You Will Burn

Even beyond the rumble of lava pouring into molten pools, one could hear the boy’s heavy breathing echoing throughout the underground labyrinth. He was using the walls as a crutch, panting with his tongue hanging from his jaws, as he was quite unsteady on his feet. Lacerations from the cougar’s claws were scattered along his shoulder and head, but it wasn’t the pain that made him feel so groggy. It was what he had taken for the pain. Before he left the forest, he had eaten what he thought would be pain-relieving herbs. But, given his inexperience with herbal remedies other than the basics, he had ingested far more than he should have. Now he was struggling to form thoughts, and his mind was starting to play tricks on him.

Stones that lined the edges of the caves took on the shapes of small animals and plants, and his body felt heavy, as if his legs had turned into stilts beneath his weight. His stomach felt like it was in knots, bile rushing to the bottom of his throat before he forced it back down with heavy swallows. It was a very uncomfortable feeling… but the soft glow of the magma and the warmth it emitted was comforting, and he was drawn towards it like a moth to a flame.

Time ceased to exist in this state of mind. So Sephiran didn’t know how long he had been walking through the maze-like cave system. But eventually (which in reality, was only about 30 minutes of time), he entered a large cavern that must have been the heart of the labyrinth. The smell of sulfur was strong, or perhaps he was imagining that. It made him gag, given he already felt nauseated. His stomach contents, which consisted of the bones and flesh of the cougar, splattered across the floor in front of him before he slunk down against the wall to lay on his belly. He needed this feeling to go away.


"Speech"