To Walk

The Nightmares

HIS POV

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RECAP

          About an hour or more of walking later, as I crested a slight rise in the ground, I saw the crumbling build, quartz pillars shooting into the sky at odd angles, the roof even collapsed in some places. A town, blackened by fire and reclaimed by nature, sprawled around it. I still had yet to figure out how that had gotten there. Had I done it? It bore my signature mark, fire, and yet I had no memory of ever burning this place. I made my way, uphill, through the town to get to the massive structure, still finding it odd to find so little creatures in the area.

          Upon entering the construction, I felt my legs give out. I grunted in surprise as my face met stone. Hard. I tried to rise, but I could no longer feel my limbs, and my eyes were closing against my will. I knew I had enough energy to make it to my resting chamber, why was this happening!? I fought against the crushing weight of unconsciousness, but I was slowly losing.

          Darkness descended.

          And the nightmares began.

HIS POV

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         Dark...so dark...

          It's suffocating me.

          Make it stop...

         The thick blackness swirled about me and took shape, becoming solid, wooden walls around me.

          Bloodstained walls.

          Burning, bloodstained walls.

          The sickening smell of blood and choking smoke filled the rather small room.

          Why was I so repulsed by it?

          The darkness thinned and I felt something in my hands. I looked down.

          A pickax, stained with red.

          I looked around, peering through the smoke, apprehension filling me. Why was I so fearful?

          The smoke cleared a bit and I saw it.

          A body.

          It was so still, and the...the face...it was blurred.

          He appeared to have died in an agonized struggle. His blood was spread all around the room, against walls, chairs, the floor...

          ...my pick.

             Horrifying fear and guilt suddenly crushed me, left me breathless. I usually did not feel these things when I killed humans. Tears ran, unbidden, down my face.

          Why was this death any different?

          I dropped the pick and grasped my head, screaming, "WHERE AM I!!? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!!??"

          I shot awake.

          I merely lay there for a second, struggling to recuperate from my nightmare.

          It had not been the first time that dreaded dream had visited me.

          I drove a fist into the floor and lifted myself up, standing on shaking legs. I was still weakened from destroying that town, and that nightmare did not help me gain any more of my used strength. I could have borrowed power from the barrier, but I refused to. It had to remain strong. I do not know why it had to, but it just did. No matter how drained I was, I had to keep the barrier strong and intact.

          Even if I did not know why.

          Dragging my feet, I made my way to a more secure resting place. I had no way of knowing how much time had gone by, but I didn't care. I needed my energy back.

          I passed huge, towering pillars and enormous, elaborate halls, hardly paying them any mind. Giant, rotting wooden doors partially covered massive rooms and even a whole library. All of them were empty. No mob, not even a single bat, dared live here.

          I often thought it was my presence that frightened them away, but that was merely a hopeful theory. I truly had no idea what kept them away from this abandoned place.

          I was almost to my resting place, deep within the massive build. Part of this fortress had been built into the face of a mountain. And, deep within the mountain, was my chamber. Defensible and hard to find, it was the perfect place to let my guard down and regain my energy.

          I passed one last room before entering the smaller halls that would lead to the previous servants' quarters.

          That one room always gave me chills whenever I passed by it. Strange noises and whispers of a foreign power slipped into my mind, as usual, and a pressure filled the air around the chamber. I paid them no heed. I still hated the whispers, especially now when I didn't have much strength, but I had learned to ignore it.  I had inspected that room myself and had found nothing noteworthy about it besides the enormous ravine within.

          The floor in the strange room looked as if it had been torn open and then swiftly closed back up. The finely-cut stone bricks that had once made up the floor were gone or covered in moss. The majority of the floor was now dirt and old, fallen stone, and sunlight filtered into the gaping holes in the ceiling, a change from the gloomy halls of the rest of the place.

          I entered the smaller halls, passing many servant's quarters, old guard rooms, weapons and supply rooms, and even the previous king's own bedroom. Soon, I found myself in my hidden resting-place. There was nothing significant about it, nothing that would draw the attention of an outsider. Usually, people hunting me would look for a grand place, a throned room with dark carvings on the walls and bloodstained weapons of torture about the floor. Granted, there was a throne room in this place, but I would never be so foolish as to rest there. It was too open, too many cracks and it was structurally unstable.

          I made my way to the center of my room. It was a mere eleven by eleven blocks and only seven blocks high, but it suited my needs. The room was bare and dark, with the exception of destroyed furniture and fallen stone from the ceiling. I know not who used to rest here, and neither did I care. Not a single torch lit the room with its cheery yellow glow. I did not need the light. However, my opponents usually did.

          I stopped in the middle of the room and faced the large, three-block-high iron doors I had entered through. I felt myself begin to drift and I succumbed to the pull, allowing myself to fall into unconsciousness. My head drooped, but my eyes, though they dimmed, did not close.

          I gave one last sigh before falling asleep.

          Hopefully, that nightmare would not return.

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SO!!!
Yyyeeahahhh
We get a little more insite to HIS living space huh. Not very cheery!!
And we get some little hints at his past, and even more questions! Who was that body in the nightmare? Was it really a nightmare, or a flashback? Hint: in the chapter, "Flashbacks" notice that it is plural....
....which insinuates...?
Ok ok ok I'm done spoiling. Next chapter will be about Ava!!!
Vote and comment if you haven't already!! Thank you so much for reading! :D