Chapter 1 Gone Forever

Dark clouds rolled across the skies, tendrils of lightning occasionally flashing through them.

Nathan slowly opened his eyes filled with confusion, he placed his palms on the smooth soil and pushed himself up. Everything as far as he could barely see were endless dunes of sand stretching into the horizon.

"Where is this? Why am I here?" Nathan wondered, his heart thumping against his chest rapidly.

He slowly stood up then turned towards a random direction, walking with slow, measured steps.

He had no particular destination in mind but didn't feel like standing still on the same spot. After what felt like hours, or days, or probably weeks, he heard a slight shuffle in the sand, stirring up waves across the silent desert.

"What was that?" Nathan muttered, his mind straying towards unknown thoughts, the silent desert and the constant knocking created a mixed cacophony that placed him under constant anxiety, gradually seeping into his mind.

'I need to leave this place, I shouldn't be here.' Nathan thought, urging himself to run, crawl or walk, but no matter how much he tried his body refused to respond, holding him in place as the tapping sounds became even louder.

The sand beneath his feet gradually sinked, transforming into a quicksand devouring him right from his feet.

Within a few minutes the quicksand devoured him whole, his face blanked out, his vision went dark and the tapping sounds ceased.

---

Nathan jolted awake, the light blaring at his eyes felt blinding, he raised a palm to shield his face from the light.

Quiet scratches of pen filled the hall, along with the lecturer standing on the podium, spilling out words Nathan couldn't make a single sense of.

"Right, I was attending a lecture when I fell asleep.... Again." He muttered, lowered his hands away from his face wondering about the dream he had.

'The same desert, the constant knocking sounds, what is going on with me?' he thought, a frustrated feeling budding up in his chest.

The same dream had been repeating itself for years, at first it would occur once a month or once a few months, then weeks, at a point it would appear once every few days.

Within the past few weeks he would have the same dream once every single day, everytime the dream started he would forget all about his normal memories, fall into a tranced state and follow exactly the same path, the same words, the same actions, the same feeling of helplessness as he gradually sunk into the quicksand, It almost felt like... a tape placed on repeat.

He had almost developed a trauma towards sleeping, to the point he didn't sleep all through the previous night only for him to fall asleep in class and go through the same dream.

"What's the point?" He said, a hint of anger in his voice directed towards himself.

He picked his bag from the seat beside him then stood up with a start, heading towards the exit, some students noticed his actions but they all kept their heads lowered, no one dared to reprimand or call out on him aside from a rare few, not even the lecturer!

As the third heir of the Frostmoon family, a behemoth that ruled over a quarter of the continent there was little to nothing they could do against him, even if he couldn't become the family head of the Frostmoon family his status was not something they could mess with, his treatment in the university could be compared to that of royalty.

That aside, the students had an innate fear of Nathan, he was well known for being the leader of a gang in the university who loved poking fun at weak and helpless students, especially those who offended them but they were unable to retaliate in return, unless the other heirs showed up to stop Nathan he could do as he wished.

Walking out of the lecture hall, Nathan headed towards the parking spot where his two assigned guards Draven and Silas were waiting beside a Ferrari SF90 Stradale, one of the most expensive car brands on Aetherion, with less than ten of them available on the market, each worth over ten million dollars.

"Not waiting for classes?" Silas asked, his fingers twirling over each other with a thoughtful look on his face.

He was over 1.6 meters tall, a slim figure with short black hair and a pair of glasses, his whole appearance and disposition screamed of a single word "Nerd!"

Draven on the other hand was over 1.7 meters tall with rippling muscles and a sturdy build, an amiable and friendly disposition most of the time but goes wild when he's angry.

Nathan was over 1.6 meters tall with white hair, a characteristic of the Frostmoon family and enchanting white eyes, he had a calm but wild look on his face, no one ever knew what was on his mind behind the passive expression he always had.

"I got bored, besides I can't understand a thing there, staying there is pointless." Nathan replied with a cold look, walked towards the car pulling the door open with a single swing.

"Lord Kingsley won't be happy if he heard you're skipping classes again." Silas said, an helpless look on his face.

"I'll deal with that myself later, let's go."

---

The trio drove towards a villa at the edge of the city, situated between a little stream and a forest running round it.

Nathan stepped down from the car while Silas drove towards the parking spot, walking towards the villa his mind roamed back to the desert in his dream or rather, the reason the dream started in the first place.

"That bastard!" Nathan said, his fists clenched in rage.

Twelve years ago

Young Nathan was travelling in a car along with his mother who sat beside him, a total of four cars were in the convoy escorting the mother and son duo.

They were travelling on an highway when Nathan's stomach grumbled, raising his palm towards his stomach he moved closer to his mother, pulling on her cloth gently.

"Mother."

His mother lowered her head, patting his head and asked "What's wrong Nathan?"

"I'm hungryyy" he mumbled, his eyes tearing up.

"You ate a few hours ago before we left the capital didn't you?" She said, an helpless smile on her face.

"Yes, but I'm still hungry." Nathan said with head lowered.

Left with no other choice, his mother gave in to his pleas, the two alighted at a restaurant operating beside the highway.

She ordered the guards to stay in the car and walked in with Nathan, after half an hour the two walked out of the restaurant proceeding towards the convoy when Nathan saw a shadow walking at the edge of the restaurant.

Glancing towards it, he could see a middle aged man wearing a hood, dragging a bag across the lawn, his arms bleeding while his hands were covered in blood, he trotted across the lawn leaving a trail of blood behind with every step he took.

"Mother, mother, I think that man's hurt!" Nathan said, his finger pointed towards the man after which he ran towards him leaving behind his mother who panicked at the sight of Nathan running towards an unknown stranger.

"Nathan!! Come back here!" She screamed out then ran after him without hesitation.

"Mister, are you okay?" Nathan asked when he got close to the man who raised his head and glared at Nathan, an amused expression on his face.

"Am I okay?" He asked Nathan who stood on the same spot, frozen in place, his eyes trembling in shock.

Right inside the bag held by the man was a lady in her early twenties, brutally butchered with her corpse laid into it silently.

"Ahhhhh!!!!" Nathan screamed out in shock then passed out, the last thing he saw before falling unconscious was his mother running towards him with anxiety clearly visible on her face.