Syn was now back in his room. He was sitting on his bed exactly like he was earlier, and everything seemed normal he could hear his Nan and Grandad downstairs, there was no storm in sight and the vibrant green fields where gone.

He released a sigh of relief and stood from his bed.

Suddenly the world shuddered. A darkness shrouded the sky and a storm roared.

“You are a forbidden existence!” a voice bellowed “You thought you could escape!”. The house tore apart like paper and Syn was sucked into an enormous tornado that had spawned without warning. He was sucked up into the sky and was flung around in a cyclone of navy storms and bright blue lightning. Through the violent and howling winds he could see a shadow flying through the tornado towards him. Syn tried to gain control of his body, but it was useless, he was helpless under the power of the tornado.

“KRAAAA!”

A sharp sound suddenly radiated throughout the tornado that was so loud it almost split his eardrums.

“No!” he could’ve sworn he heard a deep voice roar.

Suddenly everything disappeared. He was once again in the silent black abyss.

Syn’s eyes snapped open, he stared into a clear blue sky and felt soft blades of grass brushing against his ears. Sweat poured down his face like he’d woken from a nightmare and with heavy breaths he sat up. “That better have been a dream” he grumbled, the sight a tornado tearing apart his home still fresh in his mind. He tried to figure out what was happening but the sight in front of him stopped any train of thought he had. He was back in the grass fields, but they were no longer green. Well not completely. Syn had no idea how, but the fields now stained red had become an ancient battleground. Armoured corpses that now looked like dried husks and weapons from swords, axes, bows and shields where scattered across the land that had become destroyed from battle. Syn cautiously stood up from the ground which from what he could see was the only clean patch of grass. He carefully treaded between the corpses not wanting to step on some poor deceased soul. Glancing over what seemed like hundreds of dead men he noticed most of them looked like the very Vikings he’d read about or seen depicted on TV. Some of the other corpses he imagined to be thieves or mercenaries and very few wore full sets of armours that looked like they were from the medieval times. Most of the weapons where bloodstained and shattered however, he came across a clean double-edged sword that was standing up, the tip of the blade stabbed into the earth. Releasing it from the ground he could see it was slightly dull, but it was still in one piece, which was more than what could be said about the other weapons scattered around.

“Crack!”.

Syn spun on his heel. He could’ve sworn he heard something move, but all he could see was a twitching corpse. He carried on moving ‘Wait. A twitching corpse’. Glancing back he saw a dead Viking stand. It had white soulless eyes and a light blue glowing liquid leaked from the cracks in its gaunt body. It started stumbling towards him and Syn backed away while raising the sword in front of him hoping it would scare the monster away. Suddenly another corpse moved and started to rise, then another and another. Dread crept upon Syn as he witnessed the entire battlefield begin to rise. With his sword he might’ve been able to take a few depending on how strong they were, but even with is his ‘special’ traits he doubted he could take on every corpse. Especially after he witnessed them starting to pick up the weapons scattered across the bloodstained grass.

Looking around he found the shortest path that led him to open fields and charged towards it. An undead Viking stood in his way, but Syn swung his sword with technique that even surprised him. He looked like a professional. To his relief the sword sliced through the Viking like it was made of air. To halves of a corpse dropped to the ground and this time they stayed dead. He sprinted forward flinging aside any undead men that got in his way and stepping on many who were trying to rise. In the corner of his eye, an axe suddenly swung towards his skull, but his reflexes kicked in and his body dodged to the side. Instantly without even thinking he swung his own sword up and cut the undead Viking in half. Without wasting a second, he continued his escape, trying not to think about how he’d just done that. He had to barge past around fifteen more undead and kill another three, but he made it to open fields.

He sprinted as fast as he could away from the undead warriors and across the green field.

“KRAAA!” an ear shattering screech echoed across the valley and Syn tumbled to the ground clenching his ears. He tried to get up, but his mind was spinning, and he fell straight back down. With shaky eyes he glanced back to see the corpses of Vikings, mercenaries and what he was assuming to be armoured knights heading towards him. Some were hobbling, some were walking normally, and some were sprinting towards him at a terrifying speed. Feeling that his nausea was only getting worse he grabbed the sword he dropped and began trying to crawl away.

“KRAAA!” the screech came again, and the world spun. Suddenly something black flew across his vision. Then another black blur sped past. Then another and another. Soon he was surrounded by small black figures speeding around, forming a doom over him. Are they birds? He wondered staring at them hypnotised.

“KRAAA!” They all screeched in unison, but it somehow didn’t sound as loud. Syn was completely engulfed in a black dome. In instant the dome dispersed, and the birds vanished like they’d never been there.

‘The corpses’ Syn regained control of his mind. He looked behind him but there was nothing there. There was no army of the dead, no battlefield, just a valley of green grass that swayed in the wind. Had he been teleported?

He tried to stand but fell to the ground. Suddenly his heart began racing and he felt ill as everything that had happened caught up to him. ‘I cut them Vikings in half’ reality hit him ‘Like it was nothing’. His panic intensified, not because he was upset about killing them but because he didn’t care. Was he a monster?. What the stranger had said began echoing in his head ‘I’m a forbidden existence. What does that even mean’. He quickly started breathing in deep breaths to control and calm himself, exactly how his grandparents had taught when he was a child and would have random panic attacks. Soon the nausea started to fade, the world stopped spinning and his heart rate slowed. Letting out a long breath he sat back on his heels and stared up at the cloudy sky.  He had no idea who had tried to kill him in the storm, no idea where he was or how he got here, no idea how or why a group of corpses had attacked him, and he had no idea how to get home. But he knew two things, that this wasn’t a dream and that sitting here in the grass wouldn’t help figure out anything.

Holding the sword he’d taken tightly his hand and his mind now calm. Syn started walking through the fields. He didn’t know where he was or where he was going but his instincts told him it was right way.