Swarm of Darkness

Darkness .. death ... decay ... it has an odor. It has a life within itself. It has a power and a breath .. to me it is not ... a nothing. These places .. are like putty .. clay ... to the creative power of our minds and will make and remake to fit our ideas of death itself. I can not know .. completely ... what this place was like for Cana. I can only tell you what it was for me.

And despite my familiarity with it .. it is never an easy thing to experience. You lose a little .. of yourself ... every time you do. You can not come to a place like this .. and not have it leave its mark on you in some way.

The warning .. had filtered through the window ... but it was nothing like the experience of the other side. It hit me with a full force and drove me to my knees .. choking and retching as it clogged my air passages and caught in my lungs. Slowly the panic .. the need to breath ... eased as I kept my breath shallow and slow .. despite the first anxiety that ravaged through my conscious. I pulled my wind scarf up over my nose and got to my feet. Careful .. not to breathe too deeply or I started gagging and retching again.

I checked my map .. and started out across the desolate soil .. the smoke and ash rose around my boots with every step .. the crunch of bones beneath my weight .. bones and skulls buried in the burnt waste that littered the ground. Fingers closed around my ankle and I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat .. the revolting feeling ... as I bent to dislodge myself from the rotted grasp. Only to move on .. and on ... through it. More of it. Spent humanity in varying stages of decay .. broken dreams .. shattered hearts ... dark emotions that settled on me as a weight over my shoulders ... anger .. jealousy .. hollow ego .. desperation .. pity ... horror ... base desires .. primordial rage vented through sexuality.. the need to dominate with strength and power ... but power empty of honor and courage.

The weight was intense .. almost more than I could stand ... increasing as I ventured further until my boot slipped on the smooth dome of a skull and I went crashing down on one knee. The pain was sharp and lanced through my thoughts as it felt like a million tiny daggers drove up under my kneecap. I swore .. but the words ... as they left my mouth fell in a mist and formed into little daemon like beings. They attacked my legs as I lurched back to my feet ... biting and scratching .. clinging and sinking fangs deep into my ankles and calves through the leather. I swatted at them .. trying to kick them away form me ... but they easily scampered away and the effort left me gasping for breath which caused the gagging and retching to return. There was nothing to do but continue .. they swarmed back around my legs once more ... but I did not fight them .... and I did not give my cursing breath again.

As I continued it got darker and darker. The air growing more heavy .. until I realized the air was full of small flying insects. I was choking on them .. they were getting up under my wind scarf .. in my nose and I could feel their bodies at the back of my throat. I was gagging and choking on more than just the fetid stench now .. I felt claustrophobic ... I was drowning in the air and I swatted at it ...

.. but they were the air.

In desperation I clawed at my wind scarf .. insanely thinking that if I could get it away from my face .. it would be all right. I nearly lost my mind with the desire to just breath .. and with a choking .. gasping ... breath I called out ..

CANA ...