Dark.
Everything was dark.
Kai couldn't move.
His body felt impossibly heavy.
His chest tightened.
No air.
No light.
No sound.
Only pressure.
He tried to lift his arm.
Nothing.
His fingers barely twitched.
"..."
Am I...
buried?
Panic surged through him.
He tried to breathe.
Sand entered his mouth.
He immediately stopped.
Think.
Think.
His heartbeat thundered inside his ears.
Too much movement would only bury him deeper.
He forced himself to stay still.
His lungs burned.
'So this is how I die...'
His vision—
There wasn't any.
Only darkness.
Everything became quieter.
Even his heartbeat began to slow.
Then—
A faint sound.
...Scratch.
Scratch.
Scratch.
At first he thought he imagined it.
Then it came again.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Someone...
Was digging.
The sound grew closer.
More frantic.
More desperate.
Stone shifted.
A small beam of sunlight pierced the darkness.
Kai's half-closed eye barely reacted.
The light widened.
Fresh air rushed in.