It was not a living presence and yet it was what they lived with.
It was not a seeing eye and yet it was what they saw.
It was not a fearsome foe and yet it was what they feared.
A thought from an unknown origin flashed in Duncan's mind as his consciousness was dragged into a world beyond his understanding.
It was DreadCurse.
When Duncan regained his senses, the world around him was enveloped by a gray mist. The gray mist was thick enough to not only obscure one's sight but also one's sense of direction. For some strange reason the gray mist kept a considerable distance from his body.
That was when it dawned Duncan that he could see, he could see by using his own eyes. He raised his skinny hands in front of his face and stared at them in wonder. As Duncan studied his hands, he noticed that there was a hint of unnaturalness that was hid underneath what seemed like a façade.
The feeling he got from his hands was bizarre. It felt like what he was looking at was a perfect replica of his mortal form. Whether it was a real body or a replica, he did not care. Duncan used this chance that he accidentally got to study his body.
He was a skinny boy that stood about 1.76 meters tall with a pale skin that currently covered in bruises that probably resulted from his fall at the stairs leading into the basement. His ragged clothes were the only things that shielded him from nudity.
Just as Duncan was about to further study his body, a faint ringing sound reached his hears that came from somewhere ahead of him. The ringing sound seemed like a beacon for the ones trapped in this world of mist. With a sense of curiosity rising from his heart, Duncan started walking towards the direction that he believed the ringing sound originated from.
Did I walk for seconds? Did I walk for minutes? Did I walk for hours?
Honestly, he did not know for time seemed like an irrelevant concept in such a world. As he continued to move forward, the ringing sound grew louder. That was when he noticed flashes of light that lighted the gray mist in a timely fashion. The flashes of light seemed to come from the same direction as the ringing sound. As Duncan drew closer, the flashes of light grew brighter as if to conform that he was nearing the source of these phenomena.In a few more steps, he found the origin of both the ringing sound and the flashes of light. When he found the origin of all these, the flashes of light had grown so bright that he had to squint his eyes and the ringing sound had grown so loud that it was almost unbearable for his ears.In front of Duncan, a spark of light floated. The spark of light pulsated in rhythm as it produced flashes of light in sync to its rhythm. The scene was so awe inspiring that Duncan could help but stare in daze.
The presence emanated by the spark seemed to grow stronger as time passed by. It reached a state its presence gained a physical quality as it pressed down on the world around it. The pressure released by the spark of light caused not only Duncan's body to shudder but also the world gray mist to tremble. But it was what happened next that made Duncan reevaluate the gap between reality and fantasy.
BOOM!
A wave of force was released by the spark of light as it ascended into an ember of light.Duncan was pushed back by a dozen of meters as he used his arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light. The gray mist did not escape a similar fate as it was pushed to a distance beyond a mere dozen of meters.
BOOM!!
A second wave of force was released by the ember of light as it bloomed into a flame of light.Duncan was forced to his knees as sweat drenched his body. The gray mist trembled fiercely as it was repelled into a further distance.
BOOM!!!
A third wave of force was released by the flame of light as it was compressed into a seed of light.
Duncan was forced to sleep on his stomach as a gasp escaped his lips. The gray mist churned as a sizzling sound escaped its depth.
The seed of light floated in solitude as it illuminated a world that was now free from the embrace of the gray mist.A groan escaped Duncan's lips as he got on his feet. When he studied his surroundings he was so amazed that he almost believed that he was in heaven, almost.The land underneath his feet was made of sand that shimmered in crystalline texture. Duncan could see the gray mist about a hundred meters away. It seemed to serve as a boundary for this unearthly land. In the middle of all this was the seed of light that acted as a little star that enriched the land with its blessed light.
The very atmosphere in this world seemed to carry a hint of otherworldliness. As Duncan fixed his gaze at the floating seed of light, a sense of longing invaded his heart.A longing that made him yearn for the embrace of the seed of light. The longing was so primal that his body could not help but move on instinct towards the seed of light.
The seed of light seemed to hear his longing as it lowered itself to a height that Duncan could easily reach.Duncan stopped in front of the seed of light and placed his right hand on it. The warmth that permeated his hand was comforting as it soothed his very being.When his eyes flickered to his body, Duncan noticed that he was fading away as if his very existence was being erased from the world.
Nothing beautiful lasts forever.
And he was gone.