Just having awoken, I decided to stay lying on the ground. I stared up at the dusk sky. The sky itself was closer to dark than light- a blue influenced by yellow fading to black with the diminishing sunlight. Orange and yellow hues blended into the cloud’s color. The sky almost looked like it was set ablaze- the clouds just being fiery smoke. I’d hoped the fire would spread from the sky to the ground I was laying. I didn’t want to have to face the truth. I wanted my last sight to be that beautiful, fiery sky. I didn’t want to turn my gaze to see all my family dead around me. I didn’t want to, but I knew I had to.

  I would love to lie here and get punished for my sins when the rest of Ardent came back, but that was the exact reason I had no time for self pity. If I didn’t leave before the rest of my family came the end result would be the same. Whatever this power inside of me is, it’s unstoppable. It’s sick and twisted and has no right to be apart of me, but it’s lack of morality does not hinder its strength. I firsthand saw the top speed of myself while witnessing Chato’s death. With that speed I fear not even Revell would be able to handle it alone. Everyone else would just be easy victims of bloodlust, not even a hinderance.

  As I stood up my body felt sore. I could now feel the bruises from Chato’s attacks on my body. Many muscles in various locations also felt sore from strain. My body had been forced into overdrive, moving much faster than any speed I’d ever previously reached. I moved my body towards the infirmary. On my way I saw all the bodies of the dead villagers. All the faces of those who worked so hard to help raise me and keep our village running steadily. Blood covered those who I was brought up to keep unscathed. They did their part for Ardent, but I had surely disgraced the name.

  I passed through the rectangular entrance of the adobe shelter. Upon entering was one, large room with four beds inside. I made my way to the bed I was lying on prior to my onslaught. On there I saw my clothing and accessories and equipped them. Now ready to leave the village I departed the infirmary. Upon leaving I headed toward my brother and grandmother to say my final goodbyes.

  “Angelo,” I whispered. I kneeled down, held my hands slightly away from my chest, looked down, and closed my eyes. My cheeks were stained with tears. The crying had stopped, but the pain in my heart still lingered. “I apologize for everything. All my harsh thoughts and looking down upon you for being giftless. I never vocalized these thoughts, but I’m sure sometimes I may have faltered and you may have felt them. I never meant to hurt you. Even without a gift, you are my brother and I loved you. Because you were without power, I wanted to personally make it my duty for your protection. I... I have failed not only as a warrior, but as your brother. And for that, my apologies lie deeper with you than anyone else. I don’t expect forgiveness as I am unworthy, but I at least need you to hear it: I’m sorry.”

  I turned towards Emilia and Chato in the same position and whispered, “Emilia. Chato. I have failed as well as your grandson. You were truly kind, Emilia. And although you were stern Chato, you have paved the way of success for Melissa and I since the loss of our parents to Ignas. Thank you for raising me, I’m sorry to be such a disappointment. You raised me well and I somehow allowed myself to turn my back on your teachings.”

  I stood up and walked toward the last remaining victim I needed closure with. About 100 meters south, I kneeled between Kara’s body to my left and her severed head to my right. I just stared at the decapitated head. Her eyes were closed and skin was pale and slack. Her head was resting sideways in a pool of blood- her right side soaked in it. Again, tears began to fall. Even amidst all this pain and regret and helplessness I felt a sliver of relief. I was relieved the tears Kara deserved came flowing. There was nothing else I could offer her in death aside from these tears and my words.

  I began to speak in a shaken, cracked voice, “Kara... Melissa had told me to take care of you. She told me what you told her. I’m sorry, I was never able to love you. I wanted to gain power and protect the tribe before even exploring the world of emotions. This is not the way I wanted to discover what it meant to care for someone. Truly, I’m sorry. I’ve failed everyone. May you Rest In Peace.” I hit the ground as I spoke. By the end of my speech my knuckles were covered in blood and the earth under me had been a shallow hole.

  I looked back at the rest of the deceased, closed my eyes and bowed my head, “May you all Rest In Peace. I apologize to all of you. I promise, I will make this right. I will leave the village and lock myself inside Ignas. Never again, will I be able to hurt another soul. I will atone for my sins I have made today.”

  I wished to give the fallen of Ardent a proper burial, but I needed Revell and the others to see what had happened to them. I couldn’t leave a note telling where I was going in fear that Revell and Melissa would follow. I couldn’t have any more innocent lives taken by my hands. I needed a place of isolation.

  On my way to Ignas there were no other tribes. Ardent stood closest to Ignas, and only rotting wildlife surrounded the tower. All bushes and trees held no sorts of greenery or leaves; just dark, hollow wood. The dirt all around was solid, uneven and cracked.

  I stood in front of the tower of Ignas. It was made of the same material as the Watcher’s residency. Some sort of white steel that illuminated the night. I looked up and the tower stood erect as high as the eye could see. No windows, no other openings, no source of any other shape differential past the entrance I stood in front of- just a giant, white cylinder. I looked ahead towards the entrance. It was a towering walkway about ten times the width of me and three times the height. I couldn’t see anything but black inside. It looked as though there was no light coming from inside. I heard no sound in that direction either.

  My heart raced as I stood there. I was afraid. I was going to enter the same place that took my parents away from me. I hated this place. A place of taboo. A place of legend. This was the unknown. We believed walking in here was the same as walking to our deaths- and for all we knew, it could’ve been. No matter what it was though, I knew I had to come here. No matter what happens, this is the only place I’ll never be able to return to Ardent from.

  I stepped into the darkness. As soon as my body was enveloped by the black, the darkness around me rippled like I was floating under water staring at a pebble being skipped across a pond. Instinctively, I held my breath thinking I was actually under water. More and more ripples appeared around me and suddenly there was no more darkness. I fell to the ground and gasped for air.

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  Where am I?

  I looked around and I was in a circular room. There were statues all around and lit torches in between every statue. They stood about three times as tall as me and three times my width. Every statue was carved the same- a stone man in standard heavy armor standing atop of a square platform holding something. The something was the only thing that differed between statue- a sword, a shield, a bow. Each weapon varied by statue. I walked up to the one holding a sword and saw something inscribed on the platform he stood.

  “He who wishes the path of justice; step with pride into this newfound world and condemn those unworthy.” I’d never really felt like I fought for justice. It was all more so to protect my tribe.

  Next I stepped to the statue with a shield and read, “He who wishes the path to protect; step with resolve into this newfound world and shield those who cannot escape their oppressor.” Maybe? Although I don’t think I’m a very qualified guardian at the moment. I might turn into the oppressor unintentionally.

  Next, a bow, “He who wishes to keep their distance; step with caution into this newfound world and your path will unfold with a practice of patience.” This sounded like the best bet so far, but even though I would like to keep my distance how would I know if this thing inside of me would?

  Next, a scythe, “He who wishes the path of death; step without mercy into this newfound world and cut down any who stand before you.” Would someone really intentionally choose this? I looked at my gauntlet trying to avoid eye contact with the red eye. I bet he would.

  I read through all the statues and in the end chose a statue holding a polearm. It read, “He who wishes the path of solitude; step with stealth into this newfound world and you will succeed if never seen.” I was sold by the thought of solitude. I needed confinement, away from the world. But what is this newfound world nonsense anyway?

  I wasn’t sure exactly what to do after reading through all my options, all I knew was that I needed to walk this path above any else. I wanted to be alone so that I would be unable to hurt another. “Let’s see... step with stealth.” I said to myself aloud. I tried stepping in front of the statue as lightly as I could to no prevail. I’m glad no one could see me, I bet I looked ridiculous. I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of it.

  Afterwards I tried hitting the statue’s platform, tracing the words with my finger, inspecting the entire statue for any clue or anomalies- all with no luck. I started to feel a bit exhausted so I decided to get some rest and give up for the night. I hadn’t seen or heard anything since I’d entered this room, so I decided it was safe to stay here and wasn’t in any need to rush.

  As soon as I closed my eyes I saw the faces of those I had murdered. I opened them right away and screamed “Ahhhh!” I looked down and put my hands on my face, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me, please. I’m so sorry.” My body was shaking and my mind was in turmoil. My eyes were now open but I still could only think of the dead.

  My thoughts were broken then by the sound of a somewhat familiar voice. It spoke in whispers from all around me, “He who chose the path of Solitude, he could never find solitude. Anywhere he goes there is no quiet. There is only death.” The voice was familiar but I had never heard it. It’s whispers were very high and sharp with a fading echo to it. I believed it to be female. At the same she whispered I would simultaneously hear her laugh. The laugh sounded chaotic and made me feel at great unease. “You seek redemption.” she spoke, “I will give you redemption, cursed child.”

  “Cursed child!?” I shouted. It was then that I remembered the familiarity of the voice. I heard a similar voice during the manifestation of my gift. “Are you a Greater Spirit!? Please! What has happened to me?” The floor rippled below me just as the entrance did when I entered this room. My feet began to sink through and my body struggled. I tried to move but the parts of my body already consumed by the ripples would not. I flailed my hands in desperation, not knowing what was happening.

  My entire body was consumed by the earth and I fell through ripples for what felt endless. I never knew if it was going to end and the falling never got slower or easier. I felt scared the entire time until finally I hit the ground. My feet collapsed from the impact and I fell towards my face, catching myself with my knees and arms. My pants ripped at the knee without a guard on it and my flesh tore open. I began to bleed slightly, but nothing serious. The pain was insignificant.

  I got up and turned around to see another stone statue within my vicinity. This statue was holding a handheld guillotine and read, “He who wishes the path of atonement; step without regret into this newfound world and allow your sins to repay you.” I turned back around to see only one path for me to take. Torches filled the sides of the earthen tunnel and I marched forward in their light. The floor of the tunnel had constant trails of rotted bones swept to the sides near the walls of the tunnel.

  The tunnel curved often; not allowing me to see any hope of an end. I had traveled at least 900 meters before anything changed within my senses. I suddenly heard rattling from the floor behind me. I quickly spun around in a defensive stance and raised my gauntlet, materializing my cutlass. Nothing was in my immediate sights so I lowered them slightly to see the rotted bones on both sides of the tunnel coming together slowly to form a full human skeleton. Before it could fully form I swung at it and watched all the pieces fall only for it to begin reconstructing itself. I then began to hear the rattling from all around me, echoing all throughout the tunnel.

  One by one skeletons began to rise from their remains. I would slice them down as soon as they rose, but their numbers were too plenty. Beginning to become overwhelm with no end in sight, I decided to keep moving forward- striking down any enemy in my immediate path. Each enemy only took one strike and weren’t much of a threat as long as I was moving, but there were so many that it prolonged my journey by at least triple the time. Eventually I began to feel exhausted. My movements began to become slower. The skeletons were unarmed, but could take advantage of my lack of speed and began getting bites on me before I could destroy them.

  One bit my leg and I fell to the ground. I kicked it’s head off but three more jumped atop of me holding my arms down. I broke free of there grasp and smashed them together but immediately after there were four all making their teeth to my skin. In a quick burst of energy conjured by adrenaline I sprung up, sliced the enemies behind me and sprinted forward. I saw less and less skeletons materializing in the direction ahead. I ran as fast as I could until I ran into a shut door.

   I tried to open it, but it was locked. I banged on it and yelled, “Help! If anyone’s there, help!” I kept turning around to strike any skeletons that were following me. I turned back around and struck the door with my cutlass, but didn’t damage it at all. The door was too sturdy to damage. I held my back against the wall as the majority of skeletons now managed to catch up in a huge wave. Just before they could reach me I heard the door behind me open and felt myself fall backwards. As I fell into safety I quickly saw the door slam shut in front of me- a few arms and bodies of skeletons attempting to enter crushed and torn apart by the impact.