For Boredom's Sake: Eric's Tale - Chapter V: Snowbound

For Boredom's Sake: Eric's Tale

Chapter V: Snowbound
By Eric Greer


Eric could tell it was daytime, but it was as if the sun had been diminished, as it hung high in the sky, no brighter than the moons.
He was lost, walking across a frozen plain. He could see a figure far off in the distance, unmoving, still as a statue. Beyond he could spy the sparkling sea. He felt drawn towards the figure and began to make his way towards it. With every step he could hear the frozen, crystalline grass shatter beneath his feet.
A wind began to blow against him. At first it was a soft wind, but the further he walked, the harder it blew, and soon every footstep became a struggle. He looked up, raising his arm to keep the wind out of his eyes, but the figure was no closer, and now he could see dark clouds gathering behind it.
Snow slowly began to fall. At first it was just a few flakes, blowing past him on the wind. But soon a blizzard had formed around him. He pulled his jacket tight around him. Looking up, his eyes squinting, he could faintly see the figure ahead of him. His legs were so cold. He somehow knew that if he turned around, the snow and the wind would stop. But the desire to reach whoever it was in the distance had become a fire deep inside, and to turn back now was a defeat he couldn't accept. So he persevered.
The wind was battering him. He could no longer feel his legs. The snow blowing against him felt like razor blades on his bare hands and face. Soon he was bent double against it, blindly stumbling forward. He walked for what felt like hours.
Finally, he could go no further. He fell to his knees. His sight was filled with white, and he felt doomed. But then he heard something in the distance. It almost sounded like a voice, though he could scarcely hear it amid the howling of the wind, let alone make out what it might be saying. He gathered what little strength he had left and pulled himself to his feet.
One last push against the wind, that's all he wanted. The fire, which had burned with such intensity before was down to a few smoldering embers. But it was still there. The wind was screaming in his ears, blasting his body. Every breath was labored and chilled his heart. He was in so much pain. But he pushed on, one slow step at a time.
But soon his strength left him. He was drained, and the fire was cold and lifeless. But he didn't fall to his knees. He stood there, alone, the blizzard howling around him. He could hear the voice again, but this time nearer. He cursed himself for not being stronger. His mind was filled with despair.
Before him he imagined a shape beginning to take form in the swirling snow. But he wasn't imagining it: indeed, someone was drawing near.
"No," he said to himself, as the figure finally came into view. "Not you."
He beheld a woman before him, fair skinned, with curling blond hair, wearing a white dress. Her dress and hair were still, unaffected by the raging wind around them.
Her lips began to move as if in speech, but she made no sound. Time seemed to have slowed for her.
Eric then realized that the voice he had earlier heard had multiplied. He could now hear hundreds of voices, though he could not make out any words.
The woman's lips stopped moving. She slowly reached out her right arm and smiled. Eric reached out to grasp her hand, but as he touched her flesh his own hand began to blacken, as if burned and charred. His skin began to turn to ash, blowing away in the wind.
He looked back at the woman. She no longer held her hand out to him, and her smile had disappeared. Another figure began to appear behind her. A large man. He wrapped his arms around her, and she grasped them approvingly, closing her eyes.
Rage now burned inside of Eric. His entire body was beginning to turn black, his skin cracking and peeling away. As more and more ash was blown away by the wind, it revealed embers. He was smoldering within. The voices on the wind had again multiplied, and now sounded like a choir of thousands, singing in discord.
The woman looked at him one more time. As she turned away, the wind blew harder, tearing at his body. Smoldering ash was torn from him. He let out a scream of pain as the wind finally pulled his body apart.

Eric opened his eyes. He was huddled on his side under a large tree root, his arms wrapped around his bag. Snow had fallen during the night, and his legs were now half buried in the fresh powder.
He rubbed sleep from his eyes with numbed hands and stood up, patting the snow from his legs. He tried to hold on to the images from his dream, but all he could remember was snow and noise.
He pulled the map from his bag. Opening it, he let out a sigh as he beheld the distance between Saros and Lebin. Shaking his head, he turned his attention to the small island.
Saros seemed to be the southern-most island in a long chain of islands stretching northwest to southeast in the southern sea. The island was small and potato-shaped, with a mountain situated on its northernmost end. The only heavily wooded area on the island appeared to be a forest wrapped around the mountain's eastern side, and, seeing as there was a forest around him and a giant mountain behind him, that's where he guessed he was.
There appeared to be a settlement on the coast northeast of the forest. That seemed to be his best option at the moment; hopefully it was a port where he could charter a ship.
With his destination in mind, he put the map back into his bag and pulled out the loaf of bread. As he munched on it, he began to silently make his way northeast through the forest, trying to remember his dream.


Copyright 2011 by Eric Greer. All rights reserved.