Running Away

by Auriel

He awoke face down on the cave floor, his eyes creaked open like iron doors and he tried to make sense of his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was walking into the mist that he thought might lead to an escape from the dark and terrible cavern. Although he now stood near a cave entrance, he recognized none of his surroundings. It was as if the cave had swallowed him and spit him back out, he thought. He staggered curiously to the edge of the opening and a pale light blinded his tired eyes and he reached out his hand for relief. His eyes grew tame to the pale glow and as he looked on his hand it appeared as pale and white as a harsh winter snow. He felt no change, only in appearance was he altered as he stepped into that glow. He felt relieved but not at ease as he walked into this new realm. It had a strange aura about it. The sky appeared almost completely white with only the shadows of clouds appearing in the sky. And the ground was a dull black with the grass being like the fur of a zebra. He wondered what hope there could be for him here, for as he did not feel confined or trapped anymore by the cave, he did not feel any less lost. As he wandered in this field open and seemingly endless. He saw a tall hill in the distance. He figured such a high place would prove a helpful lookout to gain a lay of the far reaching land around him. Anxiously he ran to look out over the vast country, and as he ran the thing that he had successfully forgotten clasped his cheek with its icy grip.
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The mask.
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 It was not terribly uncomfortable, but was cold to the touch . What was this thing that seemed to cling to him like a virus? He ran until the questions in his head stopped him breathless, in a patch on the field. He dropped to his knees and held back tears. His chest tightened as he lay hopeless in this strange place. Deep regret filled his heart as he recalled picking up this parasite for the first time. How his eyes were captured by its beauty, and how ignorant he was to the torture he would soon endure. He wished he had never stepped foot into the horrible place, and swore he would never return, although he did not like the look of this new environment much better.

However, ignorance does not leave a clouded mind so easily, for as he made his vow, violent clouds began to blow just above him. For the first time since he had set foot into the pale land, he could feel its air. He looked out toward the hill and saw storm clouds approaching, and felt the hairs of his arm stand on edge. He knew he had to find shelter fast, but he had run so far from the only relief he could think of. He had no choice but to turn back. Before he could run, a white flash cast over the land and a silver bolt of lightning crashed onto the hill before him. A pulse of air sent him falling onto his back before he could scramble to his feet and make for the cave. As swiftly as he could he raced across the pale country, with bolts seeming to chase him back into hiding. By the time he was within 10 meters of the cave entrance, the pale glow of the land had turned dark with an orange light hitting the clouds from below. The lightning had made quick work of the once untouched landscape as embers and smoke rose into the sky. The last he ever saw of the hill at Luc-iin was it being taken by flame and smoke, and with a turn he cast himself back into the net of the cavern he had vowed never to enter again.