FĻØ₩ƏŘŞ

Prologue.

If he concentrated, he could still hear their screams. Their begs for mercy as he destroyed their home.

He didn't like to concentrate on that. He liked to pretend it never happened. He liked to believe it wasn't him that had done it.

But it was.

It was him and nothing he could say would change that.

○•●•○

Fire. So much fire.

She couldn't breathe with the amount of fire around her. The smoke curled up her neck, slowly suffocating her until black spots danced in her vision.

She couldn't move. She couldn't talk. She couldn't even have looked if she wanted. She felt cold. So cold. The ground seemed to be burning her arms but she knew it was just colder.

In the distance, she could hear screams. Pleas for help. But she couldn't bring herself to stand up. She couldn't bring herself to move.

So she stayed there. She stayed there staring at it and watched them slowly burn to nothing. The river Plegethon could heal many, many times. But use it to much, and your would was refused to nothing.

She stared at them, running and screaming before slowly crumbling to nothing. The river seemed so distant now...

She forced herself to stand up unto wobbly feet. She felt like she wouod colapse any srcond. And somethung told her that feeling was right.

She rubbed her arms, trying to fight the numbing cold slowly spreading up her body. She was standing in front of a burning field, but all she felt was cold. Oh, the irony.

The man next to her was smiling. He had it in him to smile. She felt disgusted. She wanted to puke. She needed to puke.

But she couldn't bring herself to look a way from the fire.

The bright blue flames that seemed to flicker and twirl before her. In the back of her mind, a more sensible part of her was telling her to turn around and run away. Orange fire was one thing, but blue fire was a whole other degree of heat.

She managed a weak step backwards before he noticed her. But she couldn't understand it. One moment, he was starting at the flames, a wide face-splitting grin in place of his mouth. The next, he was holding her arm, dragging her forwards towards the pit.

She wanted to scream. She felt her mouth opening and closing, but she didn't seem to be making any sound. She tried fighting him, kicking and punching, but he didn't let go. He didn't even seem to notice her.

Finally, she slumped against him. He was holding her above the fire, a loose yet firm grip on her shoulders. She fantasized pushing forwards to safety and pushing him into the pit.

Then, she looked down.

It seemed as though she would never hit the bottom with how far down it was. But she knew better. She had seen him drag the bodies of her companions, ignoring their pained pleas and screams for help, dumping them into the darkness below. It seemed with every body the fire grew larger, and by now the flames were licking and ghosting above the edge.

At last, she looked into his eyes. She had tried to delay it as long as she could, but even she knew it was inevitable. His eyes were a cold, hard grey. Colourful in comparison to the rest of him.

Thought the stare he was giving her, she felt as though he was searching through her brain. Digging into her mind for her deepest, darkest secrets.

Then he smiled. It was an actual, humanly smile. But his eyes remained cold, though with a hint of pity. She knew what that meant. She had watched him do it to everyone before her.

"Not worthy." He growled.

His voice was rough and deep from disuse. It sounded as though someone had ripped his vocal cords straight out of his throat and replaced them with 7kg of Sandpaper.

Then he let go, and she was falling. The wind was hitting her like a slap to the face, and she could feel her shirt slowly going higher and higher on her. But now wasn't the time to worry about that.

She could feel her face muscles straining as her mouth opened imppssibly wide to let loose a scream that never came. Her arms were falling uselessly above her head, and her legs were pushing against her, trying to move with the wind.

Then she reached the bottom. The drop had been terrifying, but the fall hadn't even hurt. She felt fine, but a few bruises on her elbows and knees. And she didn't feel hot. In fact, she felt cold. Colder than she'd ever felt before.

She stumbled clumsily to her feet, brushing the dust off her clothes. She could see the flames in front if her, their translucent blue shining through the darkness. And she could feel it, and it kind of tickled. She resisted the urge to laugh. First, she had to find a way to get back up. So, she took a step forwards.

The heat hit her like a brick wall, slamming into her at once. They seemed to be a trigger of some sort as she could suddenly talk again as a scream was ripped from her throat, echoing into the dark cavern.

Her body felt like it was on fire, which it was. Her skin was feeling heavier and heavier by the second, and in no time at all she was on the floor. She was still screaming, but she couldn't hear it. It hurt to move. It hurt to think.

She couldn't breathe. Her lungs were heating up too. And she couldn't see. The world was a dark, hot mess. Her insides were melting. Her skin was peeling off. Her head was hurting worse of all. She knew it wouldn't be long till her brain fried.

Imagine you were a bystander there, just watching all this happen right before your eyes.

You would see a screaming girl twitching on the floor. Her body would be fine, but a few cuts and bruises.

You would notice the shadow that seemed to pass over her. The burrowing cold you felt as it got closer to you.

You would notice how she seemed to be twitching even more.

You would notice her body slowly moving.

And lastly, you would notice that she had stopped screaming.

●•○•●

Groaning, he closed his eyes. He seemed to be having these nightmares more and more often, most times from the girl's point of view.

Most times when he woke up, he would realize that some pieces were missing. Like patches, gone from his memory.

But this time it was clear as day. He remembered every last detail. From the start to the end. And this time he understood.

He knew what he had to do.