Path of Shadow

Chapter 2: Punishment

 I wake with a start.

          I sit up, panting. I look around.

          "What the... ?" I say, and I can't remember a thing. Then it comes back to me. My name is Tankra, and I am the Spirit of Darkness.

          "Argh!" I shout as a pounding headache hits me... and I pass back out.

*   *   *

          When I wake up, blinding white burns my eyes. I close them, and blink repeatedly. I can feel my skin start to burn a little bit. When I sit up, I notice a lamp to my left. I squint slightly at it, and it bursts into sparks. I hate light so much. Only then do I realize that I am in a room of light. My skin starts to burn off. I close my eyes and draw inward, cocooning my life essence with my mind, keeping the light away from it. I can feel my body start to burn away, leaving only my mind and life essence. Now, I am only an entity of purely mental properties, and it will be that way for the next thousand years or so. I am dumped back into the silver fields at home. Now, the real hell of my punishment begins. Anything I imagine will be given form by my mind, and I can no longer warp from here, so I have to deal with this absolute hell-hole for the next millenia.

          "Great," I groan, "I have to deal with this again. Why do I keep straying off my intended path... ?" My frustration appears in front of me in the form of a large, ugly bug-looking thing. This only increases my frustration, making the creature grow bigger and uglier. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to calm down. Soon after, I hear silence.

          I sigh, and turn away, my eyes still closed, and run away, shaking my head, and I trip over the long grass, and stumble for a long time before regaining my footing. Then I remember that I cannot leave these moonlit fields. I can feel fear building up inside me, but I need to fight it... I should not be scared. I've done this countless times.