Mirable Dictu
Chapter Five
Frantically Jeremy crashed into the ground, as deep, wine tinted smoke swiftly filled the air around him. Irradiating off the Shadow, the thick mist clung to the inside of his lungs and darkened everything in his sight. Struggling to breathe, Jeremy cried out for Erica and searched for the unmistakable sunflower-yellow that burst from her aura, and what he saw instead chilled him to the bone.
Though blurred by the smoke, Jeremy saw an utterly deformed figure of Erica. The soft ivory of her skin had faded to the most dismal gray, and sagged almost off the skull. The innocence reserved only for a child slipped from her eyes, and Jeremy realized Erica was no little girl. She hadn’t been a little girl for quite some time, and merely deluded Jeremy with how she chose to remember herself. With every bit of cruelness imaginable, the Shadows depleted her very best memories of childhood.
Moving became nearly impossible, as Jeremy desperately tried to help Erica. With every inch closer he got, the smoke became darker, and soon Jeremy lost sight of Erica completely. Even more alarming, Jeremy could no longer see the Shadows through the mist swirling all around him.
Jeremy crawled towards the thicker forest, scraping his stomach across the rocks littering the ground. The pain of the rocks cutting him was feeble in comparison to the continuous waves of torment he felt with every breath of the smoke that polluted his body. No matter how deep into the woods Jeremy crawled, the sickly smoke embraced him like a serpent, squeezing out the life force he desperately needed.
“Erica,” he screamed, over and over again. It was of no use, no sound permeated the smoke around him. It was eerily silent, and he felt trapped; perfectly helpless. He wasn’t dying, but this certainly was not the living he was accustomed to. With every new ache that seized his body, a different family member flashed before his eyes, a reminder of the life he seemingly lost in the black smoke. He saw his mother presenting him a birthday cake full of gleaming candles, and smiling. He saw his sister, sailing a snow ball through the air, right at him. He saw his fiancée, as tears slipped down her cheeks after his proposal. And he knew- he would lose everything in the vacuum of the smoke.
Jeremy prepared to face defeat. He tightly clinched his eyes, and for the first time in his life, he prayed. To no one in particular, but simply to beg for this misery to cease. Jeremy began to feel as though energy left his body, rapidly. Just when he thought the last bit of life escaped him, it vanished. The smoke. The putrid smell. All the bodies and all the Shadows. More importantly, Erica was gone, and Jeremy helplessly wondered how to find her. Slowly regaining his strength, Jeremy stood to his feet and looked around, stunned, as the forest once again had a mystic, green glow. Gazing off into the distance, Jeremy spotted something that caught his eye: an unmistakably pure white aura, heading in his direction.
Though blurred by the smoke, Jeremy saw an utterly deformed figure of Erica. The soft ivory of her skin had faded to the most dismal gray, and sagged almost off the skull. The innocence reserved only for a child slipped from her eyes, and Jeremy realized Erica was no little girl. She hadn’t been a little girl for quite some time, and merely deluded Jeremy with how she chose to remember herself. With every bit of cruelness imaginable, the Shadows depleted her very best memories of childhood.
Moving became nearly impossible, as Jeremy desperately tried to help Erica. With every inch closer he got, the smoke became darker, and soon Jeremy lost sight of Erica completely. Even more alarming, Jeremy could no longer see the Shadows through the mist swirling all around him.
Jeremy crawled towards the thicker forest, scraping his stomach across the rocks littering the ground. The pain of the rocks cutting him was feeble in comparison to the continuous waves of torment he felt with every breath of the smoke that polluted his body. No matter how deep into the woods Jeremy crawled, the sickly smoke embraced him like a serpent, squeezing out the life force he desperately needed.
“Erica,” he screamed, over and over again. It was of no use, no sound permeated the smoke around him. It was eerily silent, and he felt trapped; perfectly helpless. He wasn’t dying, but this certainly was not the living he was accustomed to. With every new ache that seized his body, a different family member flashed before his eyes, a reminder of the life he seemingly lost in the black smoke. He saw his mother presenting him a birthday cake full of gleaming candles, and smiling. He saw his sister, sailing a snow ball through the air, right at him. He saw his fiancée, as tears slipped down her cheeks after his proposal. And he knew- he would lose everything in the vacuum of the smoke.
Jeremy prepared to face defeat. He tightly clinched his eyes, and for the first time in his life, he prayed. To no one in particular, but simply to beg for this misery to cease. Jeremy began to feel as though energy left his body, rapidly. Just when he thought the last bit of life escaped him, it vanished. The smoke. The putrid smell. All the bodies and all the Shadows. More importantly, Erica was gone, and Jeremy helplessly wondered how to find her. Slowly regaining his strength, Jeremy stood to his feet and looked around, stunned, as the forest once again had a mystic, green glow. Gazing off into the distance, Jeremy spotted something that caught his eye: an unmistakably pure white aura, heading in his direction.
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So, let's see, the next authors have to somehow defeat the shadows, find Erica and figure out where the strange white Aura is coming from? Good luck guys!