After the dust settled I crawled out of the crater. Ash clinging to my skin, coating it a pale gray. The pit seemed to extend for eternity, crawling for hours and not reaching the edge. Eventually, clawing at the ground with my right hand I felt it crunch, the cold snow causing my fingers to go numb. I breathed a sigh of relief, having finally escaped. Standing up on my trembling legs took far more energy than it should've, like having a stag on my shoulders. Looking down at my legs, I saw that they were thinner than before, as if I'd lost muscle mass. "What the-" I said in a whisper. Moving my gaze from my own body to the world in front of me, I saw the barren, frost bitten, wasteland that I'd called home all my life. My path lay ahead, as uncertain and impossible to see as tracks in the middle of a snowstorm. Yet something more potent lay behind me. Turning back to the crater, I saw flashes of my past. Memories. Everything I had forgotten or suppressed all flooded back at once, a sharp pain in my throat and pressure behind my eyes brought me to tears. The small drops ran in rivulets down the side of my face, carving canyons in the layer of ash. Finally separating from my skin and falling into the snow. An audible hiss rang in the air as the apparently boiling hot tear melted the snow. The pain in my heart burned hotter than anything else before. It was unbearable, not just a physical pain, but a soul wrenching sensation tore through me. "W- What have I done?" I choked out through sobs. The despair was far too overwhelming. Suddenly, an idea wracked my mind. My feet began to carry me without order. Through feet of snow I trudged, miles, before I saw it. Sunfalls peak. A gargantuan waterfall spilled over the edge of the cliff. The stream of water and cloud of mist caught the sunlight, golden and orange, as if the side of the mountain itself was on fire. A truly beautiful view. I had only seen it once before, and it had not lost one bit of its lustre or majestic nature. Last time my father had brought me when I was seven or so. I remember it clearly, the endless stretch of snow capped mountain tops rolling in the distance. And the perpetually frozen lake, covered in the thinnest layer of water, reflected the heavens and beyond in its eerie stillness. A mirror fit for a god. We camped there one that cloudless night. As the blazing sun set below the horizon, the stars began to shine through the void. More appeared as we waited, millions upon millions dotted the sky, a brilliant mosaic created by the heavens. Upon seeing it both above and reflected below, I was awestruck, unable to move or breath as I was ensnared by the scene of celestial beauty. I stood, teetering on the edge as my hand reached out to try and touch them, but to no avail as my father pulled me back. This time however, the dance of light causing the image of flames to flicker off the cliff side struck me as foreboding and ominous. I trudged on without thinking, body carrying me without command. The cold snow crisp beneath the sole of my bare feet. The freezing air biting against my ashen skin. After hours of dragging myself through about a foot an a half of snow I reached the top. Catching my breath, I leaned against a sturdy pine tree. Pieces of its bark flaking off from my touch and settling in the snow. The scent of its sap coated my nose, it's aroma homely and inviting. It reminded me of my own home, mine and my fathers hunting gear covered in the trees needles. Another steaming tear rolled from my face and hissed in the snow. By this time the sun was just beginning to dip below the skyline. It's golden red hue painting the sky an astonishing pallet of warm light. I stood and watched as the crimson and gold sank into pink and purple, finally fading to pitch black minutes later. And, just as before, the stars began to poke their way through the blanket of night, again reflecting off the mirrored lake, painting an unearthly image for my eyes alone. I shuffled forward to the edge, my hand reaching out as before. But, unlike my previous venture here, my fathers guiding hand was not there to hold me back, not there to catch me as I fell over two hundred feet down to the icy surface below.
The freedom of the fall was actually blissful, weightlessly falling through the air, I truly felt alive. The rush of wind past my ears became a deafening roar, the cold wind stripping what little heat was left in my body. Finally, I took a deep breath, feeling as if i was taking my first again. As it escaped me I remembered again what I had thought all those years ago. "As I dived into the unknown void of the aether." That statement had taken a more literal turn than I had expected for my end, but nonetheless it would be over soon. The first to contact the ice was the crown of my head. I felt the ice crack beneath me, that break extending within my form, snapping every bone in my body with earth shattering force. After I broke through, my mangled nerves still sent the signals of sharp pain from the icy water enveloping me. Soon after the plunge, the shock wore off and the real pain set in. Every single part of me felt like it was on fire, a torrent of anguish tore through me, not far off from the detonation. Instinctively, I gasped from the pain, the icy water quickly filling my lungs, frosty daggers seemed to be piercing my chest. There I stayed, waiting for deaths sweet kiss. To relieve the pain, the memories, all of it. As I sank deeper my vision grew darker. The biting cold became a numb buzz as I drifted into unconsciousness, into the void.
