Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 4-

The monster gazed up at the black ceiling of the world. The sky's doors were closed, no light to illuminate the realm, only a looming abyss up above.  Gathering its belongings and cramping them into a shoulder bag, the monster ventured onwards.  

It climbed up the narrow spire of rocks, clinging onto the cliff-edge that hung over the watery depths below. The monster stood at the highest location in the world, close enough to touch the very ceiling. There, it waited, eyes fixated on the precise point where the monster had seen the portal open before. This time, it told itself, this time it would succeed in breaching the sky; that was the only way to escape the Prison of the Eternal Abyss. It was the only way in, and the only way out.

Over an extended long period, it had devised an escape plan.  The construction now complete, all the monster needed to do now was to wait for the sky to open. As the rock spire was not directly underneath the sky opening, the monster had assembled a narrow bridge, made out of planks of wood, to reach it. The bridge was supported by diagonal support beams that were latched onto the rock beneath it.

This support would inevitably crumble down just like everything in this prison. The monster remembered when this tower of rocks was a mountain, now there was only enough room for two people to stand. Black tides crashed up against it,  consuming the tower and retreating away with the spoils. The narrow spire was weakening and becoming thinner with each wave. Without support, the bridge would soon collapse, thus the monster calculated that it would have to escape through the next two openings, otherwise, another portal would have to be found.

Peering over the edge, the monster watched another cluster of rocks fall from the tower and surrender to the sea.  A torrent of wind and air billowed against the spire. Reaching for the rope harness clipped onto its belt, the monster attached it to the hook that dug into the summit, keeping the itself grounded. The wind forced the monster back towards the edge of the tower, to the long drop into the sea. It grasped at the earth with its talons, ripping at the grass, revealing the soil beneath it, but the gust was relentless, pushing the monster almost off the edge.

The plank bridge clattered, and the ropes and metal pulleys rattled, tugging at the bridge. The earth crumbled beneath its feet, and the monster fell. It was saved by the rope harness that pulled on its belt. Despite the stress from the weight and force, it kept the monster from falling into the water. Dangling from the swinging rope, the monster bumped into the rock, then eventually it calmed into stillness.

Above, the wind whistled, but safety was found by hiding behind the rock tower. It was too dangerous to continue waiting, the monster finally admitted as it unfastened the harness, and clambered down the spire, using its talons to cling and claw to the rock.

The journey back to the house was long and forlorn. Despite the persistence of the forces of nature, the monster fought against the wind and prevailed in returning to the house, finding comfort in seeing the front door.

Darkness conceded, and there was light.

Turning around, hands covering its eyes, the ray of light blinded the monster.

The sky had opened, a beam of radiance and warmth shone down through an opening above the bridge.

The monster ran. This time, the wind was on its side, pushing the monster forwards, almost elevating it, propelling its steps into leaps and glides. Reaching the spire, it unclipped its grappling hook from its belt, and swung it up, grasping onto the summit. Almost halfway to climbing to the top, the wind swung the monster to the side, and the hook broke through the earth it clung to, collapsing down. Holding onto the grappling hook, the monster climbed up the spire with its claws, finally reaching the summit and attaching the harness back onto its belt.

Light still shone through the opening. 

This was it. Finally, it had made it.

The monster hurtled across the narrow plank bridge, causing it to wobble and strain from the rope and fastenings. As the wind continued to bleak and shriek, the monster was forced to crouch down low and hold onto the bridge. It steadied itself, then swung the grappling hook into the portal in the sky. Due to the blinding light, it could not see what was inside the opening, but by tugging on the rope of the grappling hook, the monster knew that it was latched onto something solid.

Nothing was holding it back now. The monster unfastened the harness. It climbed upwards to the light, to the warmth, to freedom.

The light weakened. It waned, it shrivelled, it dimmed. The monster was closer and closer to freedom, but time was running out. Then the light blazed into an even brighter shine, blinding the monster, causing it to slide down the rope. It shut its eyes, focusing all of its energy on climbing then reached out its hand and touched the light. It opened its eyes again, and this time saw something else: a woman with golden hair.

Out of the light, out of the sky, the woman fell. She knocked the monster off the rope and plunged into the murky ocean below. The monster grabbed at the end of the rope, regaining control.

Light conceded, and there was darkness.

The opening in the sky shut, and the line snapped, sending the monster hurtling downwards. Its arms flailed outwards to the spire, its claws sliced through the rock and slowed down the fall until it found a cliff edge to stand on and clung to it, heaving and panting, coughing and choking. Hissing upon seeing the blood seeping through the black fur on one of its arms and legs, the monster was unable to control one of its hands from its quivering and loss of blood and watched it soon fall limp. The monster had to rely on its good arm and leg to hold onto the edge of the rock. Spitting into its palm, the monster smothered the saliva onto its wounds, but they were too deep for the saliva to fully heal them instantly. 

Carefully pivoting around to face the other way, to the sea, the monster looked up at the sky.

Darkness.

It was just darkness.

It had failed, once again.

The bridge was now broken, the pieces falling into the ocean. The storm had calmed into stillness, the only thing that could be heard was the ocean waves, and now the sound of screaming.

Turning its attention to the water, the monster tried to find the source of the screams and cries for help. It was the woman with the golden hair, she was drowning. The monster grinned, displaying its fangs. The woman had thwarted it from escaping, stopped it from gaining freedom.

Let her die.

The monster's smile then faded as an alternative formed in its mind.

No.

Perhaps instead...