DARKNESS

Aramith's mind was not so clear and he couldn't think properly. He tried to remember the last thing that happened but nothing came to mind. What was this he was feeling? His eyes were tightly shut and he couldn't be sure whether he should keep them closed or not. The ground felt cold against his back and he wondered where he was. Staring at the back of his eyelids, he could see only darkness, nothing beyond his closed eyes, not even the slightest trace of light and that made him feel uncomfortable, he wanted to know where he was, had to open his eyes. He knew that, but his body wouldn't respond when he tried. It felt like his eyes had been glued shut or he was in a foreign body. More effort was put into it, but nothing happened. It took him a lot of effort before he finally got his eyes opened, but then he found himself surrounded by darkness. The place was so foreign to him and he had no way of knowing what he was doing there or what was going on. He was alone, and it felt cold. That's when he realized he wore nothing, the only thing that could be close to the word was the darkness that surrounded him.

After some time, he could now feel his body start to move under his control. It was painful, but he forced himself till he was able to get on his feet. pain racked his body, but he held it in and stood still. He reached out around him till he felt something that felt like a wall. He leaned his back against it for support and rested. This little thing he did took a lot of energy out of him and he found that even harder to understand than wherever he was. How was it possible that the simple act of getting up and leaning against a wall made him so weak he couldn't stand without the support of a wall? He wasn't going to even get any answers and that got him more irritated.

"What's going on here? Is this some sort of illusion or what? No, an illusion wouldn't be able to make me weak." He found the flaw in his thinking funny. How could an illusion make him lose energy? He closed his eyes and sat down, thinking, what was the point in aimlessly moving around when you didn't know if there could even be a pit right before you, or some other trap near you? He tried as hard to remember the last thing he did, but nothing came to mind. It was just blank. He tried thinking farther back, but that was even harder. The memories were right there, but when he tried to grasp them, they'd disappear and he would be left with emptiness in his mind. He started to lose everything slowly, and soon enough his mind would be blank.

"hey...what's...my name?" He opened his eyes abruptly and sucked in a deep breath. He hadn't noticed he was holding his breath the whole time he had his eyes closed. What was this about? What's my name? What-is...A faint light was before him, though it looked elevated, there was no mistaking it was a weak flame. It flickered ever so lightly like candlelight and he feared it might go out anytime soon. It kept flickering like that, but it started to grow bigger and bigger till everything became clear to him.

He found himself in a small room that had nothing other than a few paintings and a table at the center. The candle was on it, as well as a parchment, an inkwell, and a quill. The sheet was blank and he wondered what they were all supposed to be for but those thoughts didn't last long in his mind before tremors in the ground drew his attention. He looked around and saw the windows open with such great force, one of them fell off and the other hung on to one of its hinges. There was only darkness outside The ground shook still and he was afraid the candle might go off. What would happen if the darkness returned? All of a sudden, the shaking became more intense, and cracks appeared in the ground. Dark roots of some sort climbed out of the ground, growing and spreading about. They spread around and started to climb the walls, tipping the paintings onto the floor, and plunging others into the cracks created. For some reason, he felt bad as he watched those images get swallowed up in the darkness. His eyes were too focused on the floor and the cracks to notice the candle tipping over or the ink spilling. The white parchment had turned black and the table was catching fire. In a matter of seconds, he found himself in a hot room where flames were devouring everything. The flames were spreading fast and he ended up in the only safe corner where the flames were yet to get to.

He watched helplessly as the flames came closer and closer. Having no way of escaping, he shut his eyes tightly and waited in his crouched position for the flames to consume him, but then a huge blast resounded in his ears and he was forced to open his eyes only to find himself in a dark place again. The flames had disappeared and he was lost again. some light shone overhead and he looked up to see the moon shining its light from above trees. He was now in a forest, weird. But now wasn't the time to think of how strange it was to be in the forest. He had to find a way to get out; it was cold, bitterly so and he didn't know where to go to. Something caught his eye among the trees and he squinted at it, trying to make out it's figure. It looked like a person but he wasn't so sure whether his eyes were rather playing tricks on him. He looked around and realized everywhere looked the same and having nowhere to go, he chose to go toward the figure. The closer he got to it, the more he felt drawn toward it. He was only a few steps away when he heard the person utter a scream and shout for help. She was now running away from him, or so he thought until he noticed she was being chased by someone. "Stop!!" He shouted and chased after them but tripped and fell. He tried getting up again, but then a searing pain shot through his head like it was being stabbed by millions of needles. He grabbed his head and screamed out loudly. It hurt and he didn't know what to do about it.

"MAKE IT STOPP!! IT HURTS!!" He screamed loudly. Images started pouring into his head and he couldn't focus on anything. The pain escalated and he was hitting his head against the ground. It hurt badly. He suffered for some more minutes before the whole ordeal came to a stop. A soft voice broke the silence of the place, saying a single word, "Aramith" It was soft, but he now remembered everything clearly. That was Lia he'd seen earlier.

He forced himself to his feet and started a painful journey towards where he'd last heard her scream. It wasn't so far off, but he was weak and fell countless times. Bruises were all over his body and he bled from his head when he'd hit it against the floor earlier. The pain was intense and would have broken anyone else but he wouldn't give up that simply. Only one thing was in his head at the moment. LIA WAS IN TROUBLE. He couldn't think of anything else. He saw her up ahead and looked around desperately for the person who was chasing her, but saw none. She sat on the floor, breathing heavily and tired, he noticed. Her clothes were dirty and torn from branches and thorns in the forest as well and her hair was so disheveled she looked so different. He was happy at least she was out of harm's way, but he forgot he was only moving out of the sheer will. He fell once again and found it difficult to get up. He forced himself into a sitting position under a tree to catch his breath before finally approaching her, but then she suddenly turned around and looked straight into his eyes. A smile broke on her face 'Aramith!" She was glad to see him and got up, but her face changed into one of fear as someone landed in front of her out of nowhere. It was a man no doubt and Lia was now his victim. He grabbed one of her hands and started to pull her away. She struggled and he yanked her off her feet as he dragged her onward. Aramith was on his feet and run toward her with all he had. She turned to him with fear written all over her face. "Aramith!" She shouted his name and reached out a trembling hand to him, but before he could fully grip it, it slipped right through his fingers and he was falling, falling into a deep pit. It got darker and darker as he fell and he started to feel numb.

Tears streamed down his face silently and only one thought remained as he fell. He didn't care that he might fall and die, that there could be a creature in there waiting just to devour him. "I failed you, Lia"