Young Writers Society

        Light. A vibrant glow not unlike those that spotlight above well kept fields, shining during the time at which crowds gather to watch and partake in the stressful amusement that overrides things of less importance. However, there was also a great difference. This was a single, yet surrounding mass of blinding, white light. It seemed to be dimming down, yet with every tone of light that vanished, seemed to be substituted with a feeling. Hot, sharp, seething....It seems so familiar, growing in familiarity with every second, pain. My head is bursting. Mere seconds before it reached the boiling point, the pain starts to subside with the light, which was now on the verge of existence. In fact, it would seem the only permanent light is from far above, and can barely reach me in this place.

         This Place........where am I?.......the only answer that I receive is either inaudible, or silence, which I greatly hope is the latter. Company in a place such as this would be gruesome. I observe the walls around me, if they are walls. They could very well be just pitch black spaces of air that make up the surrounding abyss. My eyes are adjusting quickly however, and my senses increasingly sharpening.

            I seem to be in a cave of some sort, though if it is, its got to be the largest iv'e ever seen. Nothing solid is visible, except the ground around me, which I can barely make out. The pain stops at an aching point, and with a groan, I stretch my back, and come to the conclusion that its been a while since ive done so. I also conclude i must have fallen, I can feel the softened bruises of flesh all over me. A vibration cuts my thoughts short. A shuffling sound far to my right. I first tell myself its my imagination, but the me deeper inside says otherwise.

                   I look around me, and immediately i'm struck with a sense of overwhelming fear. A dark aurora surrounds me, filling my mind with a screaming whisper that takes by force my instinctual actions, whispering into my being one word. Run. I fly from the spot i was apparently lying down, and run toward a direction seemingly holding the most possible wall, or even better, exit. Everything blurs around me, even though there is not much that is not already blurred by darkness. Footsteps follow quickly behind, harmonizing with my own quick paced steps. The ground is apparently very solid, i note as i run. Nearly completely flat, with small piles of debris here and there- my thoughts are interrupted by the noise of steps quickening behind me, increasingly sounding less and less human.

              The startling effect of this awareness fuels me further, i sprint through the darkness, running faster than i would think possible, feeling the fatigue even as i start. I cant keep on like this.... I think to myself. A gargling noise from behind motivates me to keep on pace. I throw my arm forward, to keep momentum and gather anything i could use to outrun, and as i do my fingernail brushes ever slightly against something hard, cold, and apparently extremely durable and stable, as the instant agony of impact flashes through me, a split second later I am on the ground, the force of gravity evenly distributed among'st my body. I can feel my heart thudding inside my head, pulsating through my arms and legs, the current ending sharply at my finger tips, and then flowing back where the river can recourse. 

             I would have lied there and let my heart beat itself to shreds, had it not been for a low growl, barely detectable, as if instinct had overwhelmed the need to remain undetected, only for a split second. Adrenaline already coursing through the blood pounding my ears, i was up in an instant, my eyes darting hopelessly in the darkness. I can sense movement, closing in, stopping....then nearing even further, much like a cat, stalking the unaware prey.

          Not knowing what to do, i press against the wall that had knocked into me the force i had hit it with. Am i going to die here? My thoughts question me. I feel myself freezing up in fear and utter horror. No where else to go, no other possibilities to sift through, no other options. At that moment, i felt an object at my side. So closely and tightly placed at my hip that it felt like clothing. A small object, upon grasp a handle and holster could be identified....I pause. The air around me starts to pick up, impossibly, because there is no entrance for a draft. My stalker pauses also, and the motion drawing ever nearer ceases. 

          Whispers collect in my ears, an echo surrounding, seemingly close, yet very far..........."draw".........."unsheathe".......The voices establish a firmness as i grip the handle, and I pull out, cautiously, the object I already knew to be a blade. As i draw, a startled voice cries out in the dark, coming from a direction I was unready to defend from. Deep, heavy, stomps emitted with with an impossibly short lapse of time in between as i turn. Whatever has been toying with me is coming in for the kill.

               I grip what I hold in my hand, and it suddenly feels heavier, fills my hand. I remember this blade. It is valuable. It is a source of strength. And right now, my only chance for survival. My arm feels heavy and light at the same time. I swing, driving myself as I have many times, curving into the side of the thing that is not even attempting to conceal itself anymore. A howl of rage, a spark, and I know I have hit my target. The now blood-red blade glows, and i see, if only for an instant in the orange glare, a being of nightmares. The build of a big cat, scaled in a seemingly impenetrable coat of obsidian jet black armor, jaws lined with rows of hundreds of teeth, not unlike those of sharks and piranha.

             In that instant, our eyes met. Glowing, glaring, burning with a deep blood-red hatred. A look that alone could stop the heart of a grown man. 

          And then.......darkness.