He picked up speed and his body felt more than just ready to move. Something felt amiss. His movements felt too smooth.

‘It feels like ills I never knew I even had have disappeared altogether!’ his mind raced as he ran.

‘I cannot possibly still be alive.’ He shook his head at his own foolish thoughts and darted forward. Against expectation, after running for 10 minutes he didn’t feel much fatigue at all.

‘What if I am at the bottom of the lake… or below it? But that wouldn’t explain why my body is like this, why I can see in the dark even if it is only ever so little, and why there is no water around me!’

Many thoughts crossed his mind, but he ignored most and made his way towards the source of the noise. It had gotten significantly louder and turned into an imposing roar. If he had spoken a word, he wouldn’t have been able to hear it in the noise.

‘A… waterfall?’ he guessed as he carefully moved forwards. He couldn’t see anything beyond a few meters in the distance. The thundering noise came closer and closer until he could see water two meters from him.

‘So I was right… maybe. I will follow the water… maybe I will get somewhere.’ He mumbled and followed it to the right. The water was moving incredibly fast and in some places, it was already overflowing.

‘The water is freezing in some points… and it seems like the water is rising…’ he could clearly think of the river he jumped into. The water had been freezing cold and it eventually led into a large lake… with that weird blue glow at the bottom.

He ran fast along the water as it continued overflowing. He expected the water to be cold as it froze in some places, yet as he accidentally stepped into a puddle it felt cold, but another odd sensation came along with it. It didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, despite it being incredibly cold.

It was a weird sensation.

‘I feel… at home.’ He marveled as his foot was submerged in the cold water. It felt pleasant. Unnaturally so. His body rejoiced.

‘This doesn’t feel natural at all… how could that be? It should be freezing cold. What is this magic?’

The icy, biting water that flowed near him would have previously left him frostbitten at just a touch. The sheer coldness had turned his entire body blue, slowing his heart to a murmur, and then to a halt before.

Now, he need not to even brace himself for its glacial touch.

He shook his head and continued running as he saw the water overflowing in many more places now.

‘I can’t waste time thinking about this… if I was actually alive and this is what I think it is I need to look for a way out!’ he forced himself to shut out any other thoughts and followed the water until he reached a giant wall. He couldn’t see how far it went up as darkness blocked his vision.

‘Fuck.’ He cursed and followed the wall away from the water.

He ran for about a minute when to his left he saw a small platform. It looked manmade.

It was a stepping stone that led up to a completely and perfectly flat stone plateau. It was cut inside of the wall it seemed.

Faust rejoiced and inspected it. Then he froze.

‘Stairs?’ he looked at a few steps before him, pointing in the direction of the noise from before.

They lead upwards.

‘Where do they lead? Who would build something like that?’ then he remembered he had no idea where he was, that he was probably dead, and that he was grasping at straws.

His head hurt. There were just too many things. The initial calm after he regained consciousness had disappeared completely. He stood in place, massaged his temples, and considered his options.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

After another minute he shook his head and started ascending the stairs.

‘No matter what, going up the stairs is the best course of action I can think of.’ His thoughts had come to a standstill.

He hurried up the stairs and they seemed to have no end. They led higher and higher and the rumbling from the water became louder again.

‘I must be getting closer to the … waterfall?’ he thought as three meters away from the wall he could see a massive wall of water falling downwards. The steps before him were wet and slippery as water had frozen on them.

He stared at the gigantic waterfall. He couldn’t even see an end to the water masses.

‘That waterfall must be huge! It could really be that river…’ he thought and carefully treaded on the ice only to notice that he wasn’t slipping at all. The ice felt like normal ground to walk on.

‘The fuck?’ he wondered and made his way past the waterfall. It was several meters thick.

’Twenty meters wide if my estimate is right… what if I’m really alive?’ his mind spun and pictures appeared in his head as he continued running up the stairs.

‘Will I see Leona again?’ he felt a pulling sensation in his chest as he ran up the stairs for what felt like ages.

He chuckled when he thought of Leona repeatedly.

‘Ice isn’t slippery anymore, but you throw me off balance…’ he thought, by now no longer calm.

His recent findings had allowed him to let a bit of hope into his heart. If he really was still alive that would change everything.

He took 2 steps at once now, hurrying up the stairs until eventually he came to an end of the staircase carved into the wall. A naked stone wall blocked his advance.

‘FUCK!’ he cursed in his mind and started touching the wall frantically. He didn’t want his hope to be crushed. Yet after a fruitless search, he slumped down on the ground with a sigh.

‘I don’t know what I should even think.’ His confusion got the better of him.

‘There's just too many things… am I alive? I certainly feel like it. But is it even possible? No. Well, why then does it all make sense? Why is there a fucking wall at the end of the staircase?’ he cursed as sweat started pouring down his face. Sprinting up the stairs had been exhausting.

‘I ran up all the way, now I'll get this wall to move!’ he decided and started to press against the wall. But it was futile. Nothing moved at all. He grew more and more agitated. Several minutes passed before he finally had enough.

“BE A FUCKING DOOR AND OPEN YOU CURSED STONE WALL!” he screamed angrily and kicked the wall.

Just when he finished his curses, he felt the wall give in.

‘You got to be kidding…’ Faust groaned and looked up. A door had appeared in the wall and let itself be pushed open.

‘What the fuck?’ he stood there, rooted in place with big, round eyes.

‘Did this door just appear when I asked it to open?’ he blinked a few times, but the door was still there. Fear gripped him.

‘I must really be dead, there's no way this is real.’ He shook his head and slowly pushed the door open. When he did, he immediately felt a breeze of fresh forest air in his face and when he smelled it his mind was like it had been set ablaze.

“I’m alive.” He mumbled unbelievingly when he stepped out through the door, leaving the cave.

He stood on a small hill before a stone wall, like frozen in place.

He took in a deep breath, and it smelled of wet earth and trees. He threw his head back, looking at the moon in the sky, and let his hands hang down his sides before starting to laugh without holding back.

He was so relieved and happy that a few tears trickled down his face.

‘No matter what caused this wonder… I will not waste this second chance.’

He looked around and with the help of the clear night sky figured out the direction he would have to walk to find the main road. He could see enough in the darkness to travel.

‘I can see better at night…’ he mumbled as he made his way down the hill and back towards civilization.

‘Leona… I’m coming.’ He thought and hurried through the woods.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in Caurium

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE IS GONE?” Lucon shouted at the poor Aquila. It was around noon in the fort.

Aquila stood before him and looked much smaller than usual. He gulped and replied.

“Sir! She must have left at night, we thought she was still sleeping today and only ten minutes ago did I check up on her!” he explained and felt awful. What if something happened to her? Aquila already knew where she would have run off to and he didn’t like it one bit.

Lucon’s mind raced. ‘Fuck. Where could she have run o… oh shit!’ realization hit him, and his eyes opened wide. He turned to look at Aquila.

“Faust?” the older man asked with a husky voice.

“Faust.” Aquila nodded and sighed.

“FUCK!” Lucon cursed and stormed out of the tent.

‘I can only hope she hasn’t reached the forest yet and that we can catch up to her before she enters it…’ he ran towards the stables where he found 3 of his scouts.

When he appeared they immediately stood up and saluted him.

“Sir!” their leader greeted him.

“Damian! Lady Leona has run away to the West. You are to immediately pursue her and bring her back under all circumstances. If you cannot find her by the release point 4 return and report to me. Understood?” Lucon explained.

The experienced scout immediately replied: “Yes sir!” and hurried to his horse. The other 2 followed him. At full speed, they galloped out of the gate and down the road to pursue Leona.

Lucon just stood there and rubbed his head.

‘Girl, I could never forgive myself if I let you kill yourself like that… I could never forgive myself.’