The Segmented Empire

Chapter 7

(TW): Death

 It was only once the yelling stopped that he was able to leave the room, he held the now cracked eye of ender close as he silently made his way into the hall. Every emotion ran through his head at once, anger, sadness, guilt, then back to anger once again. It was all incredibly overwhelming for him, he would admit he was wrong for taking the eye off his father's desk, but the amount of wrath that was put upon him was completely, and utterly unnecessary. The boy sighed, trying to push his emotions to the very back of his brain, where they all ended up one way or another.

  It didn't come as a surprise, but Anguish had completely forgotten his original mission. Sighing once again, he continued down the hall taking strict care in keeping the eye to his chest. He didn't have an exact location to go, only really looking around when he found himself at the top of the dungeon stairs. A feeling of overwhelming dread seemed to wash over him just looking down into the darkness, the soft glow of the soul torches emitting only enough light to see a few feet in front of him. A rise of curiosity rose into his chest, pulling him slightly into the darkness before him, craving to find the rest of the hidden light within.

  He took a step down, then another, then another, finding a slow rhythm as he went down the steps. He suddenly froze at the ninth step down, he had only made it one step further than he had the first time he crept down, yet the feeling of dread overpowered any curiosity he felt. He quickly ran back up, not daring to look back down as he made his way further away from the stairs. The boy felt watched as he left, assuming it was one of the guards, he brushed it off.

  That night the feeling of dread returned, pushing him into his thoughts only to end up falling into a terrible dream. He found himself in a forest, although one he hadn't ever seen in his life. It wasn't like the ones in the nether, the trees were a lush green rather than cyan or red, and it wasn't warm. This is when he realized it was cold, ungodly cold at that, the ground was a pure powder-white color, and that same color seemed to fall from the sky in small flakes.

  "Snow..." he muttered out, he hadn't seen it before, but it was just the way Scar had described it in his stories. A cold substance that was powder white.

  His entire body trembled, growing weak as he continued to stand there. Taking in a sharp breath, only to have it burn his lungs with a sensation he'd never felt. He tried to reassure himself it was only a dream, yet the cold air whipping at his face and body made it all too real to brush off as one. Hesitantly, he took a step forward, then another, and another, slowly walking in front of him as the wind continued to nip at his skin.

  His eyes watered as he tried to keep them open to see, he held his hand to his face, attempting to wipe his now teary eyes, only for them to continue watering the longer he walked. He couldn't deal with it forever, swiftly shutting his eyes and attempting to quicken his pace without running into a tree. His body ached with pain, burning as the cold continued to whip around him, he was growing weaker, his pace slowing rather than speeding up. He knew he wasn't going to make it further in this climate, his body halting and slowly collapsing into the soft powder before him.

  He rolled onto his back, his body growing warmer as he felt a severe numbness wash over his entire body. As his body grew weaker, he opened his eyes slightly, his vision blurred as the snow continued to fall around him. Just as he felt his eyes growing heavy, he saw a small blur of color above him, forming the slight look of a human figure before his eyes fluttered closed. He felt heat enveloping his body before suddenly all feeling left, and there was nothing. He couldn't remember anything that happened next, he only remembered the small faint voice of someone before he woke in his bed.