"Forever marked, forever hopeless, forever a failed vigil."
Floating weightlessly in that abyss I could still hear the vestiges of those words like whispers spoken again and again into my very mind. The cold dug into my flesh, seeping into my bones, stabbing my spirit with a thousand icy needles. Then much like a dry field of grass catching fire, a deep burning started within my chest and raged through each and every vein within my body. With the burning pain, life returned. I gasped for air, instead found frigid waters flooding into my chest bludgeoning my throat and lungs as it filled my being. The plates of heavy armor had dragged me down to the bottom of the pool where I felt blessed sturdy stone. Galvanized by that same sacred fire, my feet moved of its own accord, dragging my broken body through water and up the steps of that deep wretched basin. My knees gave and fell on dusty stone as water escaped out of my nostrils and mouth through violent coughs. Every fibre of my being rejoiced when that first true breath of sweet putrid air entered my body.
The words lingered still.
The fire turned from a great blaze to a pitiful tongue of flame. Then vanished entirely. Yet those dying embers spurred my soul into action.
Stand.
Unsteadily, my flesh heeded the distant command of my mind, one hand placed against crumbling ancient stone walls to bear the weight of my body as I began to stagger back towards the tenebrous depths of this wretched ruin.
