4 Otherside

To my surprise, as I stepped through the gate, everything went black. Slowly my eyes began to adjust. I appeared to be in a dark dimly lit cave. Just as I began to understand my surroundings, the gate behind me turned to stone, leaving me stranded...

As soon as I realized that I was trapped, I froze. Why did I walk into the gate? Why didn't I question myself as I jumped into literally death's door?

Keeping the cave wall to my right, I fumbled my way in the dark towards what appeared to be the cave entrance.

As I approached the entrance, I could finally see the grand expanse of nature ahead. The cave itself nestled into the side of a valley. Vancouver had always been a very green city with countless trees and greenery, but this was another level. Lands that seemed untainted by the hands of humans. Trees that reached into the sky, rolling hills covered in marvellous flowers.

I was not in Kansas anymore...

--=o-o=--

Not wanting to get blindsided by some creature, I pulled out my bat and clenched it in my hands. The feeling of wood calming my nerves. I slowly walked out of the cave, my eyes scanning the greenery around me. To my surprise, in the far distance, I could see a small tribal village of small green people. They far outnumbered me, possibly in the hundreds, let alone the fact that they all had what appeared to be crude spears... or, at least sticks with pointy bits. Something about them frightened me.

For now, I would avoid them, I could make do somewhere else. These creatures that looked like goblins were far too much for me with my bat.

Between the possibly hostile goblins and the unknown expanse of nature, I rather quickly decided, that for at least now, I'd make my home in the cave.

Using the little survival knowledge I knew, I collected a few fallen branches from nearby trees before attempting to start a fire. Only then realizing that these pieces of wood seemed far stronger than any wood I ever felt on Earth, yet it felt even lighter.

It took many tries but I eventually managed to start a small fire. The embers caught quickly and started to burn slowly. Surprisingly useful for a hand-held torch. Using this makeshift torch, I walked back into the cave. Hoping that I could better explore the cave.

To my surprise, the cave seemed far larger than I originally expected. The caves wall carried the light far better than I ever could have imagined. A glossy layer of charred stone lining the walls.

As I walk my way down towards where the gate was, I stumble across a very large black speckled egg. The eggshell was already cracked in half. What appeared to be a small tiny dragon lying dead at the bottom of the egg.

It all made sense, what I felt calling for me. What forced me forward.

As I laid my eyes upon the dead creature, I had one thought.

Consume

Something overtook me...

I reached down and grabbed the dead creature by its neck. It's flesh unexplainably soft, unexplainably tender.

As I took the first bite, everything turned black.

Once I regained my sanity, all that remained was a pure black heart. Unlike the rest of the body, it was incomparably hard.

So instead, I swallowed it whole.

I would immediately come to regret every single moment of my action as my entire body began to burn, to writhe.

It felt as hellfire descended onto my body. The flames spread to every cell, consuming and reforging every piece of my body, bit by bit, piece by piece.

I don't know how long it lasted. I don't know how to explain the pain. It was hell.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, all the pain disappeared in a single moment.

While I had been eating the corpse, the torch had extinguished, yet I could see perfectly fine. My body had undergone hell, now I felt perfectly fine.

Deep down I had one feeling left,

SCREAM

As I yelled at the top of my lungs, fire bellowed out of my mouth, further charring the cave walls.

I could only faintly feel the fire as it channelled through my body. The powerful flames no longer affecting my body.

I had been reborn.