The Pillar of Eden

Chapter II: The Descent

        He was in free fall. He couldn't believe he was about to die without the answers he sought. But, none of that mattered now because he was falling like a rock. He had been falling for a while and he had his eyes shut the whole time. Panic was starting to set in.
      He opened his eyes and all he saw was the white of the mist that had swallowed him.
    He tried to scream but nothing escaped his lips. All he could do now was wait. He was to shocked to even cry. So all he did was wait. The fog itself was so white that he had forgotten which way was up.
"I'll know the answer soon enough."  He just kept thinking this to himself.

    After what seemed to be an eternity, he was hit with a blinding flash of green light. The smell of damp earth and cedar flooded his senses. He was approaching the canopy of a thick forest.

"So that's what's at the bottom." he whispered to himself. He closed his eyes and awaited impact.

No!

His eyes shot open. He jumped up from the stone platform. He couldn't believe it. Not only had he survived, but he had somehow wound up at the top of the great structure.

"What!" he exclaimed in mass hysteria and confusion. "This can't be real!" he had so many more questions and the answers weren't there. Now he was afraid.

"Who am I!?" he muttered. "What's happening to me!?"

He couldn't hold back his emotions. He began to weep uncontrollably.        In that moment the great throbbing pain in his skull had returned and this time, it wasn't going away.

"Uuggghh", he shot back in writhing agony. "Aaaahhhhgg", he didn't know what was happening.

"Gggaaaahh", he clamped his hands to the sides of his head and prayed for the agony to end. But it didn't, it only got worse. The whole platform began to shake. He felt as if the whole structure was about to collapse. "Aaahhhhhhh", he felt as though his head were about to explode when suddenly... it stopped. The pain was gone, but not forgotten. And the platform had stopped shaking.

"Oh my God!" he exhaled with a breath of relief. Suddenly a stone peg sprung from the center of the platform.

"Oh." he pondered for a second and knew exactly what to do. He walked over to the neat pile of items and picked up the hammer. Still a bit light headed from earlier, he stumbled forward but kept his balance. He noticed the hammer's elegant design. It wasn't a tool for repairs and maintenance. This was a tool of war. He stopped in front of the peg. He analyzed the weapon before him. A strong handle with engravings cut deep into the solid wood. They looked to be some kind of text. But he wasn't sure. He looked to the hammer's head
And saw similar markings along the side that wrapped to the back spike. The head itself was forged from a beautiful black metal. At the tip of the hammer was the same symbol that the necklace had. It was cut deep into the metal.
    He felt so powerful with this weapon in his hands. He raised it above his head, and brought it down forcefully upon the little peg. The symbol had imprinted on the peg's face. It sunk back into the platform and the symbol began to glow. The platform began to shake again. He heard a rumbling coming from the side of the platform. He ran to the side from where he heard the rumbling, and discovered a long winding staircase that wrapped around the corner of the platform. The staircase was covered by an awning that was supported by an endless row of pillars on the right of the stairs, wich marked the edge that led to a terribly familiar fall.