Have you ever been in the darkness that you craved light like a starving man craves for food?
Have you ever felt so powerless that you craved for strength by all means, even if it cost killing a friend and drinking their blood?.
I have lived in this pain for so long that I have forgotten what it feels like to be a human.
Pain, agony, hell, anguish, and misery. These are all I consider as my names, because I can't remember who I am anymore. I have been in this darkness for so long, and now I feel like I have become the darkness itself.
I really wish I was dead, because my life has been like an endless nightmare. But the desire to see the last light has kept me alive. The desire for vengeance. The hunger to bathe in the blood of these damn gods. This has been the fuel that kept me moving till this day.
I'm Axley, the living corpse. Hahahaha...it sounds funny, right? Well, that was the title I have given myself after being trapped in this godforsaken island for 18 years. This is the age of the gods, in the shadow realm, and if you're not strong enough, you will be put in a place where you belong. And yeah... I'm currently in that place, the Hell Dungeon.
"Tsk..." The man in the nearby prison clicked his tongue, feeling irritated. "I don't even know what the imperial gods are thinking. Why would they keep us locked here and be killing a bunch of us every year? Those bastards aren't worthy to be called gods, they are demons instead." The man lamented.
The heavy metal doors of the main entrance cracked open, and a dim light spilled into the pitch-black prison. Right then, a man walked into the dungeon. He was holding a walking staff made of bones and a skull on the top. He was wearing a dark gray robe and has a long white beard and gray hair.
The tip of the staff hit the floor as he continued to walk forward while dragging a metal box, scraping across the floor.
I had my gaze fixed on him as he finally approached my compartment. Not because this was the first time I'm seeing him, but because he is the only one that seemed to care. The old man stared into my eyes and chuckled. He opened the box and picked up a piece of dried bread and tossed it towards me through the iron bars. The bread rolled to a stop just before my feet, but I didn't move. He dropped a cup of water there on the floor and picked up the rope that was tied to the box. He took a step forward, towards another prisoner, but he suddenly halted his steps and turned to look at me.
"You have not been eating for days now. If you really want to survive, then you need to eat. Humans can't survive without food," the old man said dryly. But I couldn't understand his language.
"I know you think that the gods are unfair and they deserve to die. But what can you do about it? Nothing. This is the Shadow Realm, not your little sympathetic human world. Even I, as the guardian of the Hell Dungeon, can't help you," the man said as he began to walk towards the next prisoner, dragging the metal box along with him.
"You want freedom? Then you need to stay alive, kid." His raspy voice trailed behind him as he walked away.
I was sitting on the floor, staring at the bread in front of me. Though I can't understand their language here, but somehow, I believe that he was saying something good to me. I reached out my trembling hand to pick up the bread on the floor. But the bread suddenly rose from the floor and floated in the air in front of my face.
I narrowed my gaze as I stared at the bread in suspicion. But it suddenly flew out of my cell through the space between the metal bars and flew into the cell opposite mine.
A man sitting in the opposite cell raised his hand and caught the bread. He looked at me through the corner of his eyes and scoffed.
"You filthy human think you're strong; even I, who can survive for months without food, still eat, but a frail human like you is claiming to be the tough one here... hahahaha," the man laughed. "I can't wait to see how you survive the next few coming days."
At that same moment, the dungeon doors swung open again, and a group of soldiers walked in. They began to unlock the gates and drag the prisoners out, including me and some other slaves.
Half of the prisoners were taken from the dungeon to the foot of a mountain at the broken stone, Golgotha. A horrible place where slaves are being tortured, destroyed, and brutally butchered. Some were tied up against a wooden pole, while others were tied against a massive black boulder.
A man appeared, and all the soldiers bowed in respect. I have seen this man countless times; he is one of the most evil creatures I have ever seen in my entire life. He has a red feather mark on his forehead and white marks under his two eyes.
There were three eagle feathers pinned to his hair, holding his long black hair in place like a hairpin. He is the executioner who is in charge of torturing us, and honestly, I don't know why. I have been asking myself this question for over a decade now, yet I have got no answers. Why are they torturing us? What are they really after, for them to be this heartless?. But there was no one to answer me.
A soldier stepped forward and said. "High priest, the holy sovereign has a message for you."
"Speak!" the man simply replied.
"The lord said that you should go all out this time, even if it meant all of them dying. We don't have enough time, we must achieve our goal today," the soldier spoke. The man chuckled darkly.
"Tell the Lord that this humble servant will follow his arrangements," the man said coldly, and the soldier quickly left the place.
The man beckoned the group of soldiers standing behind him, and they stepped forward and picked up several weapons laid on the table in front of us. I braced myself for what was about to come.
This has been a yearly routine for me for over 18 years now, and the faces of the other slaves here were all new to me. It seems I'm the only one who has survived this torture over the years.
A soldier approached me and stabbed a dagger deep into my thighs. I groaned in pain and tried to stop myself from screaming out loud. Even though I have gone through this process countless times. Yet, I still can't entirely get used to it. After all, this was pain.
The soldier proceeded to stab another two daggers into my arms, and they jabbed through my bones. I screamed in anguish as my blood began to soak through my cloth. But I know the soldiers weren't done yet. He pierced six needles into my chest and finally stepped back.
My body trembled, and I began to sweat. I could hear the miserable cries of other slaves as these soldiers tortured us for about one good hour.
After that, the man who is in charge finally stepped forward and began to cast a spell as he usually do. A black miasma enveloped us, and I could hear thunder blasting and storming across the sky as the man continued to speak in their strange language.
After a while, the man stopped, and the black energy enveloping us dispersed. The soldiers began to check everyone. I was almost at the verge of death, but I was still hanging on by a thread.
After checking the others, the soldiers confirmed that everyone is dead.
"High Priest, one is still alive," the soldier who checked me earlier reported.
The man approached me and stared into my eyes with a hint of shock on his face.
"You?..." the man muttered. "Can't believe that the little kid back then has grown into a man with pain and anguish. You really look like someone who has crawled out from hell." He smiled and nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"Hahahaha... good. It seems we have finally found what we are looking for," the man let out a wicked laugh.
He approached me and picked up a dagger from the table and stabbed it right through my heart.
I screamed in agony as my entire being shook violently and a mind-wrecking pain shot through my brain. The man didn't just stop there. He pulled out the dagger and stabbed it back into my heart and twisted the blade inside me. My body vibrated, and I felt my consciousness slipping away. I was drenched in my own blood and sweat. I have never wished for death like I do right now. I couldn't even scream anymore; I was only making mindless and useless sounds.
The man began to cast his spell again, and the black miasma enveloped me like a tornado, raging and buzzing around me. But this time. The black energy was rushing into my mouth, nose, ears, and every single part of my body with an opening. I felt my body burning up like I was set ablaze, and my head was buzzing with different sounds. Right then, I heard a strange voice in my head.