Hero's Bane

Chapter 49: Must You Be So Foolish

(Art by Art-of-fff Tumblr) :3

Steve was so cold he was shivering badly, it was as if ice was resting on his skin and remained there without melting; leaving a chilling and yet burning feeling. The frosty sensation was prickling like tiny sharp shards of ice icicles grating against him and made him feel numb all over, he tried to rub his arms together to create a little warmth but it didn't help at all. He could barely even feel them or any part of his body for that matter. It actually hurt to move even in the slightest, feeling as though he was being cut with each shift. Steve tried again to get the warmth to spark from the friction but he didn't feel anything but pain, he just couldn't shake the freezing feeling gnawing on him.

A low moan soon filled his ear and it sounded absolutely awful, like an young man who was in terrible pain. That voice then cried out in agony, it was like someone was torturing the poor guy. The cold particle shards could be one reason but Steve had a feeling it was something else, something worse. Another voice soon sounded in his ear and it was that of an old woman who seemed to be weeping and begging for relief, his heart wrenched from the though of an elderly lady crying while on her knees and pleading for mercy. Steve definitely didn't like what was going on. More groans and cries soon surrounded him and it was starting to scare the miner, these wails and shouts for help was really becoming familiar and he didn't like it one bit. He was too afraid to open his eyes but he just had to, he knew it was going to be hard since the biting ice made him feel like he was buried under a ton of sand but he needed to see his surroundings and so he forced them open.

He froze. He was freely flowing in a world of see-through murky brown sand and everything he saw made time just come to a halt, he couldn't even draw breath because he was so shocked. Wait, he couldn't even feel himself breathing, why did he not realize this sooner?! Many forms of wailing faces swam around him with their cries, they too flowed freely and their expressions and faces were awkwardly shaped and warped into inhuman figures. There was so many of them, so many souls in agony. They all moved about and passed by him without care, only weeping and wailing in misery.

Steve shook his head back and forth, he really couldn't believe his eyes. His worst fear had just been realized, he was now a trapped soul amongst the dreadful sand of the Nether. He looked all around and then forced himself through the heavy freezing particles in any direction to escape the sounds of torment, he moved to his left and an even colder draft went through him, he looked back as he saw something passing by and it was a soul. Frightened he moved to the right but there was a big cluster of the spirits and just being close to them made him freeze more. He glanced all around to find any kind of freedom from the sea of despair and found a deep red ceiling that had little to no souls near it, Steve moved upwards to get away from the other spirits. As he went up he could feel the clear icy sand become more warmer and less thick but the grains still irritated him, but it was actual relief compared to being trapped in the deep cold. So then why did all of the souls stay near the bottom? Wasn't it better at the top?

Steve squinted as he got closer to the ceiling, that red cap was starting to look more like Netherrack and the sand was now less dense and he moved about more easier. He could see the shapes of Nether landscape as he ascended, that was when he realized he was reaching the surface of the sand. Maybe he could free himself somehow? Steve made a weak smile as he finally made it to a barrier and he stopped where the sand ended, his smile faded as his hand moved up to the barrier but he couldn't push his hand past it. He really was trapped.

Steve let himself sink back a little, completely disheartened in realizing he couldn't get past the invisible obstruction. He then moved up and tried to push against in with the eagerness to escape, he just couldn't give in yet. He failed to get through the blockade and so he backed up and slammed into it, fighting the grainy thick sand to force himself through the invisible wall in his attempts but he couldn't break the surface of the thick matter. He continuously rammed himself at the barrier, determined to force himself free, he reeled back to try again until a giant cyan and blue form stepped on the surface nearby and stopped. Steve instantly recognized the outfit of the large form standing just ahead of him and above the surface of the soulsand.