Young Flame

A scream tears through the night air as another notices the encroaching darkness. I can’t help but stare at the fog as it consumes everything in its path. Light doesn’t pierce it, leaving a gaping hole in the world.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so unnatural. Even the Titan, while terrifying, still felt real. This blackness has no substance, it doesn’t fit with the world.

There is a reason people call it a void.

My eyes ache looking at it. I can’t see anything in the fog and the more I look, the more it feels like my eyes just don’t work. Even the darkest night doesn’t come close to this. The black of night is just another colour as intense as any other in the face of the Void Fog.

I step back from it, forgetting where I am. My foot finds nothing solid to stand on and I’m falling through the air before I know. The loss of balance forces my eyes away from the fog, right to the vivid red moon above. It’s like looking at the sun, it’s so bright.

My arms come to cover my eyes as I hit the ground. My neck aches from the impact, but everything else is fine. I can see the light through my hands, but it quickly dims to normal.

That was… strange. I look up but keep my eyes away from directly looking at the Void Fog. I run around the house and slam open the door to the shed, planning to wake the others up.

It seems I don’t need to bother, they must have heard the screaming. Ash and Leslie already on their feet with the others struggling to get up.

“The Void Fog appeared in town,” I say. “It’s spreading quick. We need to go now!”

Ash seems to comprehend my words, so I rush back outside to see how much time we have. I’ve only been inside the shed for a second, but as I exit once again I know the situation is bad. I can see the house in front of me, but everything behind it is missing. Lost in the black void.

Bits of the house start disappearing and I know we don’t have time. The others won’t be able to run out the door quick enough.

I run back inside and incinerate the back wall as fast as I can. Ivory squeaks in surprise, but I don’t have time to care.

“It’s too quick. Everyone out the back!” I yell and start shoving the others to the new exit I made.

Ivory is hesitant to step through the residual flames and gives me a dumbfounded look, but follows close behind.

We run away from the void, weaving through the streets, racing to keep out of the fog’s grasp.

“I grew up around here, I know a shortcut.” Ivory takes the lead, pushing forward and leading us behind a house and down the hill.

I glance back, but the darkness is all-consuming. I can’t tell how far away it is. That some of the ground behind us is still visible is the only indicator we still have any time.

I notice far too late where Ivory is leading us. Ahead of me she jumps along a few boulders half submerged in water. The inert creek spreads far to each side of me, and I halt immediately. Water splashes from a few of Ivory’s footsteps, showing not all the rocks are above the water.

The others don’t follow her, instead they stop to look back with worry at me. I twist left and right, noticing a bridge a short distance away. I wave off the others and sprint away.

“I’ll meet you on the other side. Just go.” I shout over my shoulder.

I don’t look back to make sure they follow Ivory. I have myself to worry about. The world is growing dark. I don’t know if it’s because of the Void Fog or the Ember Moon is hiding once again, but it makes it hard to see in front of me.

Flames ignite around me to give light, but it does nothing to show how close I am to the fog. The void sucks in any light that comes near it. It’s enough to outline the bridge ahead, but I can’t even see the ground below me.

I extend my flames to cover the ground, carpeting it so I can see where I step and won’t trip when I really can’t afford to.

I push to run faster than ever, throwing myself forward with every step. The bridge speeds towards me with each step. Not a few paces away do I find I’m unable to see my own flames at my side. They are still there. I can feel them, but I can’t see them.

I forget to breathe and launch myself at the bridge.

I stumble as my feet touch the wooden crossing, and I gasp as I make it. I continue to sprint over the bridge, feeling the wood beneath my feet and flames.

But something is strange.

I can’t see.

I can’t even see my own flames burning before of my eyes.

I can feel the bridge turn to soil once again and use the carpet of flames to guide my way.

No matter how far I run, my sight doesn’t return.

I’m gasping and choking as I try to keep running despite my leg’s protests. I can get enough air, but my legs just don’t want to run any longer.

I push through, fearing the fog is at my heels. I push until my legs collapse underneath me from exhaustion.

I wait to be consumed. Sobs churn up from my chest and bubble their way out my lips. I’ve done so much to keep moving. I don’t want to die now.

I want to refuse the world, but I can do nothing but wait for the inevitable end.

Wait.

And wait.

…

Why am I not dead?

I stand up. I can still feel the soil beneath my feet. Burning my hand in front of my face, I find I still can’t see.

Am I dead? Is this death? I expected the Eternal Inferno to be… hotter? Or am I stuck because I have nobody to send me off?

That would suck. A lot. Will I never get to meet my family again?

With nothing else to do, I walk.

This can’t be all there is. There has to be something here somewhere.

Only a few steps and I find myself walking on wood once again. My flames spreading over its surface tell me it’s the same bridge I ran over earlier.

That can’t be right. I ran far from it. I should be leagues away by now. But the wood smouldering under my flames doesn’t lie. I’m back at the bridge.

Wait… am I inside the Void Fog? Am I not dead?

With that thought, I turn and run away from the bridge again. Maybe if I run far enough, I’ll find the edge. I’ll escape and meet up with the others and continue our journey north.

Again, I soon tire and slow to a walk. I’m sure I ran far, but it still doesn’t end. I take my time to recover so I can continue again soon, but I keep walking while I do.

My foot lands on wood once more. The bridge is there again, new scorch marks and all.

There is no way I am running in circles. I may not be able to see with my eyes at the moment, but my flames are decent enough to feel the ground around me. I’m certain I wasn’t turning at all.

A caw rips through the surrounding air. Not unlike the call of a magpie, but more of a warped musical warble. It is loud, but sounds distant. I can’t imagine a small bird being the source of the noise.

Silence returns for only a moment before a cacophony of near identical caws whisper in my ear. They are quiet, but clear. Thousands of individual birds adding their own warble.

I flinch and spin on my feet. It sounds like they are right behind me. The unnatural ripple of subdued caws continues for minutes, tickling my ear and sending me spinning. I can’t make heads or tails of the direction. One moment it sounds like they are ahead of me, the next they are behind.

I take a step away as they sing their last. My foot lands on something hard. Stone, I realise. I didn’t feel this with my flames. It was dirt until I took the step.

I walk back, expecting to find myself on soil again, but the stone doesn’t leave. Each step lands on the flat stone tiling reminiscent to that of ursu cities.

What is going on? Is the world broken?

I keep my attention on the flames carpeting a ring around me. I don’t want to miss it the next time it happens. The stone remains the same as I walk, never changing.

I trip on a step that wasn’t there a moment ago. The slight negligence that results from my surprise is enough for my flames to transition over the new staircase in front of me.

Somehow, I failed to see the change as it happened. It’s like a lapse in attention is all that is needed for the world to change around me.

I climb the second step and notice the world, while black, isn’t the same void it was before. There is a tiny, minuscule bit of brightness, or maybe it’s more accurate to say less blackness.

Another step seems to brighten everything just that little more.

I’m walking up the stairs at a proper clip now, I can see them slowly appear in front of me with each step. The light doesn’t originate from any one point, but rather from everywhere, at every angle and every tiny spot.

I see an end to the stairs ahead now. The brightness of everything around me is almost too much after being in the Void for so long.

The last few steps brighten everything in sight, and I’m forced to cover my eyes.

Blinking rapidly to adjust to the change, I drop my hands. The scene before me is, well, it’s impossible. Or it should be.

A massive continae looms ahead of me. The spherical decorated top snapped and disconnected from the building hangs suspended seemingly by nothing but air.

I blink and rub my eyes in disbelief at the half floating building. When I look again, it’s gone, as if it was never there to begin with.

The platform I’m standing on is at the top of a tall pyramidal structure. A glance down the stairs on the other side of what I climbed shows it descends into the dark fog.

The blackness of the Void Fog surrounds everything, but also in contradiction, it lights everything I can see.

I don’t blink, instead turn to see a massive mountain has appeared behind me, from where I climbed. It towers far in the distance, magma gushes down its side and I realise half the mountain is missing.

I keep my eyes open on it this time, not willing to let this place play any more tricks on me. It stays for a while, but soon the fog creeps around the mountain, wrapping it in its black embrace.

I can’t tell if it’s there or not anymore. The Void Fog is too dark to see through.

This place is freaky. I want to leave, so I descend the stairs to where I think the closest wall of fog is. As I walk down, I watch the blanket of black mist along the ground recede to the familiar sight of sand.

A single step onto it brings a wave of nostalgia. I look back. There is no surprise that the pyramid is gone. It creeps me out how everything flashes in and out of existence around me.

I trot forward, keeping my eyes peeled for anything that might pop up in front of my face. My foot hits the sand and something flies out and bites at my foot. The teeth sting a bit but it’s nothing bad.

I struggle a bit to pull it off, but a strong enough squeeze dislodges its teeth. It’s a sand-worm, but it’s far stranger than I’ve ever seen. It’s got bigger teeth and a wider mouth, but it’s mostly the same. I’ve never seen one attack immediately like this did, and it spat itself out of the sand faster than I’ve ever seen.

A bite out of the worm makes me gasp. It’s so much sweeter than I’ve ever tasted. I swallow it almost whole, relishing the taste that is far better than I’ve ever experienced from any other sand-worm. It is bursting with energy, so much I don’t know how it fits it all in its small size. It’s nearly comparable to the energy I ate at the Cano residence.

I go to keep moving, but the moment my foot touches the ground, another worm flies at me. I don’t deny a free meal, only wishing I’m fast enough to catch them before they latch into my shin.

Three more sand-worms follow suit. The energy and taste puts me into a good mood and I skip my way through the sand, waiting for more to jump out.

I hear a rustle of sand behind me and turn, hoping to catch the worm before it nibbles on me. The worm I see makes me freeze. It’s just a little bigger than the sand-worm I expected, towering four times taller than myself.

I don’t know if it missed me or if there was something else it targeted, but the colossal-worm re-enters the sand underground with hardly a sound. I can hardly feel the movement of the sand underfoot from its movement.

Why is a colossal-worm here? There are none of the normal signs around. Where are the sunken holes in the sand? Where is the discoloured sand?

This isn’t the time to wander. I am in a damn colossal-worm’s hunting ground. I don’t have the time to do anything but run. And that’s exactly what I do. I sprint as hard as I can, spreading my flames, trying to disturb the surrounding ground to make it harder for the thing to track me.

Colossal-worms are one of the most dangerous creatures I know. Even the elders always have trouble fighting them, preferring to avoid them when possible. The outer skin of the worms is fireproof, my elders have to rely solely on their weapons to take them down, and it’s not like they are easy to cut either.

I pump my legs as I mentally compare sizes. Why is it so big? It was double the size of the ones I’d seen my tribe take out in the past.

The fog opens up ahead, and I can see my haven in front of me. Everything I can see is green, but it isn’t sand so it shouldn’t be able to follow me.

I cycle my legs, one after the other, but why does it feel like I’m getting further away? The harder I sprint, the smaller the patch of green ahead seems to shrink.

The ground opens up to my front and side. I throw myself away immediately, but the worm bursting out of the ground still throws me in the air. The worm knocks me to the side, away from the green patch I need to run to. I’m lucky I’m not swallowed in a single gulp. The interference my flames caused to its senses saved my life. If it was any closer, I’d be dead.

My back lands on something soft. It’s definitely not sand. I look around quickly to see I’m surrounded by the green I’ve been running to. How am I here? I still had a distance to run before I could have made it. There’s no way it threw me that far.

My eyes catch the colossal-worm twisting and squirming on the green, not grass but something else. The worm can’t dig itself underground without the sand. It is helpless.

Will it die here without the sand? Should I try to kill it while it can do nothing but wriggle?

I decide I should take the opportunity given and take my space from it. My eyes remain on the worm as I back up. I’m glad I don’t look away, because before my eyes the ground beneath the worm and only beneath the worm morphs into sand, letting the giant creature dig its way out.

I look around the deep green hillside I now find myself. It’s about time I find somewhere to rest.