32: Pain

The pain was what saved me really. Searing, blinding, horrible pain. My life is forever in its debt…

The mist that had engulfed me at the end of my encounter with the Dark One had become so thick that the sun itself had lost its potency. The bastard had trapped me in some sort of labyrinth, with moist, shapeless walls instead of solid stone. I felt my way blindly through the air, always being nowhere and everywhere at once. Whatever strange dimension he had trapped me in, it was impervious to my efforts. Soon after I was transported there, I felt my magicka reserves leeched away. I have felt magicka drain spells before, but this was nothing like that. The mist became charged with energy as I touched it, drawing it directly from my skin. I could not do much, and so I walked. Soon I felt that I was walking in circles, and so I scratched a mark in the dirt beneath me. I walked a ways and saw the exact same mark on the ground. I sighed and picked up a handful of dirt. I looked at it for a bit, and when I was satisfied it was normal dirt, I threw it directly away from me. I felt a spray of dirt hit the back of my neck. I screamed in frustration. I knew where I was now. Though I didn’t think it possible, I was trapped inside a reoccurring sphere universe. Essentially, I was restricted to a parcel of land about 4 meters in diameter. If I traveled outside of that area of land, I would simply be back on the other side of the sphere. Anywhere I went was mirrored backwards to where I began. I shuddered and collapsed from the overwhelming mix of weariness, anxiety and agony.

Then the laughter began; just a chuckle here or there, yet always outside of my sphere. When I moved to investigate, I remembered where I was trapped and gave up. I attempted to clear some of the fog with a vague wave of my hand, but it was impervious to my feeble efforts. Then everything began to glow green. Apparently the Dark One wanted to have some fun. Suddenly a bolt of green energy imploded on the ground in front of me. I jumped up and looked around, but there was only laughter again. Another bolt shot from behind me and grazed my side. A horrible feeling shot through my body, emanating from the blast. It spread to the rest of my body and I fell to the ground in a convulsive fit. It was overwhelming, but the closest feeling it could be compared to would be happiness. Raw, unchecked happiness tore through my body as another bolt of energy found its mark. I began laughing until I coughed up blood, and my body shook from the fit.

I moaned and rolled onto my back. The Dark One popped into existence a short distance away. He was holding a sphere of green light and I knew it was the horrible happiness. I reached feebly for my mace, and brandished it at him as menacingly as I could. He chuckled and my mace melted in my hands. The cool liquid ran off my hand and onto the ground, where it pooled and hardened.

“Welcome to your new cage. Quite nice isn’t it? I made it myself.” He spoke proudly and looked around at the dismal fog. He chuckled and kicked some dirt onto me.

“What the hell do you want from me?” I choked on the words, but they came out clearly enough. My head was still reeling from the happiness.

“Oh not much, the same things a botanist wants from his plants. The same things a child draws from his pet sparrow. The same feelings that a god draws from his worshippers.”

“You think yourself a god?” I wasn’t entirely surprised by this, but I didn’t like the implications.

“Hardly. Gods are beneath me, or they soon will be. Even the Gods are restricted to the few planes of existence they inhabit. No, I will be more; I will conquer hundreds of dimensions and bend them to my will!”

I almost chuckled at his egomaniacal monologue. Then I remembered where I was and realized I was in no position to mock him. He rambled on for several minutes (I think, it is difficult to tell the time when the only light you have is emanating from a silvery mist and a sphere of glowing green energy) but nothing meant much of it to me. When he realized I wasn’t listening he sent the energy at me and I screamed in delight.

When I had finished vomiting I moaned again. It was so unnatural, the happiness. I was vomiting blood and convulsing, yet I felt absolutely no pain, only horrible, wretched happiness. The Dark One chuckled and disappeared. I screamed at him, but there was no answer. I picked up the disc of metal that had been my mace until recently and examined it. The edges were quite sharp, and I cut my finger on it. It was like seeing the sun again. The pain was so natural and good. Obviously it hurt, but even pain can be a nice change of pace. The disc was quite slippery, and when I dropped it on my foot I realized how heavy it really was. I cursed myself for being such a klutz, but when the pain came through to my mind I saw a vision beyond the fog. I picked up the disc again and reluctantly dropped it on my foot again.

I screamed, but when the sun’s rays hit my eyes I realized the key to my escape. The vision of the outside world dissipated, but I smiled as I turned the disc to drop the sharp end of it on my toes. I readied myself, and this time I slammed the disc onto my toes with all my strength.

When I awoke from the daze, I was sitting on the same Mages’ Guild bed I woke up in after my first visit to Cheydinhal. I laughed and laid back. I continued laughing until someone came to see what was going on. Deetsan herself rushed to my side and started questioning me. The questions just flowed over me and I chuckled at them all. I was feeling very light headed when I answered them all with one word.

“Yes!” I giggled and fell back onto the pillow. Deetsan looked at me quizzically and sighed.

“Well,” the Argonian grumbled, “You’ve lost a lot of blood, and it is a shame about those toes, but you’ll live. You’re safe now.”