All Hallow's Eve 2: Memories

Chapter 14

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I don't know how long I ran, but it eventually slowed to a fast walk towards the end. My breathing became laboured and I had to stop. I bent forward to ease my air intake, and the annoying stitch in my left side. Then I straightened up with one hand on my side in a semi-Peter Pan stance. I then leaned back to relieve the abdominal cramp. It eventually dissipated and I could straighten once again.

My heart echoed in my head as blood pulsated through my veins. Steam rose from my body as my sweat-soaked skin overheated. I thought to myself, "Running was never my strong point!" and smiled. When I cooled down enough and my pain subsided, I took in some deep breaths to regulate my lungs. Looking around my vision was still a bit blurred from perspiration, but I could see a redish hue in the distance.

I composed myself and started walking towards the red glow. It was a slow and arduous process as my legs and whole body were still recovering from my physical escapade. Gradually I regained most of my strength, well, enough to move at a more reasonable pace.

Distant screams of agony or delight, (ya never can tell), echoed through the semi-darkness. A shudder of fear shot down my spine. My adrenaline-fuelled bravery had left me and I questioned my decision to come down here.
"What in the name of Danu am I doing here? I'm not ready for this!" I thought.
Suddenly I heard a female voice call my name!
"Red?"

"It couldn't be!" I said aloud as my heart jumped into my throat.
"What kind of trickery is this?" I thought.
"But what if?"
My heart pounded in my chest muffling my hearing, an unleashed cry blocked my throat, trapped by fear, and hope. Newfound strength filled my weary legs, and I ran.

Visions of terrible things raced through my mind, terrible things happening to Niamh. Was she alright, was I strong enough to save her, was I just going crazy? Only time will tell. And I was running out of it. The screams were getting louder and mechanical noises came from what lay before me.

Suddenly a flash of lightning stuck the ground before my feet. I stopped in my tracks. Positive and negatively charged protons and electrons bounced around in an invisible waltz electrifying the air.
The static atmosphere resulted in my hair all over my body standing to attention. (But of course, back then no one knew anything about electricity.)

Particles floated in the air like tiny stars.
It was quite beautiful, but curiosity got the better of me. I reached out my sword and touched one with my knuckles clenched around the handle. I extended my index finger and pushed one. It moved like a feather I thought, like a feather floating on water. And of course, me being me I had to keep doing it until my sword came in contact with one.

A shock travelled through the blade and into my hand. I quickly realised the weapon and it fell flat on my head and continued to the ground. It didn't hurt but the smell of singed hair was a new sensation for me. My hair was reminiscent of Celtic warriors of old. The electrical shock was just like getting pricked by a thorn so I picked Freagarach back up.

The sword glowed and rings of electricity rippled down the blade, for an instant, but then were gone. I secured my sword at my waist and continued forward avoiding any more shocks. Lightening struck the ground all around me erupting little piles of earth in its wake.
Feeling fully charged, in more ways than one I thought, "Watch out Aodh, I'm coming for ya!"

My body began to heat up, and I couldn't be sure if it was from my exertion, the lightning, or something else. But I continued and soon found out where the red light was coming from. The ground looked red from the light as it inclined downwards like a gigantic slide. Above it was a wall, the end of this part of the cave.

Carved heads and torsos embellished the surface, made more grotesque in the eerie red light. The lightning gave animation to the effigy. With each electrically charged flash, the carvings assumed a different position in a macabre tapestry. With nowhere else to go down the slide was my obvious course of action.

Turning sideways I carefully placed my right foot on the unstable-looking gradient.
"Looks firm enough!" I thought and put my other foot on the downward slope. I meticulously sidestepped forward. A few steps down I noticed moisture droplets falling on me. With closer inspection, I could see it was blood. Suddenly it got heavier and rained down upon me.

I lost my footing and balance and quickly slid down the incline on my back losing my torch along the way.. The heat became almost unbearable as I reached the bottom. It looked like a red inferno more vast than the dragons keep. I stood up and discarded as many loose garments as I could. There were pillars of fire surrounded by rivers of lava and molten rock.

Screams of agony echoed all around. Thick iron chains interlaced above me. Some were moving over and back which resulted in the mechanical noises I had heard. And there, in the centre of it all, an upside-down stepped pyramid grew from the ceiling.

With sword in hand, I fixed my gaze on the lowest pinnacle.
"Niamh!"