The Memoirs of Elikai: The Children of the Solstice

Chapter II: The Broken

The pounding of my fists echoed through the darkness. I watched as my blood smeared on the invisible barrier that kept me from the Door of Light. I could not face this nightmare again. I screamed at the barrier as the door began to be consumed by the icy darkness. I felt the horrors that waited behind me, and I knelt before the light. I pleaded with it, I begged it, but it could not hear my pleas, or it chose to ignore them. It knew, as I did, that this was where I belonged, destined to an eternity of misery in the unimaginably icy remains of this fortress.

"Please, don't leave me here!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. My breath made white puffs of warm air that sank to the cold stone ground of the small, claustrophobic room. The Door of Light gave a shudder as its light was consumed by the suffocating darkness, and with a wink, it left me alone in ice cold desolation. The darkness crept upon me, curling around me like wisps of cold black smoke. I huddled around myself in order to try and stay warm, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. I rubbed my palms together as the fire ignited in my hands to give a small flame, a pinpoint of warmth. I was trapped, alone in my own personal nightmare.

I let my fire warm me enough until I was able to turn around and face a small opening in the stone wall. I knew where this small room would lead me. My bare feet dragged along the stone floor, the immense weight of dread slowing my movements in response to the nightmare below. I had to duck my head as I left the small room, my hair brushing against the ceiling. I moved a few yards into the next room, seeing nothing but pitch darkness around me and the small flame in my palm.

I approached the descending grand stone staircase, the smell of blood engulfing my senses as hushed whimpers from below broke the silence. They were the whispers of the damned, those who had been left in the frigid desolation to suffer. The fire was the only light in the darkness as it washed over me. I knew that even the fire in my veins would eventually burn out, so with a terrified breath, I continued to the edge.

I slowly descended the steps, and felt the warmth of fresh blood under my bare feet. I could feel the cracks in the stone steps of this ancient grand staircase. My light wasn't bright enough to penetrate down the steps, the steps that I had walked down every night in this relentless nightmare. I carefully crept down to prevent slipping into the mangled bodies waiting for me at the bottom.

I could feel my warden calling out to me in the darkness as he waited in his throne room. Danny... I felt the whispering voices fall silent in response to his icy words. Come to me...

The cold stabbed at my exposed chest, and I continued to descend. The fire in my hand grew dimmer, as if it were beginning to be suffocated by the sorrow, guilt, hatred, and misery that echoed in the darkness below. The smell of rotting meat assaulted my senses as I crept closer to the bottom.

When I reached the final step, an expansive hallway stretched before me with giant spiraling pillars supporting the high stone ceiling. I raised my hands as the fire illuminated the darkness around me, and I saw them, the innumerable souls, suffering and forgotten. They writhed on each other, their bodies mutilated and bloody as their agony echoed off the stone walls, and their purpose was clear. His words echoed in my mind, They must suffer for you to continue...

The horror and the repulsion made me close my eyes, and I took a deep breath. The only way to continue was to burn them to ashes. I raised the ball of fire in front of me, and commanded it to reduce their mutilated bodies to ash.

Their screams and torment weakened me as I fell back onto the stone steps behind me. The inferno engulfed the cavern of these tortured souls, but it provided no warmth to me. I felt the cold overcome me while my fire raged. I watched for hours as their bodies melted, disintegrating until nothing remained except for the rancid smell. The last scream continued to echo in my mind. I could barely move; my were fingers were stiff, and my body was violently shaking.