A soft humming welcomed Keshiema back to the magenta cavern. "Were you able to find what you were seeking?" ?ther returned to her humming after asking the question.

  Still dizzy, Keshiema waites until the room stopped spinning before turning to face ?ther, . The primordial rubbed her large belly, soothing the child inside. “I was.” Folding her hands in front of herself, she bowed slightly. “Thank you.”

  "There is but one more thing for you to accomplish here." ?ther's words came out in the same melody as her hummed song.

  “I'm afraid I don't understand.” ?ther smiled at Keshiema's confusion, adding another layer of uncertainty to her already fragile mind.

  "Fate is ready to awaken your powers, allowing you to have a fighting chance should you return to your body." Her sing-song voice returned to normal. ‘If you survive your awakening, your bloodlines should finally balance.’

  “Do I have time though?” everyone kept telling her how unstable time could be in Ethera; she feared not waking up at all.

  "If you return to your body before awakening, Adramelech will kill you." ?ther parroted what Keshiema's own words.

  She knew she stood no chance with the condition she left her body in. Avoiding further eye contact with ?ther, Keshiema looked at her feet. “You don’t leave much room for argument do you?”

  "Come forth," ?ther waited for Keshiema to step forward before continuing. "You have faced many difficulties in your brief life. You will surely face many more if you win this battle. However, what you are about to endure may be the most painful tribulation you will ever experience. I cannot say for certain, for no others like you have ever existed. I hate to put such a young soul into this predicament, but I am afraid there is no other option. Rest your hand upon my cage, and your trial shall begin."

  With every scratch of determination and courage she could muster, Keshiema raised her hand. Knowing time fought against her, she slammed her hand against the crystal. Darkness consumed her. The floor caved in and she fell into an abyss. Reaching out, she felt for anything to break her fall. Nothing but emptiness greeted her flailing hands.

  A turbulent wind tossed her around, disorienting her sense of direction. The gale spun her, picked her up, and dropped her, then repeated it all again like a child playing with a ragdoll. Each time the wind died down her heart dropped. The gaps between gusts increased with each free fall.

  The fall lasted a lifetime. She cursed Fate for betraying her. Prayed to her lucky stars for the fall to land softly. Wished with everything inside her that this was not the end, that she would not die alone in the dark.

  The cold shock of the water had her gasping for air. Darkness still surrounded her, making everything all the more confusing. She turned about, panicking, searching desperately for any small amount of light, any confirmation she could still see. Her arms and legs grew heavier by the second. She struggled to breath slowly, her teeth clacking as she shivered from the frigid water.

  Something grabbed hold of her ankle and pulled her down with a quick, powerful force that prevented her from fighting. She tried to reach down, but the speed kept up body upright. Her lungs burned for oxygen. Dread built heavy in her chest. She might drown. Horrified, she found the strength to kick and thrash. Still, she could not break free.

  The direction changed as a current took hold of her. The thing ensnaring her pulled against the current, tightening its grip with painful, bone crushing force for letting her slip away. Her ankles ached but at least whatever held her was finally gone.

  Her head bobbed above water for just a moment. Long enough to catch a small gasp of air before being sucked back down. Her lungs still screamed, needing more than that miniscule amount of oxygen for true salvation.

  Another few moments of blistering panic, twisting and turning in frightful agony before she resurfaced again, taking another breath in the tiniest of gulps. She felt around, searching desperately for anything solid to grab hold of. Only water greeted her flailing hands.

  Another small breath of air. Her eyes widened, if nothing solid existed, the only threat was not getting air. Reposition herself, she swam with the current. Every few moments it led her to air. And sucked her back down again. She got the timing and after a few rounds managed to get a full breath every time the water allowed her to surface.

  The current raced faster and a roaring rush filled her ears. The waterfall came faster than she expected, keeping her from controlling her fall. The waterfall threw her underwater, pounding against her small body. Refusing to give up, she kicked as hard as she could until finally, the undertow released her.

  The calm waters of the pool beneath the falls gave her a chance to collect herself. Paddling around, she finally found something solid. Almost. The mushy sand felt amazing beneath her hands and feet as she crawled forward, following the incline. Climbing out of the water, she rolled onto her back, taking a minute to catch her breath.

  The crashing of the falls drowned out all other possible sound. She layed on the sandy shore, blinded by the void like darkness, unable to hear past the roaring water. She shivered, trembling uncontrollably, soaked to the bone. But at least the sand did not cling to her and create a muddy, gritty mess. Small victories.

  In the current situation, moving forward was her only choice. Her ankle throbbed where the unknown creature had latched on to her. She tore a long strip from her shirt and quickly wrapped her foot. She thought about abandoning the shoes, but it helped keep the bandage in place, so she slipped it back on before scrambling to her feet and limping onward.

  Listening to her gut, she followed a soft dirt path. At least she assumed it was a path. Her clothes clung to her. Water dripped from her hair, running down her body and pelting the dirt as she walked. She squeezed out what she could, but they remained uncomfortably damp.

  With her guard up, she wandered the empty abyss, her nerves on edge from deafening silence. Normally darkness sharpened her other senses, but she heard nothing. Smelled nothing. Felt nothing. Save for her fear of the dark. She felt that to her core.

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  Nearly drowning had her out of sorts. Her movements were wobbly, like the land rolled beneath her. She staggered and teetered, stumbling down the path. The dizziness worsened her nausea.

  The ground periodically grumbled; concerning, but also easing her anxiety by giving her a sound to latch onto. The low rumble felt akin to a stampede of horses from afar, and she brushed it off as such.

  The vertigo became difficult to ignore, her whole body swayed as she walked and she was lightheaded. Her stomach churned, motion sick. Trying to keep moving, she tripped, catching her foot and falling forward. She threw her hands out and was met with the unmistakable sting of concrete against skin.

  Fumbling around to find what tripped her, she found a metal rod laying over a curb. Taking the lightweight bar, she did her best to use it as a white cane. It rattled as she hit something large and metal. Reaching out she found a heap of cold steel; her best guess being an ancient vehicle from humanity's Golden Age.

  The reverberation deep within the ground steadily increased. The earth bellowed, rolling under Keshiema’s feet. Using the metal rod to prop herself, she managed to stay on her feet until the rumbling passed.

  Another moment of silence ensued, allowing her to catch her breath. continuing forward she found many objects confirming her location. A short but solid hunk of iron, upon inspection proved to be a fire hydrant. A small shelter covered what felt like a poorly designed, uncomfortable bench. Huge slender poles stood evenly spaced every few dozen paces along the concrete curb.

  Her imagination filled in the gaps. Huge buildings as tall as the sky towered over her. Dingy gray concrete lined the maze of cracked and broken asphalt snaking it’s way between the old, crumbling towers. Ancient heaps of metal littered the pathways they once traversed, old rusting memories of what they once were.

  The quaking presumed, more violent than before, as if the lands were insulted by her thoughts of what they had become. The roadway pitched and rolled, knocking her into the air. Her head slamming into the cement added to the already terrifying situation. Blood trickled from her forehead and a screaming ache filled her skull.

  Every fiber of her being demanded her to move forward. She crawled along the shaking floor, feeling cracks form in the weakened ground beneath her. A light pole crashed into a nearby building. A tower buckled under it’s own weight in the distance, sending a cloud of ancient dust and debris into the air. The earth groaned as it tore itself apart.

  Struggling to claw her way forward, Keshiema scurried over chunks of asphalt, dirt, and rocks falling into the forming ravine. The ground caved in faster than she could move, threatening to pull her further into the dark abyss. something sharp pierced through her flailing hand. Fighting the urge to recoil in pain, she threw her other arm around the sharp object, clinging to it for her life.

  When the shaking stopped and the crumbling settled, she pulled her hand off of the jagged object that saved her life. hoisting herself back onto solid ground, she spared no time to examine her wounds. Bloody and broken, she felt around for anything to help her feel her way out of the dangerous wreckage. When her hand brushed against a slender piece of metal, she snatched it up and hurried to put as much distance as possible between herself and the fallen city.

  The cracked and broken asphalt eventually faded into a well worn dirt path. Feeling safe enough, she stopped to tear pieces of her skirt to wrap around her hand and head. She knew she must look ridiculous, with her patchwork of bandages.

  What Keshiema assumed to be a tree root tripped her, causing her to fall. Losing her guiding cane and a shoe, she felt around the powdery dirt. After a short and fruitless effort to search for it, she gave up. In a huff of frustration she tossed her other shoe into void. Good riddance, she hated things on her feet anyway.

  She wandered the darkness, reminding herself to stay attentive. The fear of another earthquake eased away to the back of her mind, but refused to be banished completely, nestling itself next to the fears of the river and tempest that preceded it.

  The air soon became hot and air. At first, she was thankful for the warmth, and welcomed the way it wicked the water from her clothes and hair. Soon enough, however, she found herself panting from fatigue and thirst as she wiped away the beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

  Distant snapping and crackling filled the void of silence, a welcome symphony to her under stimulated ears. Struggling to place the familiar sound, she listened intensely. Eager to find the source, she moved faster.

  The ground sloped at a steep incline, but she kept her pace. When she reached the top of the hill, the world lit up. A small camp fire glowing softly below put to rest concerns of blindness. A gentle breeze picked up, tempering the sweltering heat.

  Intrigued, she approached the flames which brightened significantly with every step she took. Craving the light after spending so long in the dark empty void, she pushed herself to move forward as the heat intensified. Crackling and popping, the fire called to her. Stopping inches away, she reveled in the heat. The light steadily brightened, revealing a thick forest within dancing shadows. Smiling, she reached out and caressed the bark of an old oak.

  An ember jumped onto Keshiema’s bare foot. Kicking the red hot coal away, she hopped around on the uninjured foot, wincing at the burn. “Oh hot hot hot!" She tried to concentrate her aura to heal herself. Nothing. "Stupid bunk powers!”

  The small ember landed in a pile of dry leaves underneath a dead tree, quickly igniting them. The flames grew rapidly, engulfing the crumbling wood. More hot embers fell from the scorching branches creating hotspots, spreading their destruction through the forest.

  Raging uncontrollably, the fire tore through the dry trees. Terrified Keshiema took off into the woods, doing her best to follow her instincts for direction. Ash fell like snow around her, cinders scorching her exposed skin.

  The fire stayed on her heels as she ran, finally cornering her against a large stone wall, preventing her from escaping. Turning around, she faced the towering inferno, sweat dripping from every pore, soot clinging to skin. Smoke filled her lungs, making breathing near impossible. Pressing her back against the wall, she looked around for any break in the flames.

  Anxious foreboding devoured her last scrap if courage. Her mind raced through every possibility. Her heart pounded in her chest, fear gripping tightly. The thought of burning alive enraged her. Pain radiated through her chest. Her heart skipped a beat as the spark in her soul tried to light for the first time since she entered Ethera. It struggled to stay lit, flickering like a candle in a soft breeze.

  Gritting her teeth through another stab of pain, Keshiema continued to search for a way out. Each time she thought she saw an opening, the sputtering flame inside of her threatened to explode her heart, keeping her from leaping forward. The flames shrank back, but when the pain passed, allowing her move again, the opening disappeared.

  The spark ignited her soul, burning her from the inside out. She embraced the pain, screaming aloud to keep from giving in. The wildfire died down the hotter her own fire became. Forcing herself from the wall, she marched towards the flames. Bowing down in submission as she approached, the inferno opened a pathway for her.

  The flames surrounded her, wrapping themselves around her body in a gentle caress. They lingered around her makeshift bandages, burning them away as her wounds finally started to heal.

  The fire whirled around her joyfully, twisting around her entire body in a warm embrace. Her familiar training garba made of karava armor formed around her, replacing the tattered skirt and crop top. Her leather belt and frogs appeared around her waist along with the empty sheaths for her dual short swords and dagger.

  The fire slowly vanished; The once raging inferno now completely contained within her soul. With her wounds healed and clothes restored, Keshiema smirked, ready to take on anything else the abyss had to offer. Confidently marching forward, she dared the darkness to do its worst.

  The darkness answered her call…