The Candlebearers

Presently I came to an antechamber, the continuous sound of dripping water slightly calming my tensed nerves. To either side of me was a curiously angular channel in which small fish floated aimlessly. Countless generations of their kind had lived and died in that abyssal filth, unaware of their proximity to the surface.

Both streams emptied into the following room, its ancient halls having been partly consumed by a large pit. I approached the edge, seeing no way to safely get around it. Luckily the slope was only about 60 degrees and had natural footholds that would allow me to climb back up should I need to.

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As I packed my equipment for the trip, I decided on a whim to start up conversation with my brother. "You wanna come with me? I'll even pack for you."

"No, I'm good. I'd rather sleep indoors tonight."

"But you used to always go with me! What happened?"

"I don't know. I guess it just doesn't feel like it used to."

"We can build a big fire like the old times, roast some marshmallows."

"It has been far too long since we've done something like that. I suppose I have some time to kill. Sure, why not?"

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"Nate! Where are you? Nate!" I called into the darkness. The water was freezing and went up to my neck, but at least I was safe from the candlebearers there. Those wretched creatures hate the water more than anything else. Even puddles are enough to stop them in their tracks. What they do is they stare at you with their blank, swollen eyes, whispering obscene incantations to their patron deity.

Several of them watched me from the far bank, implying my presence only through the sounds of rippling waves. I had half a mind to scream 'What did you do with my brother?' but decided against it. Whatever intelligence remains within their decaying forms has been so thoroughly hidden that they act more like shambling wads of flesh than any human or even any creature known to science. Trying to speak to one would be like asking an amoeba the meaning of existence.

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Somewhere in the depths of the pit, I found a veritable oasis. Scavengers of all descriptions found themselves drawn to the depths in order to feast on a curious orange substance. It reeked of death, which partly explains the density of life in that desolate corner of the system. Mostly there were snakes and burrowing animals, which the snakes ate as well.

For whatever reason a part of me was tempted to partake in the cycle of decay occurring before my eyes. It overtook my rational senses and gained a hold over me that was impossible to break. But just as I reached to scoop up some to drink, a snake lunged at me. Being halfway blind, it missed and careened into a puddle of the orange ooze. I watched in horror as the creature was dissolved into a bubbling black mass. Then, a guttural moan forced me to slink away from view.

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I coughed, pulling myself up from the ground. Aside from a few scratches I was completely fine. That cave-in came from nowhere! Moments before, I was admiring the natural structures all around me. An array of pillars reminded me of ancient palaces dedicated to forgotten gods. Nate usually loved those sorts of esoteric things. But something felt off to him, to the point that he agitated to notify me. "We shouldn't be here. Let's get out of this place." He began to pull at my wrist before the mouth of the cave closed, sweeping us apart and away into the darkness.

Coming from another room were the faraway calls of my brother begging for me or anyone else to help him. I could do nothing but listen helplessly as his cries became softer and more distant. On the spot I promised to get to him, rescue him from this hell, and escape into civilization together, no matter what. "Don't worry! I'm coming!" In the end I never came.

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Despite my efforts to hide from the creature, it could detect the scent of the outside world still lingering on my tattered clothes. More than that it followed the stench of sentience to quell the rising tide of thoughts and drown me in the boundless pool of oblivion. The thing was horrid and absolutely revolting. Several dozen candles of various size and shape were fused to its exposed spine and ribcage. All were alight with sickly blue flames.

Its movements resembled that of an octopus in the manner that each limb moved with a mind of its own. Additional candles on the back of the arms and legs guided their movements as puppeteers do their little marionettes. What higher or lower power pulled the strings?

With a terrible utterance the candlebearer charged at me. The noise it made while coming at me was like that of rattling chains, produced by dislocated foot bones struggling to free themselves of that living corpse. And the smell! Never before had I been subjected to such an odor. It went beyond death to the state of nonexistence. Entropy follows it and its ilk around at all times, unable to tear the undying yet always fading spark of life from them.

Despite their depraved nature, they were beautiful in a way. They represented the unyielding light of existence to banish the inevitable darkness, the desire to delay it at all costs. Living for untold eons without the looming threat of mortality must have slowly destroyed their minds and bodies until they became wights. The one that was currently attempting to extinguish my flame met an end as it grappled me, sending us both rolling into a shallow underground lake. As the flames were doused the spell was broken and it became limp.

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It was a fluke that we found the cave. We stumbled upon it after making a single wrong turn which brought us further and further from the established trail. Nate expressed his concerns but I urged that we press on and emphasized the adventure of being in true wilderness. "You always do this," he said, "And you wonder why we never do anything together anymore." That stuck with me, shutting me up for a long while as we trekked through the rain.

"It's getting dark, we should find some place to get out of the rain. I'm sure there's an outcropping we can camp under." And as chance would have it, we found the entrance to this most ancient temple.

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At last I pulled myself up onto the far bank. Before me stood a grand shrine to the First Dreamer, who gave birth to the multiverse to stay the end of creation. Her will molds reality into new forms, all brimming with life. Flora and fauna created by her mutagenic ichor took on multiplicitous forms unconstrained by the limits of our universe. Sublime creatures, all nurtured and cared for by the candlebearers.

I saw now that they were not just abominations but haunted caretakers of this veritable Garden of Eden. Restrained as she was, she still found the strength to reach out to me and touch my soul. The interaction ended an instant after it started. At once I was shoved back into the darkness.

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I awoke with a start. My bedroom was in disarray. Strange creatures lurked in neglected corners. All about me formless wisps traveled in impossible patterns with horrific screeching sounds. Beings such as these, I knew in my heart of hearts, were always around for those who cared to look. Now my brother numbers among them, watching me from beyond.