UNFINISHED: Prince of Madness

{Arc 2: Journey} ∞ Chapter 11

A few rays of light had managed to penetrate above and creep into the area, but they were not enough to illuminate everything. The walls of the tomb were made of sandstone, greyed but otherwise untouched; the ceiling was intact, but had aged to the point of dilapidation. Now, the worn wood had peeled away to revealing the scorching sun that bathed the surface of the desert.
A set of steps carved into the stone marked the entrance, the hole through which he had come;  the hole he had boarded up in order to seal his own fate. The rest of the room was a narrow rectangle, enough to fit one man in width and four in length. He had made sure of that - laying on the ground and measuring his own height from head to toe seemed to be the most reliable way. Once upon a time, he had laughed about his somewhat obsessive tendencies. And then...
Yes, he had lost things. Nearly everything - and nearly the thing most dear to him of all. A life he valued far greater than his own.
He would be willing to sacrifice everything, including his own freedom, to keep that life glowing. It had hurt them both, but... the sealing had to be done. To preserve the precious child.
And then he had sealed himself, in a hastily-built hideout he'd dug out himself. He'd gone as far as to bring his coffin, too - it seemed a waste of resources to leave the thing gathering dust in the depths of the palace. So he'd dragged it so it could gather dust here, with his body inside it.
The world was a void. It had been for... so long now. An eternity, almost. But if he concentrated, he could just about recall the coffin that had been designed for him: a body of Corinthian bronze, with edges of sterling silver and symbols carved and filled with white gold. He had considered it too fancy for someone of his stature, but could not deny its' breath-taking beauty. After being forced to accept the gift, he was glad to have finally put it to use.
He wondered what had become of the world above him. Had the war ravaged everything, or had it come to a more peaceful end? Perhaps civilisation had evolved, or perhaps all had been destroyed.
He did not know. He only saw flashes of the inside of his tomb, rare glimpses of something other than the black and his memories. He wondered when he would stop dreaming and finally be awoken from the eternal sleep he had cursed himself with.