Rise

Chapter 1 - Darkness

In a dark, broken world, a hint of light is not easily found. Rather, it carefully selects those to whom it wishes to be revealed, and this is not a common occurrence. Many may come across the light and not see it, others will glimpse it and not understand what it is, still others will understand it but let it go. Only the very few will find, understand, and accept it.

The dark of my world was a consuming one, it drew in its prey and ensnared it. To the unknowing dwellers of the world, darkness was the place of safety and comfort. Everyone wanted to be in the darkness. It was all they knew; all I knew. Even I sought the darkness for reasons I didn't fully understand.

My story is an invitation, the same one that was given to me when I was spared. My life was given to me so that I could fight. I never wanted this, never could want this... but then it was never up to me. I should have died that day, but death lost.

And it began with words...

At first, the words were unintelligible, the fuzzy sound of a child yelling, but as I came closer and closer to consciousness his voice started to ring sharply in my ears.

"Hey!" he shouted. He was so close I could feel his breath on my face. "Hey, are you in there?!" The shock of the noise level was creating spasms of pain in my temples. I wondered if he had an off switch. I lamely attempted to reach for it, not yet being in my right mind, and ended up barely lifting my heavy arm off the ground. I groaned with effort, but eventually gave up and let it fall back down with a thud.

"Oh! Thank goodness," he sighed, pulling away. "I thought you were dead for a second there."

"What?" I croaked. The dense fog inside my head was beginning to subside, and I slowly became aware that I was on my back. When I tried to open my eyes, I found that the bright light was too intense and I was forced to keep them shut. At the same time the sensation was also returning to the rest of my body, bringing with it pain that I was not ready to endure. I instantly regretted surfacing from my unconsciousness.

I began sucking in a breath full of air to prepare myself, but a feeling of constriction unexpectedly gripped my lungs and violent coughs erupted from my throat. I could taste and smell only smoke as my airways tried to fight for breath. I tried to sit up, but quickly felt a hand press down on my shoulder.

"Don't move. From what I can see, you have some injuries," the unknown person warned. Instead, he rolled me gently onto my side and suggested that I continue coughing. "I think you inhaled too much smoke."

I didn't understand what smoke he was talking about, but I could not stop gagging long enough to ask. Squinting through my eyelashes, I could see that I was now looking down at asphalt, and came to the conclusion that I was outside. I continued gasping for air and eventually began to spit out black mucous. It tasted like salty fire.

"Yep, there's the soot," he said. I heard the gravel shift under him as he moved behind me. "Gosh, it's incredible that you escaped that blast. Everything was covered in flames."

I whimpered pathetically. The cough was quickly becoming exhausting.

"Just try to relax, okay? Take slow, deep breaths," he instructed. I heard him start rifling through what I assumed to be a bag while I tried in desperation to control myself.

At that point, my lungs and throat felt like they were on fire and there was nothing I could do to put out the flames. I was so tired, and all I had was this stranger helping me. I was blind, breathless, and injured, not to mention I had about a million unanswered questions. I had never felt so helpless in all my life.

The last thing I remembered before I blacked out again was the shadow of the stranger hovering over me. I felt something soft cover my face before I once more slipped off into the too welcoming black abyss.