Return. Rewind. Repeat.

I remember now.

The sinking soil, the howling creatures, the deathly ecosystem; I remember it all. I remember the game of death.

A game of power it is, one to show who the strongest is among all the warriors of our clan. One where even the children of nobles have died and have been forgotten. One where even the war heroes have met their end. A place where men are put aside from demigods.

I remember it all now. I fell too. I, the one who fought against the opposition, and brought our clan to victory in the Clan Clash War. Thanks to me, generations upon generations of children will hear of the tale of the war, not as slaves, but as descendants of the war heroes. And yet I... I fell.

Death is something that is feared, avoided, believed in, brought about, and yet, I never thought it would have felt so calm and... peaceful.

I awoke in a massive void, surrounded by a darkness that seemed to encompass, to multiply. My hands before my face I could not see. The burns on my skin, the cuts on my face, the mud in my throat, all of it was gone. Like a dream, after you've woken up, fading away into obscurity until you can't believe you ever did such a thing. And before me, glowing in the engorging darkness, oscillating where even my breath was halted, was a giant pendulum. The very pinnacle of time.

What is this? I thought. My muscles wouldn't move. I could only but stare at the massive metal sphere, moving from the left to the right, and the left again, it's glow dull and membrane-like in the darkness that encompassed.

Who is a strong man? I wondered. The last embers of my worldly thoughts and beliefs slipped away from my consciousness like threads whispering over cold stone. They receeded to the far reaches of my mind, where they remained as mere recollections of the past, of something that ought to be known, and yet forgotten.

Do I want to forget? Do I want to remain bound in this calm, peaceful void? Watching the pendulum make its oscillations, see the darkness grow impossibly... Is that what I want?

No.

The memories returned faster than they'd left me, and the pendulum slowed.

I get it now. This pendulum, it returns, it repeats, it has done so for countless millennia, from before our clan was born, from before the pendulum form itself entered the mortal mind. What I see, the pendulum moving before me is but a product of my mind. My knowledge, my understanding of the world around me has always played a part in how I reacted to situations, and what I saw in everything. The pendulum stopped, and the darkness vanished.

I walk towards the game's entrance, surrounded by other warriors of my clan. In that void, I learned a skill that will make me into what I want to be. If I can do it, if this world and all matter does bend to my will, well then, I'd surely be the strongest warrior.

One of my comrades places his hand on my shoulder and smiles. "We can do this, Val. I've heard a few things about what we're to expect. We can stay together and beat this game."

His smile makes me sad. Thail was one of the first to die, according to my memories. The first trap just north of the wasteland that marks the entrance of the ecosystem was where he met his end. I wonder... I wonder if he saw the pendulum. I wonder if it's the same Thail that walked into the game with me that follows me now.

The gateway vanishes behind us, and I remove the giant spear strapped to my back. The men spread out, arming themselves against whatever comes out against them. Already I see irregularities in the pattern of things. The wind doesn't blow the sand the same way. The rustle of trees in the distance at the far end of the wasteland is different from what I remember.

The creatures that come out of the forest, screeching and howling in their thousands, closing in from all directions are surely different from the sand traps that I remember.

Thail's breath hitches. "It's different. Where did these beasts come from?"

I turn to marvel at him, but he tightens his grip on the ax in his hand. The smile on his face widens. He looks towards me. "Let's tear these creatures to pieces."

All around me, comrades are smiling and putting forward their weapons. They all seem genuinely pleased by the surprise space and time has wrought for us.

Truly, what's the fun if you know what's coming for you?

The creatures approach at a rapid pace, gaining ground like the ground itself propels them. Their snarls and growling gets closer. Our line of warriors hold our feet, our weapons at the ready, our smiles unwavering. The limiters placed to bound mortal reasoning have been removed by death. At this point, we can crush the very fabric of darkness itself.

The frontlines of the approaching creatures crash into the line of lowly mortals. The slaughter begins again, but this time, who dies?