The cold awoke the boy, a frigid cold that had seeped deep into his bones. His lower body was completely numb, being submerged in murky water whilst his torso lay upon a jagged rock that jutted out of the waters surface. The brazen rock that stood proudly out of the water was only large enough for the boy to sit upon it's rugged surface, however as soon as the boy realised his situation he frantically pulled himself up out of the freezing water and onto the rocks uneven surface. His silken training garb was entirely drenched through, the soaked fabric unpleasantly clung tightly to the youths skinny frame. With trembling hands the frozen boy removed the clothes to wring them out. The cold had permeated throughout the entirety of his being causing such simple actions to prove infinitely challenging. Once the garments were relatively dry he donned them again, the little protection they offered against the icy atmosphere he was eternally grateful for.
Violently shivering whilst perched atop of his solitary island, the boy evaluated his situation. Once having closely observed what was in his nearest vicinity, the boy found himself to be in a underground lake. Tranquil moonlight shone down onto the still waters surface and gently alighted upon the boys face. Looking heavenwards the youth could tell that this light was being filtered down through a tunnel high above him. The boy wasn't directly under the tunnel, in fact he was far from the center, appearing to be on the very outskirts of the wide opening in the ceiling of the cavern, which made sense seeing as he was on the outskirts of the plateau when it collapsed. The end of the tunnel looked to be a circular opening into the night sky that framed the solemn moon whom passively stared downwards. As the tunnel descended towards him it slowly opened outwards eventually leading into this vast cavern, the opening into this hidden lake was at least 5 kilometres in diameter. The door that linked the outside world to this secluded environment appeared as large as a fist from the youths current location even though it was the entirety of the plateau that had a diameter of a kilometre, which had just caved in.
The rough walls of the hole leading to the surface were covered in what appeared to be a fluorescent type of lichen that gave off a dim light. Various places on the roof of the cavern, away from the tunnel, were illuminated by this lichen appearing to be vibrant stars in the infinite void of space. The combination of this lichens light and the lunar rays enabled the youth to make out that he was currently sitting atop a rock that was completely isolated in a giant body of water. Various other rocks could distantly be seen protruding out of the lakes surface, visible only because of the luminous lichen that grew upon them.
Under the boys eagle like gaze a strange sight came to the attention of the dishevelled youth perched upon his miniature island. The caverns boundaries couldn't be established as a malicious darkness had claimed the outer edges where even the lunar light couldn't cast it's rays. However there was another place that same moonlight couldn't penetrate. Directly under the centre of the hole in the roof, nearly 2 kilometres away from the boys solitary island, the lunar light that should of illuminated the area appeared to distort and warp into non-existence. This created a spherical dome of darkness that crowned the centre of the area underneath the hole. The width of the base of the dome appeared to be at least a kilometre in diameter, it was by in no means a small area that was affected by this phenomenon.
After some silent deliberation, the boy decided that his situation was terribly dire anyway, further action was better than doing nothing and waiting for deaths silent embrace to steal away with his soul. That arcane area may hold some clues as to what this lake that hid underneath a mountains true purpose was. Without further ado the youth plunged into the murky waters not allowing himself any second thoughts.
When life was static and normal, which seemed like an age ago but in reality was only yesterday, their was a beautiful hot spring only a few kilometres away from the colonised plateau. In the winter nights when their was a sharp bite in the air the youth would enjoy nothing more than to sink into this hot spring, lazily swimming about letting the intense heat purify and relax his body. The water wasn't deep however there was always a bottom that the boy could stand atop when he was overwhelmed. This minor difference and the trauma the boy had just suffered had an immense effect upon his swimming ability. Cold water lapped over the boys face further fanning the flames of panic that were growing inside the youths chest. The youth didn't want to think about how deep this lake was, because once he started pondering about such things he knew his imagination would start placing treacherous thoughts in his consciousness. Thoughts of beasts dwelling below the boys thrashing body, scaly beasts with a hunger for flesh and ravenous, insatiable appetites.
Thrashing forwards in the water, the boy ploughed onwards towards his destination. The youth had it fixated in his mind that his survival entirely depended on him reaching that arcane area, because of such a strong mentality even when his body was fatigued and terrified he continued forwards, pushing himself to swim faster and harder. The dark hounds of his nightmares plagued his mind every metre of the arduous journey.
After hours of terrifying swimming the boy found himself in front of the dome of darkness that seemed to voraciously suck in light. He was floating 20 metres away from the edge of the dome, inspecting it with a degree of suspicion and caution. The youth had never encountered such a strange form of magic, however the boy was no fool he knew that approaching such a unorthodox looking barrier rashly without knowing it's effects was simply asking for danger.
Upon the boys silken training garments a silver dragon pin adorned the collar. This pin was given to every single direct descendant of the main family line, it's only purpose was to segregate the side family's members, highlighting their inferiority compared to the main branch. Such a vile item the boy could only feel contempt for, but the clans regulations required him to don it, of course the clans rules and stipulations could no longer chain the free youth. When their spirits burned bright and they walked in this mortal plane many of his late friends had been members of the side clan, so the youth had no hesitation in his actions as he ripped the detestable item from his garb and threw it roughly towards that unnerving barrier. The pin soared through the air cutting an arc as it sailed forwards, the pin passed through the barrier without a problem. A resonating sound could be heard from the other side of the barrier, it was the sound of metal striking against stone.
Taking a deep, steadying breath the boy ungraciously swam the last few metres of water separating him from this mysterious barrier. As the boy neared the barrier he suddenly exhaled a ragged gasp as the temperature sharply dropped, considering the already icy atmosphere this sharp decrease sparked off the boys vigorous shivering again. Earlier whilst he was swimming rapidly the exercise had warmed his muscles keeping the frozen cold from invading his body, however the cold soon harshly attacked the boy again. The boy observed that the clandestine barrier was sucking in certain forms of energy, such as heat and light, he himself actually feeling his body heat being sucked into this infallible barrier. This didn't stop the boy however, he only spurred himself onwards to get out of the frigidly cold zone he currently occupied. Upon arriving at the barrier the temperature was it's coldest, by all means the water should've frozen over long ago. Throwing himself headfirst the boy crashed through the arcane barrier that was so out of place in this hostile environment.
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A bright light blinded the boy, completely hindering the youths vision. The next thing the boy noticed was the warmth, then the feeling of grass under his shivering body, finally the soft caress of a breeze that danced through the youths soggy hair which dangled upon his brow. Completely bewildered the boys confusion only increased as his vision was restored to him. Surrounding him was a beautiful grass plain that spread as far as the eye could see. Amongst the plain were strange stone tablets that were scattered haphazardly around the curious scenery, the silver dragon pin lay close to one of these enigmatic tablets. Without thinking the youth bent down and scooped the pin up placing it back onto his wet collar.
A lonely dry wind floated throughout this vast expanse of land, flowing through the tablets towards him, telling the boy this was real. Turing around in puzzlement he saw a barrier behind him, but this barrier was different. It was iridescent in nature giving off a light so bright it hurt the boys eyes to even look at it. This barrier stretched as far as he could see to his left and right, looking upwards he could see the barrier reach upwards giving off that same pure light. Upon closer inspection the boy realised that what he thought was the sky was in actual fact this barrier, stretched far above him, the light given off by the ceiling of the dome reached the boy and he could feel it's tender warmth. The fatigue, both mental and physical, from swimming across the lake were washed away instantly by this gentle light that warmed his very soul.
The boys knees started trembling as he realised what he had stumbled upon. He had a basic knowledge about magic. He knew that to create a formidable defence barrier one had to be at a great level of potency. A barrier that manipulated dimensions once entered could only be woven by an ascended being, a being who's power had become so great that this dimensional plane had ejected them to another level of existence. Beings who had achieved ascension on this plane could be counted upon the fingers of a single hand, and because of this they were legendary figures that had statuses superior to gods incarnate. So of course the humble boys knees trembled when he realised that this barrier must of been created by an ascended being.
The terrified boy was queasy with fright. However exiting the barrier didn't even enter his mind, the desolate cavern awaiting his return was far more deadly than this strange place, he would definitely perish in the cavern however in here survival was a possibility that drew the boy forwards. A strange sensation in the youths chest, exactly where energy is cultivated, told the boy to rush forwards towards a area that would roughly be in the center of this great barrier. With nothing else to go on the boy followed this curious feeling and started walking further into the vast expanse of plain that sprawled before him.
The boy had travelled a massive distance. Within the first hour his soaking clothes had dried in the warm environment and the boy was relatively comfortable. At first the boy had went out of his way to look at the tablets, certain they must contain cryptic clues as to who made this place. They towered over the young boy, scripted with strange engravings that bore no relevance to the child, so the youth had quickly lost interest in them, the tablets quickly becoming part of the strange environment. After 5 hours of walking the boy still hadn't seen a living creature and this epic scenery still spanned immeasurably into the distance so he decided to take a rest underneath one of these strange tablets, his back propped against the tablets rugged surface. Before he knew it the boy had slipt into a deep slumber that even the apocalypse wouldn't of woken him from. Upon awakening the boy had gotten up and carried on, walking for another 7 hours. Fatigue had set in long ago, however that strange feeling in his chest had become stronger and was still tugging the boy onwards not allowing him rest of any kind.
A distant structure appeared on the horizon, a Goliath of a building that was beginning to take shape. The building was a massive structure, slender stone columns supported a smooth stone dome, suspending the masonry in space. Grandiose arches adorned the spaces between the columns, the dome itself had those strange engravings upon its top, that spoke of an unfathomable power. As the boy grew nearer the great structure it became clearer to see that in these incise archways were double doors that were of such a size they could accommodate dragons. The entire building screamed of the power that the being who made this had.
As the the boy arrived at the base of this artwork, he could see a gargantuan set of stairs that led to the doors in the arch nearest to him. The child sprinted up these stairs, the sensation in his chest had been amplified and it felt like he was being shocked by tiny sparks of electricity constantly. Upon arriving at a platform between the doors and the stairs the boy rested for a moment, catching his escaping breath. Ominously the grand doors swung open like mist encroaching towards a harbour, revealing a black shroud within that concealed the contents of the structure. With some hesitation the boy entered this rancid void.
Just as silently as they had opened the doors closed, engulfing the boy into darkness. Panic quickly took root in the boy as he stumbled around looking for light of any kind. As the youth blindly stumbled about he hit something hard and warm, sending him sprawling onto the cold floor. Light illuminated the area as a great orb appeared in the air above the boy. The orb was in fact slightly ovular in shape, red in colour with a black dot marking the centre. A terrifying comprehension dawned upon the youth as that black dot moved and focused on the boy and a gravelly voice thundered "who dare disturbs my sleep?"