I was entranced for a moment, unbelieving of the sight before my eyes, never had I felt this way before, the way it reached out as if beckoning me forward like a long-forgotten partner, two halves finally becoming whole again. It drew me in, and after not having seen it for so long, my only desire was to reunite and bask in its burning glory once again. Snapping out of my thoughts, I took stock of the situation. And soon realised that the prison walls were helping me, undulating in rhythmic patterns that pushed me slightly forward each time. So, I mustered up whatever energy I had left despite my aching body and wormed my way along with my eyes set on the only thing that mattered to me at the moment.

People could hear muffled screams and other similar noises coming from within a house if they were nearby. The house walls were composed of solid pale stone that seamlessly fit together and gave the residence a rectangular shape. Decorative carvings were etched onto the walls at equal distances. They depicted many things, from births to battles to the passing of individuals recording all these events for future generations.

The house’s roof was slightly convex and layered with tiles that helped reflect the burning overhead sun, keeping the home’s inside cool. The entrance to the house was barred by a wooden door. Sounds of the commotion within escaped through arched holes in the wall that acted as windows,

Attached to the side of the house was a smaller structure. It was similarly composed of rock. However, it was simpler in design and only had three walls allowing the interior to be seen. Various weapons were displayed along the walls; they glinted as the sun’s rays shone down into the small workshop.

The sun illuminated the figure of a man working away on an anvil within. His muscles glistened from the sweat and bulged as he struck the red hot metal with a hammer. He had a slight beard and dark blonde hair; blue eyes reflected the image of searing hot metal as sparks flew each time his hammer made contact with the glowing piece.

If one were to view this scene from afar, it would seem as though the blacksmith was entirely focused on his craft, but if they were to take a closer look, they would realise that was not the case. His hands were slightly trembling, and he was breathing was erratic. His eyes were dazed, and it seemed as though he were in some sort of trance, not concentrating on the task at hand, his motions stiff and repetitive.

A loud, rough voice broke the man out of his stupor, “If you beat that metal any harder, you might lose your arm Smiðr.”

The hammer paused at the top of its arc as the man slowly turned his head towards the source of the voice, “What else can I do while my wife is giving birth? We’ve waited so long for a child, and finally, the Great Guardian has gifted us with one; yet when it matters the most, all I can do is wait.”

Smiðr exhaled a long, drawn-out breath as he slowly made his way to a bench and sat down, resting his elbows on his knees. The other individual, now seen to be a large burly man, slowly made his way to the bench and sat alongside Smiðr.

“There is not much we can do when it comes to bringing a new life into the world. That is a job left only to the women. All we can do is wait and pray that everything goes well.” The burly man said while staring off into the distance as if reminiscing about the past. “Besides, Ljós is one of the strongest warriors we have. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“I know, I’m just worried, is all. I hope everything goes well, and I get to finally hold my child in my arms.”

The two men sat in silence, gazing off into the distance, each in their own thoughts.

It was slow going. The passage was neverending despite the light seeming so close by. My body had long lost any feeling; all I could do to not give up was focus my mind on the goal ahead.

‘Escape.’

‘Survive.’

‘Live.’

I repeated these words to myself to occupy my mind and remind myself what I had to do. I could only rely upon myself; something deep within me screamed this fact. These words galvanised my state of mind and became an obsession that enabled me to keep moving forward. As this perpetual struggle continued, I eventually realised that the prison walls were no longer undulating as frequently as they used to. I only realised it at this moment because I took a short pause to rest and hopefully recover some energy to keep me going.

‘Why has the prison stopped helping me? What happens now? I was barely making any progress before. It would only get harder from now on.’ Fear welled up inside me. It was already a seemingly impossible task with the prison’s assistance pushing me forward, but now without it, could I even escape anymore? As fear nearly overwhelmed me, I grabbed hold of it. Fear would not help me now. If anything, it would bring about my demise, and I refuse to be killed by something of my own making.

I tightened my grasp over it and cast it aside. The fear was still there, but it no longer influenced my mind. Suddenly, I felt a slight rush of energy course through my body. It lingered for the briefest of moments, but I felt rejuvenated. Of course, I was nowhere near as well off as it seemed, but it was a change and something that could help me escape. My thoughts churned as I searched for the origin of this phenomenon, eventually coming to the only logical conclusion.

It took longer to sense the flow than usual, which was attributed to the circumstances I was currently in. Being mentally and physically exhausted definitely had detrimental effects on feeling the flow, but eventually, I managed and discovered the cause of the rush of energy.

‘Strange, the circulation of flow in my body has improved slightly. Is this why I got that small burst of energy? If the flow is responsible for the energy within my body, then…’ My vision shifted to the tether connecting myself to the entity. It was in trouble. Their once bright network pathways now appeared dull. The flow within its network was steadily decreasing, and if this continued very soon, there would no longer be any left. I didn’t have the luxury to think any longer about the situation. Every moment spent hesitating was less flow I would potentially have access to.

I focused on the tether that connected me to the entity to figure out how to increase the rate I was absorbing the flow from the entity. While closely observing flow move through our connection, I noticed that the entity’s flow was dark brown in colour. As it moved through the link, it became a lighter shade before eventually entering myself. Pushing that useless observation aside, I willed for my flow to pull at the connection, siphoning off an increased amount from the entity.

While I had been engrossed trying to figure out how to absorb more flow from the entity, it seems the prison walls had instead started constricting around me. This prison that was once helping me was now working against me, adding to the already monumental task of escaping. Not only that, but the constriction was also steadily increasing in strength. As each second crept by, it was only getting harder to move, but I knew there was no hope of escaping with just this amount of energy. There was a notable increase in the flow travelling through the tether, but it wasn’t enough. I needed more if I was going to have any chance of surviving to tell the tale.

‘I need more. I refuse to give up now when escape is nearly within sight!!! Not when I’m so close to touching the LIGHT!!!’ I shifted my attention to the entity itself towards the point where their tether was attached. It connected to one of the critical points in their network, the lowest amongst them. I decided to direct my flow out of my body towards the node. As it left the confines of my body, it immediately started dissipating, but I had already expected this as I had discovered it while experimenting. I kept feeding a steady stream to my flow appendage to negate its dissipation, which was more manageable thanks to the increased flow I was already pulling from the tether.

As the appendage snaked to the node, I willed its tip into a point, subsequently stabbing it at the wall of the node. It took a couple of tries, but I eventually managed to create a hole from where I could enter. It seemed that the entity could feel what was occurring as they got increasingly agitated as the process was performed. I knew what I was doing at this point, what I was and what the entity was, that this action would most certainly kill them, but I did not care. If it meant surviving and getting out of here, I would make the same choice every time.

The instant my appendage entered the node, it was met with an immense repulsive force very nearly pushing out. Had I not been entirely focused, that would have likely been the case, but as it stands, I barely managed to hold on and anchor the appendage into the breach in the wall of the node. I opened up a funnel from my network to the entity’s node through the appendage and started to siphon the flow out. Performing so many intricate actions while being mentally fatigued very nearly proved impossible, but my constant practice while being trapped in here paid off.

Initially, the entities flow did not cooperate and even tried to fight back. However, as soon as it entered my network, I smothered any resistance by encasing it with my own and erased any form of revolt. After draining as much as possible, my network was so filled to the brim it was threatening to explode. The entity’s, or I should say my mother’s flow was all but non-existent by this point. With my body now bursting with energy, my attention fell back on the light. It was my purpose, my reason for fighting, my everything.

The walls were still constricting, and I had to move now or risk being entrapped within this prison forever. Commanding every muscle in my body to obey, I began squirming forward. There was barely any progress, but it became easier as I moved forward. I could hear muffled voices now. They sounded high pitched, frantic almost, probably because my mother was most likely dead and that I wasn’t out yet. But they couldn’t help in this situation. ‘The only one I can rely on is myself.’ Repeating those very same words, I pressed forth, my only comfort being the warm sensation that danced within me.

I was almost there and could nearly touch the end. The energy that had supported me was nowhere to be seen. The flow that had been coursing through my network had all but run dry now. The only thing keeping me moving at this point was sheer willpower. I didn’t come this far to falter right when the end was in reach. Tears blurred my vision, whether from the pain coursing through my body, the emotions churning within me or something else I did not know, ‘COME ON!!! PUSH!!! THE END IS RIGHT THERE!!! ESCAPE!!! SURVIVE!!! LIVE!!! LLLIIIIIVVVEEEE!!!’

I called upon every fibre of my being, every ounce of energy within my body and made one final lunge into the light.

“WWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

108 AG – Year of the Dragon, towards the end of spring.

A child was born.