Shades of Pale

2

Setting:  Purgatory

Joy opens her eyes, her vision blurry. She stumbles about confused by her ominous surroundings. The blood red moon hangs in the dark purple sky, seemingly frozen in time as if it were a permanent dusk. Petrified trees all around her reaches high towards the freezing cold sky. The deathly wilderness around her sends chills down her spine as she struggles to move about.

Dazed and confused, she tries to remember what just happened, but can't seem to put her thoughts together.
"I'm gonna be a father!!" The thought of Luke's words rushes to her like the ocean waves. "I love you joy,"
"Luke!!! Luke babe where are you!?" She calls out amongst the cold darkness, but no answer.
"How did i.. how did I get here?" She asks herself.
She leans up against a tree, slowly assuming the fetal position. Losing hope and feeling despair all around her, she starts to sob quietly in the hallow darkness. The dirt pathway in front of her seemingly leads nowhere.

"Stop crying miss, please." a haunting voice says permeating from the darkness.
"Who said that? Who's there?" She says breaking a sharp branch off of the tree, ready to defend herself.
"Ouch!! Now why would you do that?" Says the tree.
She jumps back, amazed at the sight of it. Its face, resembles father time himself, the branches, sway slowly in the cold, cold air.
"I-I'm sorry." She says nervously dropping the branch.
"You should not cry here, for you should not give up hope my dear." The tree says.
"What do you mean, where am I?
"You are neither dead nor alive, where you go is up to you.
"Where-I ...go? Where's Luke?." She demanded.
"The one you call Luke... ah yes was swept away by the stewards, he is with death now," the tree says. "Only you and your unborn remain."

"Un-born," Joy says breathing heavily as all of her memories come rushing back to her. You mean.. he can't come back she says as sadness and rage engulfs her. "No, he's the father of my child Noooooooo!!" She says letting out a blood curling scream into the icy air above. Placing her hand over her womb, she falls to her knees crying hysterically.
The tree leans forward, using its branches to pull her towards it.
"Don't be afraid my dear, there's still hope for you and your unborn."
The tree points to a golden pyramid to the east. Its glossy surface shines amongst the wilderness, it's essence of life attracts her.
"Go on now, the quicker the better before the stewards find you," The tree says smiling at her innocence. "Do not get pulled below, when dark clouds appear."

"Dark, clouds," she says puzzled.
She lets out a deep sigh, fighting the sadness onto her feet.
"Thank you" She said.
The tree smiles hopefully at her as a blade unexpectedly penetrates though it from behind, slicing through the eye of the tree impaling her right shoulder. She let's out a harrowing scream, the sight of the black liquid leaking from the wound frightens her, freezing her in place. She falls to the ground again, slowly crawling backwards watching in horror as a masked woman hacks through the tree. Joy attempts to run, but trips over a tree root, falling down. The woman stands over her, her eyes glowing red, her white shoulder length hair blows in the breezy darkness. A menacing smile takes over her pale white face as she senses the essence in her womb.

"Life once again" the masked evil says raising the sword high above.
Before she can strike her blow, the root Joy tripped over rises out of the ground, and the dying tree uses it to impale the masked woman, pinning her to the ground.
"Go on my dear protect your unborn, do not let the wretched consume you," the tree says before petrifying.
The masked woman struggles before expiring, and Joy looks on in horror as dark clouds gather above, and many hands start to rise up out of the deathly floor, pulling her assailant under. As the body is sinking towards the afterlife, an amulet in the shape of a crescent dislodges itself from her arm, landing in front of Joy.

She looks at it, attracted by its golden glow. A liberating sensation runs through her body as she reaches for it. She finds herself accepting the dark energy which radiates from the amulet. It clamps on to her forearm, unleashing its will upon her body. Her soul tries to fight back but is overtaken. She falls to her knees, still fighting back in her head. Clamping the dirt below, dark tears fall from her face into the rough. She takes a deep breath as she feels her soul collapsing under the weight of the darkness emanating from the amulet. She rises back to her feet, the wound in her shoulder miraculously healed. feeling the presence of others surrounding her, moving closer. The dark clouds completely cloak the sky above, and she can feel the wretched's presence all around her.. She raises her head, her eyes glowing red among the darkness. The glowing eyes of demons and undead approach her slowly, attracted to the life inside of her. She picks up the sword that was just used against her,"You want my baby? huh!?" She shouts with a warped voice. "I have nothing to lose, your asses are mine," she says before charging at the wretched shadows.
"Come and get it!!" she lashes out. Her soul black as tar, her eyes red with blood.