Darkness, My Enemy.

• Posted by Batman February 25, 2012 - 1,049 views

  Thump! Whoosh! Thump! Whoosh!

  My breath pounded a rhythmic pulse in my chest. Twilight had come and gone. The Moon had long since risen high into the ink black sheet that was the sky, conducting the stars in their twinkling symphony to Nocturne herself. It now laid lazily on the edge of the world its duty done, waiting for the Sun to once again claim the day. I took this all in as I had done every night since I can remember my breaths calming under the pull of familiarity.

  I was safe, for the moment. My mad dash through the wilderness was at crossroads for now impatiently waiting for me to choose a direction so it could continue. I had run through the night with no thought for destination just escape. With the light of dawn coasting its way down the mountains and over the trees I finally decide to give into my need for rest, to stop and think. 

  I literally stumbled into my ‘safe haven’. One moment the dense forest floor carpeted in the leaves of the tress was beneath my feet the next air. If I had been more alert and less out of my mind, I might have been able to save myself the fall, at most I was able to prevent myself landing on anything fatally damaging as dirt tumbled in after me and the wickedly sharp roots of the trees cut mercilessly at my arms and clothing.

  Thump!

  Pain arched through my chest and radiated out into my limbs as gravity reconnected me with the loamy soil forcing any air in my body out in a sharp burst that had my mouth snapping shut.

  So easy it would be, to lie here amongst the leaves and gloom. I wonder if I lay still enough, long enough, would the earth come to accept me as part of its self and continue to bury me in its soil, covering me with its hoard of decomposing forest matter. I grimace at the morbid thoughts dancing around my skull, gah! What is wrong with me? One brush with death from a common foe and suddenly I’m longing for the eternal sleep. Pitiful. Gritting my teeth against the aches that still rack my frame with shudders; I manage to get my arms under me and shortly my feet. Blinking against the spots in my vision I glance up at where I fell in and curse softly under my breath though there is no one here but me to hear the words. The distance is too long; I’ll never get out that way. Turning my sights back to my current surroundings I begin to notice the oddities in the surface of the walls. It has been carved out by nothing natural of this world. Still it is my only hope of leaving this place.

  I have been following the tunnel for what seems like forever. It is black as pitch and the very air seems to hold an oppressive substance that has every one of my instincts wailing at me, Danger! Danger!  I have always felt at home in the dark, it holds no fears for me that I cannot conquer. But this is different; it breathes a menace that even one such as I who has seen the darkest side of life dares to disturb it only with the utmost caution. 

  The metal wall - or what I assume to be one - I have been using as a guide in an otherwise expanse of nothing was moist covered mostly in soft spongy moss, slime in what was not. The deprivation on my senses is more my foe then any living thing could be. No sight, no sound, even the air seemed to hold no flavour, the fingers on the wall had long since gone numb with the constant touch but I dare not remove them.

  ‘HISSSSSSSSSssssssssssst’

  The sound comes without warning from behind me, startling a cry of alarm out of me which I quickly cut off, drop to the floor and roll away from where I was cursing as I lose my precious connection to the wall, swinging my head around wildly I try to locate the source of the sound. Out of the gloom come twin blue lights like phantom eyes, I stare in fascination and then dawning horror as more and more lights appear in the darkness. By the collective light my raptor like eyesight can final see my surroundings and suddenly I wish I was back in the darkness. I know where I am, I know what they are and I know I am likely going to die.

  Throughout my travels I had heard tale of the Dwemer and their underground cities of automations; I had scoffed them off as fairy tales. Yes I had seen the metal some adventurers had brought from the ruins - which I recognised now - but the stories some of the men told sounded exaggerated, who would believe in men and animals made of metal?

  The metal spiders are still stationary, alerted to my presence but not my location, yet. The ominous clicking of their pincers and legs on the ground is unnerving my sensitive hearing after so long without anything. Quelling the nauseousness I take a step back and cringe as a loose stone grinds between my boot and the hard stone floor. The tunnel is suddenly deathly silent and I’m bathed in the eerie blue light of their eyes. Without conscious thought I find myself hurtling down the passage, the spiders right behind me lighting the way. The floor is slick and I have to concentrate on not losing my footing, it is a losing battle I have already fallen once; my arms now coated in the liquid, its scent burning my nose reminding me of the pungent oil the merchants use on their torches in the cities.

  There! Up ahead there is pure light, I never thought I’d be so happy to see it. But a quick glance over my shoulder confirms my fears that I won’t make it, the spiders are gaining ground the clicking of their limbs like a constant discordant tempo in my ears. A plan born of pure desperation and the will to live begins to form in my mind; I would never try it if I thought I had any other option. Quickly I shove my hand into my side bag and begin pulling out scrolls, like my books I had amassed quite a collection of them over the years unlike my books however they were small, light and quite easy to fit into the packs so there was no hesitation of not bringing them along. Now I thanked Nocturne for my hoarding ways as I began pulling them out reading their names as quickly as the jostling motion of my sprinting would allow shoving them back when they proved useless, my motions became jerky the closer the light came. Finally I found the one I needed, shouted its name and flung the scroll as far back into the tunnel as I could before putting all my remaining strength into escaping. For a moment there was nothing but the spiders clattering on the ground, then, the distinctive sound of crackling electricity reached my ears and hot on its heels both figuratively and literally the deadly whoosh of flames as the oil on the floor caught and fed the hunger of this raging beast.

  I reached the end of the tunnel, caught the corner and propelled myself around to the side, my feet groundless for a few terrifying seconds before they found purchase once more, I turned my face away just time as the mechanical spiders spewed out of the tunnel some alight like miniature comets but all tumbling to the ground below, the flames right behind them billowed out several feet from the cliff edge like a belch from a giant dragon before guttering away.  My heart racing I gulp in as much of the air as I could, before light-headedly I slip to the ground. The giddy feeling of defying death again courses through me even as the harsh light of day makes my eyes ache.

  It is some time before I can get to my feet, my muscles quiver but hold me up as I take in where I am now. Mountainous ranges lay in front of me as far as I can see, all are capped with snow and just beyond that I can just make out the glimmer of the sea. I am somewhere in the north, the Dwemer ruins supposedly ran throughout the entire range and I do not know how long I was within that tunnel, but the pangs of hunger now present in my chest overriding my other aches let me know it was more than a couple of days. I run my tongue over dry lips as I continue to scope the area now looking below me, I can clearly see more of Dwemer ruins above the surface now but even more important, bandits. They scurry about the place like rats, no doubt rattled by the explosive destruction of the automatons.

  I suddenly know where I’ll find my food, grinning to myself I start picking my way down the mountain.

  Part Three: Darkness, My Protector