Death was lonelier than Mareus imagined, there were no gates or grand hall, no procession of ancestors to welcome him. Only pure darkness surrounded him on all sides without any signs of another soul. It didn’t make sense this place should have been filled, if not with those dying everyday the disaster he just went through would have taken others.

A flicker of hope ignited in him. Maybe they did survive then, maybe with any mercy from the heavens he was the only one. They may be broken and beaten but if they survived then they could rebuild. His home would be okay.

Mareus let out a small sigh that triggered a sharp pain in side.

He thought, just because I’m dead doesn’t mean my injuries would go away.

It would make sense that the living would get things wrong about death, and he slowly began to realize just how painful being dead was. Details of the afterlife came to him one after the next: stagnant air, his own heaviness, laying on a cool surface. His back was pressed against a hard damp surface, one that rang with the haunting melody of water rhythmically dripping on it.

Something strained his body as he failed to sit up, it wrapped around him and tightened along his back and waist. He pushed through pain and exhaustion before falling back to the ground. The thud echoed with his cries as his muscles and bones screamed at him in pain.

Instinctively, he jerked and twisted away from whatever was causing the pain. Each movement sending a new shock through his nerves forcing him to violently convulse. His wail bounced around the invisible surroundings joining the water’s sorrowful melody that continued long after his voice went hoarse.

His mind returned as the pain started to fade to a dull ache, letting him cautiously explore his body. Mareus was wrapped head to toe in bandages, while his robes were so tattered he didn’t know if they could still be called clothes. There was a faint bitter smell coming from the bandages and his hair had the lingering scent of smoke.

Mareus tugged at the bandages on his side. “Who did this?” he mumbled.

He could feel the strain in his throat making the voice that came out sound like someone else’s. It sounded like it belonged to a much older person who smoked heavily their entire life.

While rubbing his neck he could make out some sort of pattern on his bandages. The dark had to be playing tricks on his eyes because the markings looked alive and shifted between shapes. Even the little color he could make out went from black to red to gold before settling back down.

He gave up trying to make out more in the dark and rested while staring at the ceiling. There had to be one beyond all of the black or he’d be able to see the stars or the Heaven’s Scar lighting up the night sky. Mareus closed his eyes and let his mind wander, open or closed it didn’t matter.

Who helped me? Where are they? Where am I? What happened to-?

“Gramps!”

No response.

“Big Bro! Sis!”

Nothing.

“Elder…”

Someone needed to respond, to tell him what happened, tell him everyone was okay. He would settle for someone yelling at him to be quiet. The silence left him alone with hundreds of questions, the wraps starting to squeeze at his chest.

I’m stuck here. I’m gonna die. Did they do this just to watch me suffer?

Mareus’ hands shook as he frantically felt for his eyes, maybe he imagined the things he saw before. His breathing slowed down when he realized they were still there and felt fine except for some swelling.

He forced his breath back into the normal pattern his grandmother taught him to help with his chores. Accepting that he was still alive he organized his thoughts: Where was this? Who brought him here? Are there any survivors?

There had to be a way to find the answers he was looking for, determined of that Mareus fought against his own body to get up. The bandages made it harder because whatever way he went they would shrink on the other side like they were trying to pull him back down.

“I recommend you rest more.”

Mareus froze in place, forgetting the pain and his restraints actively tugging at him. The voice’s presence hung on the air weighing it down with the same kind of crushing pressure he felt before.

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Is it them?

He had to run away, if he couldn’t even withstand their pressure then his only hope was to get as far away as possible. The thought of the demonic warrior or his opponent watching him from the dark drained whatever strength he was able to gather.

Mareus went limp and he felt his body sink into the hard ground beneath him like it was trying to find anyway to get to safety. He was truly weak, weak and alone. This was a new kind of helplessness.

Injured, with limited vision, and deafened from the sound of his heart thrumming in his ears. His body wasn’t listening anymore despite the dozens of instinctive warnings it was throwing at him. He tingled with anticipation for what came next, for them to come in and finish what was started in the village.

He waited. And waited. Time crawled on for what felt like hours but no one ever appeared.

What are they waiting for? He started to plan. There will be a sign when they get close. Anything will do, a light, their steps, even a smell. I’ll wait for the perfect chance and run.

He silently shifted his weight, painstakingly slowly he got onto his side and prepared himself. If only he could get to a wall without them noticing he would have the advantage he was looking for.

Against the protest of his muscles he stacked joint by joint until he was up sitting upright on his knees.

Now for the hard part.

His legs were numb and he had to use his hands to carefully move them into position. They still wouldn’t listen when he tried to put strength in them, so instead he pressed against the back of his knee with one hand pushed his weight up with the other. A shock shot up his leg as soon as he put his weight on it and it took all of his focus not to react.

It was an unending cycle of manually moving one leg after the other as quietly as he could. Mareus sucked in his breath when his shoulder brushed against something, when he was confident his observer didn’t notice he tested the surface.

Mareus gripped the nearest hold he could find and lifted himself up while clumsily walking his lower half closer to the wall. He grabbed his knees and braced his back against the wall before sliding down and sitting. Some of his tension left him now that he wasn’t completely in the open.

He didn’t know when he fell asleep, but when he woke up Mareus decided he couldn’t wait around getting comfortable doing nothing. He gradually worked his way back up the wall and using his half-climb half-walk he followed it only stopping when he needed to rest or couldn’t immediately find another hold.

Over the next day or so he guessed, Mareus mapped out the space in his head. It was somewhat circular with a few dips in the wall here and there, and if his legs were working like he wanted them to then he could have made several laps in the same time it took to finish one.

One path got his hopes up when it was longer than the others just to be another dead end. He wasn’t hoping for much since he couldn’t hear or feel a breeze but it still took him awhile before he started making his way back down the other side of the wall.

It took him tripping over the same hole twice to realize he went in a circle and he decided to make it his base. It wasn’t much more than a cutout barely big enough for him while curled up in a ball, although, it was an easy landmark in the dark and he would be covered from everywhere except directly in front of the wall. Maybe it was his imagination but he could swear it was warmer than other places in the cave too.

Mareus pressed his forehead against the cold black stone as he laid motionless against the cave wall. He did his best to shrink down and blend himself completely into the hole. The dirt and blood stained bandages forming a makeshift camouflage even if it wasn’t necessary in the darkness.

Now that he was no longer moving the natural sounds of the cave exploded in the silence. From the chittering of hundreds of insects stalking each other for their next meal, to the echoes of stones shifting under their own weight. Mareus cupped his ears to block it but he could still hear the blood flowing through them sounding like a distant thunderstorm.

The sounds weren’t the only thing coming from the darkness. He could now make out the smell of wet stone and other more subtle scents he couldn’t place. The worst ones were the smoke clinging to his hair and robes and the metallic odor of his blood mixing together into a nauseating stench.

A giant monster surrounded by fire and laughing at the sky like a mad man flashed through his mind. A single glowing red eye and burning hair stood out from his blackened skin.

Mareus rubbed at the dark spots on his own skin. He was getting hotter around the spots and it started spreading to the rest of his body, his mouth was dry and his skin felt itchy where he started sweating. He clawed at the ash stains, ripping apart the burnt edges of his clothes.

A clatter echoed through the entire cave behind him, something wooden had gently hit the stone floor and moved back and forth as it settled. The loud clap transformed into softening applause with each weakening clack.

It was over as soon as it begun, the sudden boom deafened all the other sounds. Except his own breathing that was shallow and muffled through his nose.

“Eat Child. I’d rather the effort I spent saving you not be repaid by you wasting away in a corner.” The ethereal voice was barely a whisper, but it filled the space like it was part of it, replacing the silence instead of moving through it. “I suppose it’s your choice in the end.”

He froze with his back to the opening of the cutout. “Is…is it poisoned.” Mareus’ question faded into an inaudible mumble.

Their voice came from everywhere at the same time. “What would I gain from poisoning you?” the darkness replied.

What do you gain from saving me? He thought.

Mareus stared at his back wall, unsure if they were trying to get him to lower his guard or if they really wanted to help him. He rolled over and shrunk against the stone as much as he could, watching for any signs in the dark.

He strained himself for as long as he could, fighting the curiosity to look for whatever they left on the ground. Maybe it’s not poisoned? He caught himself wandering when his stomach growled. Mareus decided he couldn’t trust them yet and laid in silence suppressing his fatigue until it finally dragged him back into unconsciousness.