"Dall's" eyes slowly opened. There was a pain in "his" chest. All "he" could see for miles was black. Pure darkness. A cacophony of darkness dancing in a symphony of voidless euphonium. Every direction was filled with darkness. It was empty.
"Dall" tried to stand up; however all that was jolted in place of "his" movement was the rattling of chains. "He" looked down, and "his" body was bound by a rusted chain. "He" was sitting in an old wooden chair made from the same white wood that filled the entire forest. "He" squirmed and jerked trying to break free—however, to no avail.
Each movement shaking the chair, sent a ripple through the thick black liquid on the floor. It rippled with a dark red, almost blending in to the black but still visible. Where was "he"? Why was "he" bound? What type of place is this.. "He" was in pure terror, thought "he" didn't know where this fear came from.
"He" jerked and jolted trying to break free, but it was useless; "he" was tightly bound. The only thing "he" could move was his hands and even then "he" couldn't grab the chains.
It was the moment that "he" stopped squirming; that the final ripple got sent out through the void's cocoon. Like a set of dominos, a trigger that was pulled by "his" trepidation--a terrible screech sounded through the empty void. It seemed to be echoing from the depths of the very darkness itself. Like the void could speak; or in this case, cry. "Dall" grasped "his" ears in pain, and hunched over in pain. Trying to scream but nothing could come out. The shriek was painful, it sent waves of hurt through every neuron in "his" head. Make it stop...
It stopped suddenly... Finally, the peace of the void returned once more. This nightmare wasn't over yet, as, when "he" looked up; a figure stood infront of "him", roughly 30 feet away, it was hard to make out features, but a few were clear. It was a figure donning a black robe that was so dark you couldn't see its face, it was tall, abnormally so; and the shape of its body curved weirdly. It wasn't easy to see it, but all "Dall" knew was this was a figure to be feared; deep within his body was a trepidation that shook him too his core--where it came from was unknown. Due to this, "he" instinctively jumped in the chains trying to break free, before relaxing again. "He" tried to call out to the creature but no sound came from his mouth.
The creature stated walking forwards faster and faster, "Dall" squirmed and jerked trying to get away from it; its speed was abnormal, it was surreal. It walked with large steps that covered giant amounts of ground. It reached "Dall" in a matter of seconds. "He" stopped jerking; his breath still shaky, and slowly looked up towards the figure standing right infront of "him" now, it was still dark, but you could now make out its features. Its face was horrifying.
It appeared to be an elf, with one visible glowing red eye and melting skin. In place of the other eye was an empty socket filled with squirming flesh. The skin was melting as though it had been burnt away, it had dark crimson skin, and blood was dripping from its mouth—which was a set of razor-sharp teeth, and the mouth of the creature was wider than any seen before. As if to jest, it lifted its hand and caressed "Dall's" cheek with its razor sharp nails, of which drew blood. A strange smile crept on its face and a long, rough tongue crept out and licked the blood off of "his" cheek. "He" almost threw up when it's gross warm breath clattered on "his" face.
It squirmed back a bit; or better yet slithered, as the bottom half of its body wasn't feet but rather a snake-like tail, that raised its body up to an insurmountable height. It's smile widened as the glow in it's eye flickered. It opened it's mouth as to speak; and in a raspy, and deep voice that carried along the entire void like the wind among trees, it spoke:
"I await you, David. Falling Petal of Demanding Fate." It slurred. It licked it's lips and continued, "You'll make a grand sacrifice to our king *****, he eagerly awaits you", it said with a creepy and harrowing smile.
The name it spoke was jumbled and unintelligible. A sacrifice to who? Who was its king? "He" trembled, "he" didn't want to find out. "He" opened his mouth to ask, however, before "he" could even try to speak, the creature suddenly stood up tall with the same bone-chilling smile, its freakish jaw unhinged revealing a grotesque mouth with rows of razor teeth which were stained with crimson.
"His" pupils shrunk, and fear instantly gripped him. In what couldn't have been a second, it lunged forwards, and its teeth gripped around "his" body. In a moments notice, leaving not even enough time to scream...
It was all over.
———————
He jolted awake. The smooth cool air of the safe room began drying the beads of sweat dripping down his body which had utterly soaked his moccasins. The flower bed around him was withered completely, all of the plants that touched his body when he laid down lay dead and dry, showing his imprint in the ground. But, he was back in the safe room, he closed his eyes and put his hand to his forehead in relief.
"A dream" he exhaled. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that all of the constellations were floating around him nervously dancing, they seemed to be peering at him with a certain fear and worry in their 'expressions'. He laughed at his own jest of saying they had expressions, "It was just a dream guys, it's okay." he lied.
Because he had his doubts; what exactly happened in his sleep, to make the plants around him wither and die? It must've been a magic attack, if there was any magic that could attack your dreams; his unfamiliarity with this world powers once again shone through. This was meaning the dream technically wasn't a 'dream' in the complete sense but a form of ritual communication.
And, whatever was communicating with him made his blood run cold. He knew he couldn't defeat that 'creature', the snake like guardian of the endless void. If it devoured him so quickly in that dreamland, what more would it do in real life. He sighed, only hoping it didn't exist in the coming future.
The flower seemed the most tense, it was rapidly circling Dall as if to try and get his attention. It spun with a sense of urgency. Dall followed it with his eyes and saw it leading to the flowerbed. "I know, magic attack?" he questioned. The flower danced up and down through the air as to confirm his suspicion. He sighed, and a chill washed through his spine. That means that something, or a group of things were out for him.
This wasn't going to be an easy new life at all, was it?
He walked to the fountain to pick up his stuff. Staying any longer in one spot wouldn't be good for him. Maybe the 'dream' was a result of the forests curse. He didn't want to chance it. So today he would set out with the goal of finishing the labyrinth, or finding another safe room. Though, he didn't know how this would go.
Dall slung on his cloak, fastening the hood; attached his blades, checking their condition; and finally grabbed his rucksack of prepared goods, in order to ensure his continued survival if this went longer than a day. Dall could only ponder and chuckle at what his physical state looked like at the moment. He was probably malnourished, as he only ate every few days. This is what it took to survive in this forest, where food and animals were as scarce as the trees were populous.
He took in the sight of the large garden once more; this place warranted a sense of tranquility that made it difficult to leave. The flowers, the bushes, the water fountain and all was so beautiful. So elaborate. It was like the maze wanted to give wanderers one last sense of peace before is through them into a total final hell. However, Dall didn't wish to bet on those words. He hoped to see the light of ay eventually... just not in this palace of darkness.
He reminisced on the fact that the palace had a dark spell, it reminded him of his 'dream' which caused him to shutter at the mere thought of it. He hoped that the inside of the palace wasn't like that. It would be like he was walking to his death; to the pool of blood left by all those who had failed before him. It wasn't a pleasant thought, nor a pleasant sight to remember. However, he didn't have the liberty of time. It was time to go.