D Glenn Casey [Casey - The Wrath

The darkness!

Oh ... the darkness is crushing me! I cant breathe! And the pain is unbearable! Make it stop!

Master, hold still!

That voice? Who is it? I can feel hands on my shoulders and chest, holding me down. I still cant breathe and the pain in my leg is even worse than the pain in my shoulder!

Whats happened to me?!

Hold him down!

Who is he talking to? I feel more hands on me, pushing me down against the cold, hard surface underneath me. I feel the cold pressing up through my body, but at the same time, I am suffocating from the heat in the air entering my nose.

I want to rise up and fight, but there are too many hands! In my mind, I can see the hands of Death, stretching out toward me, reaching for my neck. His bright, red eyes burn with fire as he grins hideously at the thought of snatching my spirit from my body.

No! Im not ready!

Death clamped his hand around my neck and leaned down, staring into my face. I can feel his hot breath, burning my skin and blackening my eyes.

Im not finished here! I have so much left to do!

Okay, hold him still. I have to get this arrow out of his shoulder.

Arrow? What arrow?

The hands pressed down even harder and then another hand pressed down on the pain in the shoulder. Then, the pain in the shoulder became incomparably worse. The white-hot pain sears through the body. Whatever arrow was in the shoulder has been removed and blood began pouring from the wound.

Water. Water is being splashed on my shoulder and then hands pressing down on the wound cause me to shake from the pain.

Has he regained consciousness since the dragon brought him back?

No, he was unconscious through the whole flight back here.

Dragon? Dragons dont exist! And why would a dragon bring me anywhere? What has happened to me?

Those voices go soft and whisper among themselves. I cant hear everything they say.

if had any sense would let him die ...

Quiet! They are right outside the tent and if they heard you say that, any of you, they would kill us all.

The hands keep holding me down as my shoulder wound is dressed.

I can hear the voices, but I cant open my eyes to see what it going on or who is talking. Who wished me dead? I am at their mercy, no one here to protect me.

I must open my eyes! I must wake up!

Now, we need to get that arrow out of his leg.

Oh no, no, no I cant take another arrow being ripped out of my body.

Its too bad the arrow didnt go all the way through. Then I could just break it and pull it out from each side. Less damage that way.

The soft, whispering voice comes back.

Do we really care if it damages him?

Who belongs to that voice? I need to open my eyes to see who torments me so.

Death is laughing in my face.

I cant go right now!

I hear myself pleading, begging for more time in this life, though Im still not sure what my life has been like. What is it I wanted to finish before Death takes me away? Why does everyone wish me dead?

Alright, you two hold his leg. This is going to be a bit messy. Looks like this is one of our arrows.

Four hands grab hold of my leg and hold it firm. Then, another hand, again presses down where the arrow is and I can feel the pain beginning to build. I try to yell at them to stop, but I have no voice. I am still lost behind a wall of unconsciousness.

I try to prepare myself, but no attempt to barricade myself against the pain is enough. I can feel the arrow pulled from my leg and with it, a pound of flesh.

I scream inside my head as the pain races from my leg to my mind, setting my head on fire with its tentacles.

Now, hell know how their people feel when they get shot with one of these.

So, is he going to live?

I dont know and like you men, I dont really care. Im not a healer and we dont have any healers in camp.

So, his wounds are going to be permanent. It will serve him well.

His shoulder should heal and be almost whole again. That leg though, its never going to be right. Hell never walk straight again.

Fix me! Dont leave me a cripple!

Death looks me in the eyes again. I can still feel his bony hand around my throat.

I can feel the anger boiling up inside me.

Take me if it is your intention! If not, leave me now!

Death laughed one last time and breathed fire into my face. I can feel it burning me. Hes not real! How can I feel the flame? My face feels like its on fire.

So, what are you going to do about his face?

Nothing. There isnt much of anything to do there.

My face? Whats wrong with my face?

Bit of a shame, really. If that dragon hadnt crashed and died where he did, the dark wizard wouldnt have fallen face down right next to a lava stream.

Yeah, its a real shame. You know when they say a face only a mother could love? I dont think even his mother could love his face now.

Laughter. Theyre laughing at me! Who am I and why does everyone wish me dead?

Dark wizard? He called me a dark wizard. Think! What did he mean?

There was a dragon. I was on the back of a dragon. There was also a white dragon and they were both fighting.

What was I doing on the back of a dragon?

A battle. Theres a battle raging below. Soldiers are clashing everywhere.

I look away, to the top of a hill. There is a woman looking at me. She has fire in her eyes and she has fire in her hair. I see a man kneeling behind her as she watches me. I can feel hate radiating from her eyes, toward me.

The dragons battle even harder and the white dragon was wounded severely and fell from the sky. But, a fireball smashed into the dragon I was riding and it was hard to hold on.

Then I felt an arrow smash into my left leg and then an arrow smashed into my right shoulder. Im falling. Im falling!

Then the darkness! Oh ... the darkness is crushing me!