The Mark of Aether

Inside the Fire

In the midst of the flickering blaze, I floated, cloaked with an infinite inferno of hungry flames. The blue fire slithered around my heavy ornate ankles, the golden anklets reflecting a coldish halo around me.

My eyes meandered on the far lands extending below the palisade I was standing on, the river of scarlet lava tripping against the mass of rocks I was hovering above. My outfit was replaced by a long billowing dress crafted by the starlight that crowned the obsidian sky. My hair glided, dancing in complete harmony with the soft stirring zephyrs.

Faraway clangors rung in the silent air, like a whisper to the distant ears.

My vision dipped, taking me towards those mines of spouting shadows. The soft resonating sound turned into a wealth of afflicting cacophony, the scenery in front of my eyes changing within the blink of an eye.

Beyond the hue of my fire, I saw blacksmiths crafting weapons as black as the bare sky that poised above our heads. Umbra warriors were observing as their minions composed disfigured creatures with a wrinkly skin crimpier than old, creased pieces of cloth. Horns and fangs adorned those devilish dirty faces, their batting wings powerful enough to race against the strongest whirlwinds. And, as my eyes met with what seemed to be no mortal's imagination, fear mightily birthed. Whatever those creatures were, they were designed by the darkest of minds, by death itself.

I saw oarks dipping their shadoofs in the black river, pulling out a large amount of dark smoke before shoving it into the unanimated bodies.

Rough screams of affliction erupted in the dull air, resonating like wobbling waves. Ruby-red light beamed from the monstrous eyes, implanting life in those defunct corpses, and suddenly, shadows enlaced my ankles.

I could feel the rusty hands pulling me down, trying to drown me in the deathly river, and no matter how much I tried to evade, I failed. Their deathly grip got tighter and I found myself dumb, unable to yell or even gasp.

Coldness leisurely laced my senses, and my body craved to feel the warmth of the brushing rays of the rising sun.

I was pulled deeper into the flume, everything below my knees walloped in black smoke. The pain came like an uproar from my throat in the form of a muted scream, sounds dying as soon as they evaded from my lips. Life seemed to have packed and left my lower body as each second felt like being bludgeoned by thousands of peaked shards of glass.

Deeper. I was pulled deeper, the smoky, black swells reaching my chin. Cold laced my every vein, sucking life from my body. Slack, my body was an easy target to whatever roamed underneath me. To whatever mysterious darkness leaching warmth and power from my blood. 

From the corner of my eyes, I saw a cloaked figure coming my way, the long billowing black cloak merging within the rest of the scenery, making it hard to decipher the exact shape of this silhouette. The unknown person extended his right hand, slowly reaching me.

I hastily grabbed the hand, fighting against the shrieking shadows that tried to drown me. Gold runes trailed the skin extending from my fingertips to my nape, magic tracing a swirling pattern of enchantments on my fair skin.

As soon as my hand came in contact with the stranger's, a light appeared. It was a soft, white halo that pulled me away, sending my soul flying through dimensions and spaces and times.

                           *****

I woke up in a jolt, feeling blue. Green Leaf was wrapped in my coat, the fabric hugging the area of her small abdomen. I adjusted her position, tucking the clothing underneath her chin before I stood, pulling back the strands of hair obscuring my face.