Series: The Mountain: Book 1: The Awakening

Lost in the Darkness

A cold breath of wind lingered in the air, causing Helen to tremble to her core. Staring around at unfamiliar surroundings, she walked aimlessly in what felt like a never ending maze. Unsure of how she'd gotten there, the princess wracked her brain as she searched her memory for an immediate answer. The last thing she could remember was Liam's sudden appearance as well as the chillingly suffocating feeling that accompanied his arrival. After that, her memory had gotten a bit hazy forcing her to be unable to recall the events that followed. 

'Maybe I passed out?' she suggested mentally, staring at the monumentally, dark walls that towered above her ominously. 

Switching her gaze to the pitch black floor beneath her feet, Helen was in genuine amazement as she realized it held a uniform texture. Although she was certainly no stranger to finely constructed flooring, she'd yet to witness anything like this. Being well acquainted with the royal artisans, Helen felt that the structure of the ground beneath her feet was unnaturally perfect. 

"Just where am I?" she tried to say aloud, however no words could be heard. 

Despite her best efforts, no sound was uttered from her lips as she desperately attempted to speak. Promptly deciding to abandon her fruitless attempts, she stared ahead as the seamless path disappeared behind a sharply cut corner. 

'No point in staying here,' she concluded already taking a step forward. 

The moment she did, Helen took a step backward in surprise as the material felt surprisingly rubbery as opposed to its originally firm appearance. Prodding the way ahead with a toe, she pressed slightly at first before exerting her entire weight onto the spongy surface. Satisfied by its ability to hold her body with relative ease, she carried onward, still ensuring to proceed with caution just in case further stretches weren't as stable. On nearing the corner without any incidents, Helen's confidence grew by leaps and bounds causing her to quicken her pace. Arriving at the sharp turn, the princess peaked around the corner before quickly rounding it. Just as before, she was met  with a similar open aired corridor, this one, extending further than the last. 

Seeing no visible deviations, Helen continued onward, making sure to keep her eyes peeled for any paths that could potentially be hidden within the dark walls. Striding forward without coming across any such passageways, the princess leaned to one side, dragging a hand on the cold wall as she moved. Unlike what she expected, its surface was unnaturally hard as opposed to its ground level counterpart. Feeling no protuberances or indentations in the places her hands swept over, Helen let out an inaudible sigh, deciding it best to move with greater haste. Walking mindlessly forward as she followed the seemingly never ending trail, Helen noticed a few shocking yet unsurprising details. Firstly, no matter how far she walked, whether it be, quickly or slowly, her adrenaline nor satiety never seemed to suffer. Secondly, despite her gloomy surroundings, the path as well as the walls remained clearly visible to her despite it's black material. Last but not least, and perhaps the greatest change of all, the further she moved towards her unknown destination was the warmer the temperature became. 

Unsure of the reason for the sudden increase, Helen openly welcomed the change as the chills that assailed her mere moments ago were no longer prevalent. 

"How long will this go on for?" she attempted to scream. 

Continuing down the pathway, a voice that seemed to call out to her from all angles suddenly shouted, 'You do not belong here! Return from whence you came!'

 "I'd love to if you can show me the way out!" Helen tried to respond, stamping a foot in frustration as her words were once more lost in the darkness.

'The way out lies in the path you took to get here.'

"You can actually hear me?" Helen questioned surprised by the immediate response.