Devoured Souls

The Second Dawn

For the first time of his new life he sees the sunrise...

...Is this a dream?
There is a sun and a sky, there has always been. I know this. So why do I find it so unsettling. The orange glow, its glorious warmth. So new yet so unthinkably old.

Am I born, reborn or... Dead. Perhaps undead or maybe just lost. A lost soul searching for solitude, a hopeless soul shrouded in a mystery not even he himself can solve. I must find answers.

This place I am in is dark, so dark, with a slow drip of dank water. A cellar or a cell. Either would not be a surprise. Do I leave, do I stay. Is there even a place to go or will I forever be a soul lost in the darkness. I suppose there is truly only one way to find out.

My legs feel weak. Like they have never been used. Maybe they never have. Each step brings me closer to light but further from presumed safety. I hope beyond hope this is a door. Is that a handle?

"Click"

"Praise the sun" I manage through a dry mouth and rotting teeth. It creaks open and I fall through the frame not yet use to my stance. My head meets soft moss, so soft, and I begin to think this place is safe. Then the ground shakes and I shudder.

"Why must I be here?"