if i die tomorrow - permanent hiatus

under

     In about fifteen minutes, Sadie and I were standing in front of a pile of rocks, staring into the darkness between the gray stones.

     "You think this is it?" Sadie whispered. 

      I nodded. My mouth was dry as I tried to look behind the impenetrable shadows beyond. Already a dull thrum of fear stirred in my heart. 

     "If this kills us, I will kill you." She muttered under her breath as we pulled apart the rocks, and with each one scattered behind us, the yawning hole before us grew wider, the watery light from the outside barely spilling inside and illuminating the way at all. It seemed as though it was preparing to swallow us whole.

     I supposed it was.

     I wiped my hands on my trousers and peered into the nearly perfectly circular cavity carved into the mountainside. 

     My lungs clenched.

     No torches, no windows. Just an empty tunnel leading into the dim. 

     My vision swam and I had to fight for balance. My fists were shaking.

     Sadie spared me the barest glance. I hated how pale my face was, how my entire body tensed as though I was facing a horde of enemies.

     "Oh, yeah." She said, her voice echoing strangely. "You're hopelessly claustrophobic. Well, it's not too late to turn back."

     I flinched, pulling backwards. Yet another one of my greatest secrets, so carelessly revealed. "How do you know these things?!" 

     "My eyes are connected to my brain. So? Are you going in?"

     I took a deep breath. The musty, stale air hit my nose and I fought the urge to gag. Who knew how long I would be in there... trapped like an animal in a cage...?

     Never before had I been forced into such a completely confined place, the weight of the entire mountain hanging above my head, nothing but solid darkness stretching in all directions. I shivered, the cold biting against my skin. Would it get colder as we continue deeper?

     My breathing was ragged with barely suppressed panic. "Let's go in."

     I closed my eyes as I stepped through the boundary of snow and rock, feeling the world close in onto me, a tiny bubble that rapidly lost air as I gasped for breath. I nearly lost it there, but I forced myself to continue. 

     For Hyrule. Sadie. Zelda.

     I had to be strong enough.

     Sadie offered me her arm and I took it gratefully, leaning heavily on her as we ventured farther.

     "You okay?" Sadie breathed, her eyes shining out of the darkness.

     No. "Yes."

     She said nothing, just guided me forwards. 

     My vision spun. Voices echoed out of the walls, whispers breathing against my ears. My fingers were digging into Sadie's arm as I fought for every lurching step, every step into the darkness. I couldn't draw air into my lungs, couldn't form a coherent thought. The world was slowly pressing into me and I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe. 

     Sweat poured down my face.

     Let me take you. 

     Let me take control.

     "Link."

     I was slumped against the wall, red pulsing at the edges of my vision. A sound like the rasp of rock on rock was tearing its way out of my lips, shallow, rapid pants.