Karasi of Pelnora

Fate (WattpadHornsandHalos Prompt)

Hollow. That is all I felt as I sat, leaning my head against the cold wall.

My chest heaved as I felt the tears slowly slide down my cheeks. So many emotions raced through me, and I could numb myself to none of them. Every wave of them rocked my body against the smooth stone. Time slowly ebbed away as I let everything pour out of me.

At some point, I found myself lying my head against the floor.

Breathing in... breathing out.

As I took in the seeming silence, I noticed soft sounds from the darkened hallway. I slowly sat up and strained to listen but could not make out anything specific. With nothing else to lose, I shuffled to my feet and tiptoed down the hallway.

As the sound grew louder, it seemed to resemble muffled arguing.

I inched closer, but my arm grazed against a rod. At the simple touch, the room burst into light and the voices stopped. I froze and stood in silence.

I felt them before I heard or saw them.

A warm presence on one side of my body, and a cold one on the other. I'm not sure when I had closed my eyes, but the moment I opened them, I was unsure of what, or whom, I was seeing.

Two winged creatures hovered on either side of me and stared with a mixture of intrigue and disdain.

The brooding, dark one finally spoke, "Why have you come here?"

I shrugged, "I don't know."

The creatures looked at one another and sped away.

Running after them, I suddenly froze as I entered a spacious opening. It felt odd that a mountain would have such a place hidden within its labyrinth.

I observed the mysterious place and suddenly noticed the creatures hovering near the back wall of the interior. Walking towards them, I stared in awe at a dark crevice that seemed to be rippling the wall. A dark gaseous fluid seemed to be slowly seeping out of it. I barely listened to the two creatures, who also ignored me.

After a moment, I began to pick up some of the conversation.

"How are we supposed to stop it," said the dark one. "Those idiots summoned it."

"We could let it run its course and start over," shrugged the white one.

"That's going to be so much work, but this place is already a disaster anyways. So, why not?" agreed the dark one.

Curious I finally broke into their conversation, "What are you talking about?"

They both turned to me before the dark one replied, "Those idiots you were with opened the doomsday portal. And we're trying to decide if it was worth saving this place, or not? But we've decided it's not worth the risk of killing ourselves when you all are already on a path of destruction. Besides, we know you, Karasi. Look what they did to you, what good are they?"

I ran my fingers along the scars on my body and considered everything that people had taken from my life. The darkness seemed to wrap my heart with disgust. But just then, my fingers snagged on the end of my braid. I felt the odd texture of yarn and the memories of the young girl braiding my hair rushed back. They were followed by the memories of my neighbors and the good bits of my childhood. I smiled to myself as the darkness slowly ebbed away.

An overwhelming realization hit me. I stepped forward. Meaning to shout, but it spilled out in a whisper, "It's me."

The creatures turned back to me. The dark one spoke, "And what exactly do you expect to do?"

I took a deep breath and said "I will be the protector of the gate. I was chosen and I trained for this very moment. It is my fate."

They slowly smiled, "Welcome to your post, Guardian," and bowed their heads, respectfully.

I returned the bow and I walked towards the inky darkness that had begun to seep from the deteriorating crust.

Raising my chest, I affirmed it, "I am Karasi of Pelnora, and the Essence of Knowledge was given to me to protect. I will guard this place from all who seek to enter. It is by fate that I was chosen, and it is by choice that I seal this fate."

With the last word I closed my eyes and stepped towards the oozing crevice. I swiveled, placing my back to it.

I focused every ounce of my being. Pulling forth every elemental fiber, I let the mixture of power well up within me. And once I felt the bubbling mixture reach its capacity, I let myself fall backwards, releasing everything at once. My power, my knowledge, everything. The last to go were my memories.

As I felt my body dumping everything, I let my memories wash over me. The darkness of my life rushed out of me in a fleeting implosion. As I felt the last of my body hardening, I saw my mother and father staring at me from the woods behind our home, smiling. With that final memory, everything slowly disappeared.