Open No Sanctuary

[Erick Barnett]

1st of Spring, 516AV Somewhere in Taldera Midnight Much to his own continuing surprise, Erick was most at home on the ice. An endless expanse of white, rising and rolling in all directions as far as the eye could see, like a field of rigid clouds. The ground just before him shimmered soft silver under the gaze of Leth, hanging close and smiling knowingly at Erick as he passed. The path was treacherous. The cliffs at his side hung wide and open the the jaws of oblivion, and the ocean below was so far beneath him that he could not see it - only the reflection the moon cast on the inky black surface of the waters. As the intense northern winds bit into him, he shivered slightly, pulling his fur-trimmed cloak closer to his person as he stared into the distance, squinting as the gale whipped at his face. He didn't know what it was. All he could see was the light - a single point in the distance, defiantly shimmering brighter than all the stars against the black background of the world. With a determined nod to steel himself against the fatigue growing in his limbs, he pressed on, leather boots crunching steadily into and out of the snow. Many bells passed, and his legs never stopped moving. Yet somehow, the point of light never seemed to grow any larger. All was silent save for the howling of the wind across the cliffs, and Erick felt a pronounced hollowness in his chest. If anything, the light seemed smaller now. So very distant. He couldn't even remember why he was chasing it in the first place. It felt like so long since he had been home. So long since he had felt the warmth of Syna's touch. "Hungry?" A voice echoed between his. Erick's eyebrows furrowed. He was almost positive he had heard it, but it hadn't came from anywhere specific. Lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the snowstorm he peered out into the darkness until he caught sight of it. It was sleek and graceful, moving with an almost alien-like cadence to its limbs. It's skin was pallid white, and it was vaguely human in shape. However if it was human it was like no other human Erick had met before. It had no mouth where one ought to have been, and stared at Erick with inky black eyes, no pupils to speak of. Tendrils, like the wispy limbs of a spider, expanded out from it's back like a thousand tiny slivers of darkness. "Excuse me?" "I said..." The creature slunk ever closer, its hips swaying casually as it treaded softly through the snow. "Are you hungry?" "Apologies. I do not intend to be rude to a fellow traveler." He cautiously rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. "But... What exactly are you?" The creature's body shook, as if it was laughing, but it made no noise, and Erick heard nothing in his head until it re-composed itself. "Me? Why, that's easy. I'm God." Erick felt a keen sense of uneasiness creeping up his spine. He swallowed reflexively, hand still nervously on the hilt of his sword. "Which god? Don't look like any god I've heard of." "All of them." He blinked. "All of them? That doesn't make any sense." "No, I suppose it wouldn't." The creature stood directly in front of him now. It stood eerily still, as if it didn't even need to breath. "So, are you hungry or not?" "...No, thank you." The creature made a gesture with the filaments that cascaded down from its back reminsicient of shrugging, only with many more arms. "Suit yourself. But the night is long yet, and you've got a long way before you reach the tower." At this, Erick perked up. He grabbed the creature by the shoulders. "What do you know about the tower?" "Nothing." Pulling away, the strange traveler began to walk down the cliffs in the same direction Erick had been going, and so he followed. The voice continued to play in his head. "Well, almost nothing." "Please, sir...If you know anything, you need to tell me." At this, the creature wiggled over as if chuckling again. "Oh, so it's sir, is it? How very polite." It suddenly stopped and whirred unatturally fast on its heels, turning to bore into Erick with those dark, soulless pools of black water that sat in place of his eyes. "Tell me, are you that polite toward the people you murder?" Erick's face hardened. "I've never murdered anyone." "Is that what you tell yourself?" It's headed tilted to the side at an unnatural angle. It made Erick rub his neck uncomfortably. "Or is a life taken in the name of your Order not worth enough to qualify for that word in your eyes?" "You mistake me, sir." He shook his head, motioning at the distant light. "I am but a weary traveler." "Not yet, you aren't." Something about the tone in his voice made Erick shift uneasily on his feet. "I don't understand." "Where you are now, treading water in the shallow end, you cannot even begin to fathom what the bottom will look like. Egotistical wolf that pisses on a tree and declares himself king of the woods." Erick was about to protest, but when he opened his mouth only a scream came out. The monster had lashed out with its many lanky tendrils, and they carved into his back like hooks, lifting him up by the flesh. Perhaps it was from the cold, perhaps it was from the shock, but Erick did not feel any pain. Only a strange warmth, trickling down his back as the blood seeped from his flesh. "Nng...." He tried to grab his sword, but his arms felt like lead. He couldn't scream anymore. He couldn't even talk. He just hung there, suspended in the air by the creature, who contemplated Erick with mild disinterest. "The night will be long and perilous, child. For your sake, I hope you've learned how to hold your breath." Erick tried to scream. He could feel the many hands in his body beginning to grab him by the stitches and pull. Bones popped, muscles and sinew tore and ripped away. Through all of it, though, he felt no real pain. But his heart was still hammering inside his chest. I'm going to die... I'm never going to reach the sanctuary....Am I...? "Now, child." The creature had moved, carrying Erick's limp body along with it, and it held him over the edge of the cliffs. "Learn to swim." "I.... Can't..." "Then learn to fly." All the filaments were ripped back out of his body at once, and Erick found himself tumbling, tumbling, until he was hit with the icy blast of the frigid black waters below.

[Erick Barnett]

Erick was alone now. Not cold, or famished, or in pain, but suspended in the under emptiness of the void. The nothingness surrounded him, such a force that Erick could swear he felt it weighing down on him, like he was walking across the bottom of the ocean. He kicked and squirmed every direction, trying his hardest to scream. But no noise came out. There was no sound here, no light, no movement other than his own. I have to get back! The amused voice of the traveler had followed him to this place, responding to his thoughts as if he had spoken them aloud. "Do you now? And what is it you have to get back too, child?" The more he struggled against the empty space, the more it seemed to want to smother him. His movements grew more and more sluggish, and his opened his mouth again, damn near caving his lungs in as he tried to let out another scream. Nothing. His stomach was turning itself in knots. "Enough struggling. Just let it happen. This is what you wanted, after all." Impossible. There was no way he wanted this. Yet regardless of what he wanted, it seemed inevitable. His flailing eventually died down to half-hearted squirming, until he was eventually totally still. It felt as if he was slowly sinking deeper into whatever this place was, but he couldn't be certain of anything, given that most of his senses seemed totally useless here. "There. See how much easier it is when you accept your fate?" At this, he tried yet again to kick and push against the nothing, but his limbs didn't seem to want to cooperate. Please... Focusing only on his right arm, with great effort he managed to latch onto the hilt of his longsword. It wasn't a defensive or even a threatening gesture. It was the only source of comfort he had in this dark place, reminding himself of his father's steel, still sitting on his waist. Help me... I don't want to die... This time, he actually heard the voice sigh inside his mind. "Nobody can help you but yourself. Besides, if this isn't what you wanted, why are you letting them have you?" Them? He wasn't sure why, but something about the way he said that sent tendrils of ice itching down his back. He was compelled to turn his head ever so slightly to fix his gaze beneath him. He wished he hadn't almost immediately. Weakly illuminated by the glow of their own white, almost-blind looking eyes, were the Syliran Knights. Fully armored, in battle formation, all seven thousand of them standing at attention in the void. Worst yet, they all seemed to be staring up at Erick as he descended toward them, faces twisted back into hungry, predatory smiles. He felt like his energy was renewed as the panick began to grip at his veins and throat. His thrashing resumed, but despite now seeing what awaited him, it did him no more good than it had before. "You act surprised! But this is what you wanted, correct? Your father would be so proud to see how well they've trained you, pup!" Please! Tears had begun to stream down Erick's face as he grew ever closer to the assembled knights. They had been slowly moving, and had formed a large, endless circle, with it's center the exact spot Erick was bound to land. He threw his hands out, hoping in vain that something would be there in the shadows to grab onto. Anything that would slow his descent. You have to help me, I can't do anything! "Ah, my poor little pup. Dont you see? That's the exact attitude that got you into this mess." Looking down again, he was nearly in the middle of the circle now. He wasn't alone, however. A familiar face had appeared, standing just a few feet beneath him on the ground, smiling up at him. "You giving up already, boy?" His eyes widened. He recognized that voice, that smile. Sera Goldmane...? But his patron knight didn't have the same face as the others. Her eyes still seemed intact. Her smile, however, faded almost immediately, as she continued. "You're better than that." He was almost aground now. The hoarde of armored figures had closed in to his landing spot, each reaching out a hand and licking their chops as they tried to grab him. As he felt their hands beginning to grasp for him, squirmed frantically, trying his best to keep them from getting a grip on him. Get away! You can't have me! At last, as if by magic, he found his voice again. "I said BEGONE!" He roared, and lifting his right hand, a brilliant, pure white light began to erupt from his palm. At first it was only minor, but the moment he felt it washing over his skin, the feelings of helplessness and panick began to fall away, like great chains around his body being shattered. And it grew along with his feelings of determination, swallowing up more and more of the void. The knights had begun to scatter, letting out sharp cries of agony as the light momentarily touched them, instantly turning their bodies and armors to ash. For a moment, it grew too bright for Erick to see anything, and he clamped his eyes shut, surrendering to the sensation of gravity pulling on his body. He grunted as he felt his body connect with the ground, gasping as the air was knocked from his lungs. His eyes flew back open, and he sat up with a start, drawing his sword and holding up as he did so. He was sitting along the road, now. The South Kabrin, if memory served. The mid-afternoon sun shone warmly, and above the sky was an endless azure expanse. All was quiet save for the steady buzzing of insects, and the rhythmic clip-clopping of hooves as a covered wagon stumbled on down the road past Erick, coming to a gradual stop next to him. Was I... Dreaming all that? Am I home now? He stood up, shaking his head slowly as he adjusted himself in his armor. "Hello there, ser." The man driving the wagon tipped his wide-brimmed straw hat to Erick. "Lovely day, innit?" Still trembling slightly from the previous ordeal, Erick did his best to sound measured and collected in his response. "Yes, actually..." He lifted his head to look into the sky. "It really is." He paused, furrowing his brow before turning his attention back to the man. "You wouldn't be headed to Stormhold, would you?" He nodded. "Sure am." [b] [b]"Would you be willing to let me ride along with you?" "Well sure! Hop on up."[b] He patted the space next to him. Erick nodded shortly, climbing up the side of the wagon to take a seat by the man. [b]"I really appreciate this. I'll see if I can't you compensated for the trouble when we arrive." "Oh, it's no trouble." He gave a quick whip to the reigns accompanied by a short "Ya!" And the horses were once again off, the wagon letting out a long groan as it's wheels began to turn again. "Yep, no trouble. S'pecially not for the Lord Knight himself."