seized another boulder, and flung it without even looking. The projectile slammed into the exact spot Rain had just left, splintering the earth with deadly precision. Its aim was flawless.

  Meanwhile, the real Rain's mind twisted in disbelief.

  'How the hell is a human supposed to fight that? This is suicide. Just run.'

  But his body didn't run. It faced the monster head-on. Closing in on it, Rain darted behind the thick trunk of a nearby tree. Another sharp whistle cut through the air. Without thinking, he moved, throwing himself to the side as the projectile struck.

  But this time, it wasn't a boulder. It was a massive log, heading straight towards him.

  'Oh fuck.'