As he was running through the dark woods, the scintillating scent of ash wafted through the air. Continuously, he trudged through the blockages of trees and bushels. Almost... unendingly...
Forever, he kept running. To the max, he pushed his legs to move him. However, he couldn't escape it.
That scintillating scent of ash. The hot blanket of grey. The stranglers of all stranglers. The intangible yet dangerous smoke couldn't be escaped. And faster than the smoke came, something hotter came for him.
A torrent of orange and red light flooded towards him, devouring the bushels, the flowers, and the trees alike. All that had vibrant color became naught more than objects of a vanta black color. And just like those pitiful plants, the sea of red would soon devour him whole. Those flames would soon burn him alive
Or would it?
Only he would know.
And like that, a slight hint of worry appeared on his face. He feared that the flames would reach him and roast him inside and out, but something strange was going on.
An onlooker would call it a miracle.
A horror fan would find it suspenseful.
A runner would feel proud of him.
After all, those flames could do nothing to him. As much as he was running from the flames, it was more like the flames were pursuing him. And like many pursuits, the results that emerged were fruitless.
That's right. That rushing torrent of flames wasn't anywhere near him. They continued to move fast, but they weren't close enough to catch up to him, let alone make him sweat through the heat.
He had no need to worry. Yet... he still worried.
Then again, he wasn't even looking at the sea of flames. So does that mean he was worried over something other than the flames?
Was he truly gripping onto his heart as he treaded toward the dark shadow casted ahead in contrast to the bright flames behind him?
Was he afraid of what lay ahead?
"BLEGH"
And just like that, he hurled something towards that darkness.
No, he just hurled. He hurled something red like the flames, except it was way darker, devoid of any light. It was a liquid far darker than mud, which sprayed across the air, staining the bark of the trees surrounding him. It was all around the edges of his lips, staining it like lipstick. He coughed it up, coughed it up, coughed it up, coughed it up, coughed it up, coughed it up, coughed it up, and coughed it up, and coughed i--
"BLEGH! GAH!"
It had gotten far worse. It wasn't just coming out of his mouth, but it soon flowed out of his nostrils as well. Almost as if his innards were flooding. And with that flood came another problem
"COUGH! COUGH!"
He had grabbed onto his own throat as if he were aiming to strangle himself, yet the answer was quite the opposite.
"COUGH! COUGH! C--BLEGH!"
Right then and there, more of that liquid flew out of his mouth. However, this time, he had stopped coughing and felt a bit of relief. It was almost as if the flood in his throat was stopping him from breathing. And now he was finally free of that suffocation.
"Hah... hah..."
Though he seemed to be exhausted. Was it from all the coughing or from all the vomiting?
Thud!
All of a sudden, he fell.
To his utter surprise, he had hit the ground which had been painted over by all that red from before. He had unintentionally fallen down in the midst of his run from the flames, and yet... he still hadn't tried to get up. No, he couldn't. He couldn't bring his legs to lift him up from his sprawled out position. The most vulnerable position he could be in for those flames to get him. To burn him asunder and leave as nothing more than dark ash.
And now the end would come?
Or would it?
"Kh... kh..."
He was in utter pain, visible from his faces constant contortions. Such pain would be natural from being burned alive. It was a pain worse than touching a hot stove as that pain would continue on and on. On and on, it would burn him, kill him, until he was no more than a remnant of black.
Or would it?
"Kh... kh!"
Before they came to reach him, the flames had suddenly stopped in their tracks. They seemed to no longer chase after him and remained ever-so-still, just continuing to burn brighter right then and there.
Burning ever-so-brightly yet not moving one bit was rather strange. It was almost as if those flames were now observing him. As if they had a mind of their own and decided to no longer pursue him. And from the look of the situation, one could tell why.
It didn't need to chase him at all. It didn't need to burn him.
"Kh... kh!"
Because right then and there, something else was killing him. Though, the assailant was nowhere to be found
"Kh... kh!"
And as his body continued to take on the pain, it had expelled more of that liquid from his mouth. However...
Tssss...
Something had poured onto the floor, but instead of it flowing from his mouth, it flowed from somewhere else in his lower body.
Tssss...
And just like that, he soiled his pants.
"Kh... Ahhhhhhhhh!"
Suprisingly, that sound was far from what would be seen as a sigh of relief. That's when it was clear something was amiss.
A closer look at his pants would show how wet it was, but there was something wrong.
The smell. It was off. It should've been a warm, unpleasant smell of ammonia, yet this was far different. Instead, a familiar smell from earlier had emerged.
Yes, the smell of iron that came from that red liquid.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
In addition to his lower half, his entire was now in utter pain. One could really tell, just by looking at his contorted face. He had tried to hide it by gritting his teeth, but his eyes told different stories. After all, that pain would make anyone bawl their eyes out.
But did it?
"Ahhh... waaaahhhhhhhh!"
And so he cried. He let out his feelings of pain and allowed his eyes to shed those feelings out as well. However, something weird happened. Something happened aside from the somber release of waterworks.
What instead trickled out of his eye sockets other than the usual salty tears wasn't even water to begin with. Unlike water, it flowed quite slowly down his face. And unlike water, instead of a clear color, it had a rather dark color.
"Wahhhhhhhh!"
It was unbearable. It was truly unbearable. The liquid didn't stop at flowing out of his mouth, but it continued on from his nostrils, his crotch, and his eyes.
How pitiful it looked. One could tell from a glance what laid up ahead for it.
And coincidentally, he reached his hands towards... whatever was up ahead. Maybe he wanted to get up and move towards it, but his body could do nothing more than shake heavily as if it were convulsing.
No, it was convulsing, but despite that, he still managed to reach his hands outwards. Towards whatever it was that laid up ahead. In the middle of all that, his right hand was now on full display. However, that display was quite unsavory.
After all, it's not very often you see someone's veins take on a purple and red color as if they'll swell up and cause him to die.
Nonetheless, his shaky body still reached forward. Meanwhile, his left hand had gripped onto his own throat for reasons unknown. And something far more disgusting could be seen on his throat.
Actually, it was just as unpleasant as his right hand, but the realization that came from the sight made one feel far more disgusted. Seeing that the purple and red color of his veins painr over his entire body meant that it was certain...
But he still stretched his hands towards whatever laid ahead. Was he hoping to be saved?
Despite all that liquid flowing out of his eyes, he still kept them open and looked forward. Towards what laid ahead.
And like that, a voice with the allure of a harmful flower called out to him.
"Heee~y, have you ever been poisoned before?"
Or rather, that voice with the allure of a harmful flower had given him a bitter fair well.
"FUUU--"
Before he could even reach halfway to what he wanted to say, a completely different sound came out of his mouth once again.
"Mhm... BLEEEGH!"
And just like that, his pupils of his eyes, which had a purple-red color, had dilated to mere dots
And just like that, his face that looked ahead suddenly fell flat, as if sleeping on his stomach.
And just like that, his body's constant convulsing came to a stop.
And just like that, his mouth had no longer spilled out any of that liquid.
And just like that, this world became mere darkness.
*****
"Gah!"
And just like that, someone who had been lying on his back instead of being sprawled out on his stomach had finally gotten up.
"The hell?"
He looked around him and found himself in a forest-like environment. Though, the things he had seen in this forest emanated a feeling far darker than a mere forest.
And then he looked at his body. To no suprise, his body was covered in blood. From head to toe, he was still drenched in that sticky blood, which reeked of iron. However, something else was mixed in. And that was that warm and unpleasant smell of ammonia. Centered right around his crotch.
Yet, he paid it no mind. Rather, he directed his attention towards somewhere else on his upper body. Specifically, his left arm, or rather... where his left arm should've been.
And that's when he realized it.
"Oh yeah, I'm still in hell."
He had seemed to be laughing it off, yet his eyes were telling a different story as they allowed all that water to run down his cheek.
He had opened his mouth widely, and something came from it.
"Yaaaaaawn."
Oh yeah, he was asleep not too long ago. No one could see what had happened, but he was experiencing hell not too long ago. In a world separate, that was non-existent so long as his eyes were open. Despite him still having had both arms and not being chased by monsters in that world, he experienced something fat worse than that and lost something far greater than his arm.
There was a hell he had just woken up from, and now there was a hell he had woken up into.
Either way, his life is still hell.
*****
Was it his hellish life that shaped him into the adventurer he was now? If so, what the hell did he go through for that to happen?