The Dawn of the New World

Sokol's breathing became erratic and he found it much harder to control the smaller movements even though he knew when the lightning would strike.

Another lightning bolt exploded near his feet which sent him flying away with burn marks all along his right leg. He was just ten meters away but the heavenly tribulation had now taken a personal interest in him.

The closer he got the worse it became which made traversing these last ten meters or so incredibly arduous.

Sokol fell on his back facing the cloudy sky which was trying to wipe him from existence. His body was wreaking from waves of pain and he could barely breathe which only reminded him of the last few days before his death.

The pain and hopelessness were far too similar to that brief period he had spent with his father. He was just a child when it happened but he still remembered seeing Jax's worried face during those few brief moments of consciousness.

All he wanted to do was reach out and tell him it was going to be okay, that he was going to a better place but he didn't even have the strength to do accomplish so insignificant.

And when he finally embraced what was to be an eternal slumber something even worse happened. He saw his father become the target of something so vile that it made his very soul tremble. It tried to come for him but the World Spirit protected him.

It took his soul and allowed him to return to the land of the living by creating a temporary body. It would look and feel the same as any other's but he would never grow old.

But Sokol knew that even with all that it wasn't permanent. He was only here to save Jax from the clutches of that monster and by saving Hao Xuan that would come to pass.

He had been taught a lot by the world spirit, about the nature of things and the world beyond, things that no living being had a right to know. But despite all that knowledge he was still just a child at heart.

And at this point what was to be his moment, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for himself. Despite knowing how it would end he still held out some hope that maybe things would be different but....alas.

Wiping the tears from his eyes Sokol gritted his teeth.

The ground convulsed behind his back and several hands made from mud pushed him back to his feet. This was all the World Spirit could do for him, help him stand back and lend him some power but the rest he would have to do himself.

'I can do it!' he told himself looking at the cage of lightning around Hao Xuan.

All he had to do was touch him once which would allow the would spirit to communicate with him and bring him back by breaking the tribulation of the mind.

But the moment he did that the heavenly lighting would lash out and nothing could save him then.

Sokol took in a deep breath gathering what little strength he had left.

"AAAH!" he let out a cry and ran straight towards Hao Xuan.

*Craaackle*

*BOOOM*

Another bolt of lighting fell hitting him square on the back creating an 8-inch wide hole but instead of slowing down he picked up his pace even more as the wind gathered at his feet propelling him forward.

A halo of iridescent lights surrounded his remaining arm which was the culmination of all the energies that could be found within nature.

*BOOM*

*BOOOM*

*BOOOOM*

One after another bolts of lightning rained down around him but Sokol's determination was unfazed. Nothing could stop his advance. And only after sacrificing more than 40% of his body was he finally able to reach Hao Xuan.

"MISTER! WAKE UP!" he screamed before bumping into him.

Sokol immediately reached out and placed his hand on Hao Xuan's chest allowing the energies of nature to pass through to him.

Hao Xuan's mind which was ladened with dark thoughts was immediately cleared and he was brought back to his true self. He looked back at the small figure that was kneeling behind him with a cheeky smile.

"Stupid! Why did you come here?!" Hao Xuan shouted just as the darkness of the eternal night was pushed away by the unceasing light of the heavenly thunder. For an instant it became so bright that even the sun would be put to shame.

Sokol had intervened in the tribulation and the price was death.

Hao Xuan raised his head just in time to see a final bolt of lightning strike down. It was bigger than any of the previous ones and far more deadly. Sokol closed his eyes as the pressure increased tenfold threatening to turn him to dust.

He was ready.

*BOOOOOOM*

The air exploded around him but the pain he was expecting did not come.

Sokol opened his eyes only to see something that would be ingrained in the back of his mind even in the next hundred lifetimes.

Hao Xuan was standing over him protectively and in his hand was the very bolt of lightning that had fallen from the heavens. He had torn it out of the sky.