Splinkis Din…That was his name. And the only thing he remembered. Splinkis woke up in a crater, with debris all around him. Attempting to pull himself off the ground, his arm suddenly screamed in pain, and he instinctively knew that it was broken. Wincing, he held it close to his chest as he sat up and started looking around.

An empty black sky spread across the sky above him.

A smoking crater spread out around him, deep enough that the ground came over his head, and smoke was curling upwards slowly, creating an odd cameo of translucent white on the blackened earth.

The air felt wrong somehow, like it was pressing in on him. It was almost hard to breathe.

Trying to speak, a stinging pain erupted from his throat, and he immediately abandoned that idea.

Suddenly a Presence locked onto his position, as if it had been looking for him.

How had he known that?

More importantly, why did the thing that was watching him not feel friendly?

Where was he?

A dark laugh rang out from the dark sky, the black earth, and the air itself.

Looking around in fear, Splinkis couldn't see anyone who could be laughing.

In fact, jumping to see outside of the crater, the only information he found before he landed again was that there was no life. It was all just this dead, black earth, and that unending oppressive void that took the place of a sky.

Then he felt the Presence stir.

And then, there was a man standing over him, outside of the crater. He wore a sleek black set of clothes, and they moved with the breath of nonexistent wind. HIs hair was the same shade as the never-ending black that made up the sky. His pale skin was a welcome contrast to the dead world in which Splinkis found himself in. But even though Splinkis was glad he wasn't alone, he got a bad feeling from this being. The man had worn a condescending smile, bordering on villainous the entire time that Splinkis had observed him.

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Wait

Where are his eyes?

For some reason, the being had no eyes.

No, that assumption also doesn't feel right.

For some reason, knowing that he couldn't look this being in the eyes scared him all the more.

Then the Presence started to speak, It's terrible voice ringing out in deep, rich tones.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen. My old friend, what happened to you?"

The voice rang through every part of the world, becoming part of it, weaving itself into his ears. It was so loud. Splinkis found that he had no strength to speak.

"Reduced to the form of a child, how very..... Fortunate."

As the last word fell out of the being's mouth, Splinkis could feel his mind falling apart. It was too powerful. His vision started to turn black.

As his head started spinning and he fell onto his back, tasting death on his lips, he heard one last thing that the stranger said, as his hearing started fading in and out, its discordant tones rang in his ears and though the ground around him.

"A last count-r--asure? How A-n-ying. Well, time is nau--t to -n im---tal. Lets pl-y a gam-, lit-le child. I wil- Hunt you, and you w-ll try to make this as fun as p--si-le for me. Go enjoy your new life, my Fal-en frie-d."

His vision fading to black, one thought cemented in his mind.

I never want to see that thing ever again.

Then,

He died.