Twisted Dreams

🟨 Burnt Ice

You step out, and the world rushes around you, flurries of snow swirling in spirals and violent gusts. All you can see is white. You run in a daze, surrounded by cold and constant noise. Your legs sink heavily, exhaustedly into the snow. There's nothing to support your weight as you fall, but your hands come up uselessly in front of you regardless. Your face hits the snow--

And you burst into a cave, as stable and upright as if you'd just taken a step. You stumble, and your mind whirls as you spin around, looking for where you came from. There's nothing behind, above, or at your sides beside sapphire walls of smooth, crystalline ice.

There's no visible light source, but the walls and ceiling glow bright enough to comfortably see by. Your boots hit the dull stone floor, and clumps of snow fall. You watch your warped reflection pass along the walls as you venture deeper into the cave.

A fat drop of water hits your cheek, and you jump back, looking up. A large hole in the ice forms as you watch, as if melted by a massive hairdryer. Its slick walls are smooth and perfectly round, dripping in a neat circle around you. Waves of heat hit your face, and you squint against the dazzling sunlight.

As quickly as it had been flooded with light, it was cast in darkness again. You blinked and let your eyes adjust to the sudden darkness, before you were able to see what blocked the hole. Your breath caught as your eye was caught by another. This one was gargantuan, golden, and slit-pupiled. It bore into yours, before the cave was once more illuminated with blinding brightness, but only for half a moment.

A massive snout filled with sharp, jagged teeth thrust itself down the melted hole. It snapped and thrashed, opening the gap and steadily closing the distance between it and you. Its bright, fiery red hue is jarring, and you finally manage to break into a run.

You're thankful for the stone floors, instead of yet more ice, as your boots sturdily push you forward. Dashing around a corner, you glide your gloved hand along a wall to steady you, and you hear a deafening roar. It thunders in waves, crashing against your ear drums, shaking your eyes, rattling your ribcage, numbing your toes, and chattering your teeth. The walls creak but do not yet break.

Following the monstrous roar is the heat. It licks at your heels and burns the back of your neck. You dare not look behind you, but tendrils of smoke and flame dart at the edges of your vision. You press harder, straining to go faster, coughing on the smoke.

Your eyes burst open with a gasp as you awaken tied to a stake, unable to move. You thrash and wriggle, looking around desperately. As you enter a coughing fit, flames climb up the stake and singe your toes. The night sky grows darker with the smoke, and your eyes water and burn, but you are able to make out dozens of hooded figures surrounding you. They are tall, silent, and still, watching you burn.