After the light came darkness.
Through the darkness of the ruined citadel corridor, steady footsteps echoed against its forgotten walls. Reaching an area where light was let in through fallen bricks, a youth was revealed.
Walking through the temple, Arthur observed its forlorn aesthetic. Dense mosses and ferns gave the walls a greenish hue, coupled with an unending tangle of ivy vines.
The flooring which was formerly sealed with polished alabaster was now riddled with countless sand filled potholes. As Arthur walked on, seeing only by few light rays, he noticed something.
The walls and floors were filled with numerous gashes, as if it once contained a dreadful battle. The markings made by once a powerful blade were now almost invisible due to nature's reclaim.
' Fascinating, who knows if it's the same swordsman waiting for me at the end of all this.' He thought as he walked through the corridor.
Moments passed and he stood before a large garden with dead trees and a large number of swords thrusted into the red hue sand.
Although it was relatively small compared to the actual size Arthur thought the citadel to be. He had two options at the moment, one was to go through the door just beside him which ended the corridor.
Or he could walk into it the garden; through the narrow part created in the garden of blades, and into the second corridor which lead to one of the citadel's main building.
' I need to end this quickly, I think I have overstayed my welcome.' Hyping himself over and over again, Arthur raised enough courage to step into the garden.
Instantly he regretted the action as the sensation of stepping on countless needles assaulted his mind. He groaned trying to run back, however the wall behind him collapsed to block his path.
Staring up at the dead star, Arthur steeled himself to continue forward. Every step brought agony and torment. With time he learnt to swallow his grunts and keep moving forward.
By the time he had walked through the zigzag path of the garden, he wasted no time and jumped into the second corridor.
He sat on the ground and massaged his leg which although wasn't bleeding but was causing him so much pain.
' I think I should rest for a while.' Arthur tried relaxing as his pain subsided.
Right when he thought he could rest. A terrifying bellow resonated through the citadel, a painful reminder of why he was in it in the first place.
' I can't die here…, or what if I have already died in my world and am now in hell. The first living being I see could crush my world and not even notice. How am I still sane.'
As he thought the citadel shook violently causing dust and tiny specks to fall from the ceilings.
Hurriedly he stood and limping through the intently dark corridor. His palm rested on the wall and he tottered through the darkness with pain aching through his feet.
Arthur walked for twelve full minutes before finally seeing a dull light glimmering at a distance. His walk broke into a sprint, maybe he could find a away home.
The light grew brighter and warmer, however Arthur began noticing some strange sounds coming from where he was headed. It didn't take long for him to notice it was the clanging of metal against metal.
Doubt slowly crept into his heart, the sounds were becoming louder each passing moment, then boom. The wall few steps away from him exploded into slabs of falling bricks.
Dust filled the air, yet Arthur could see purposeful arcs of light flashing at inhumane speeds. The sparks of light disappeared as quickly as it came and Arthur followed curiously.
He was close to the truth.
Cautiously he walked into the dust veil and through the area of broken wall. He coughed, using his hand to wave away the dust. ' God no!' His exclamated his eyes widening.
The place he just entered was the throne room of the citadel. ' Isn't this supposed to be a temple.' It was large, so huge Arthur couldn't clearly see the other side.
The vast room was illuminated by numerous red flames torches which hung on the walls and pillars. However this sources of illumination served only as fancy, their main purpose was dwarfed by a glorious sphere of light above them.
While Arthur saw all this, his main focus was on the flashed of simmering light which were constantly moving around. ' Is this some sort of defense mechanism?'
Studying the erratic pattern is with the three shimmering lights moved. He came up with a plan to cross the room while avoiding the lights. He wasn't interested in learning what they did when they touched a human.
' There are three lights, the first, red and blue, the second grey and red and the last black and grey. Bypass all of them and I would figure out how to escape this world.'
Gritting his teeth in pain, Arthur dashed forward with all the strength he could muster. However as his first foot touched the floor of the hall, terror hijacked his will.
His heart pounded in his chest and his perception of time slowed immensely. He could clearly see what the flashes of lights were. ' Those are demons moving so fast I can only sense them as flashes of light.'
While he knew they paid no attention to him, he soon discovered that those beings was merely the least of his horror.
Instantly appearing before him was an eight foot, doom armoured, warrior of darkness. Arthur's mortal mind couldn't describe.
No one had to tell Arthur that this being had evil intent towards him. The warrior's very presence screamed it into his very existence.
With a great infernal blade to match it's towering humanoid form, Arthur could have swore his body had already given up. Fly towards his torso to cleave him in halves, Arthur's legs gave out.
He dropped to his knees and it saved him. By centimeters the great blade flew over his head. Immediately Arthur saw a chance at redemption.
Adrenaline spiked through his blood cells and he rose like a rocket, running at insane speeds. He was rendered unable to run straight across the room due to six other beings similar to the one who attacked him.
Unlike his assailant, the others kept each other in fierce combat. From the looks of it, although they seemed like allies due to the style of thier armouring, although their battle told a different tale.
Similarly as harrowing to the one before him, Arthur couldn't focus on them least they notice his gaze and divert their attention towards him.
Arthur knew they could all erace him with a thought but for some reason they didn't. Even the one attacking him used its blade instead of conceptual annihilation.
It was as if it didn't want to kill him, but at the same time did.
Running because his life depended on it, Arthur decided to follow the pillars as that seemed like his best bet in avoiding the combatants. His relentless assailant followed with a much slower speed, even though it had instantaneous speed.
Even with this slower speed, it still caught up to him effortlessly.
Its blade fell, luckily Arthur stumbled forward. A sonic bang was heard as one of the magnificent pillars fell. Arthur had survived because of luck, but he doubted it would repeat.
Without looking back he continued his dash, his focus only on the end of the hall. Arthur's feet ached with each step and slowly his speed was fading to distance.
By now he could see a throne at the end of the hall. As he thought a glowing cube of crimson and ash floated before the throne, ' That's my way out, that's…'
Before he could formulate on getting the hovering cube, a force slammed into him. Immediately he got lunched forward like a rag doll.
Landing with a sickening thud, his broken body rolled for a few minutes before stopping in an awkward position.
He was hit by a sonic bang.
Every single bone in his body was fractured or dislocated. Calmly the eight foot warrior walked towards his bleeding form dragging its great blade behind him.
It stopped above Arthur's pitiful form, twitching and inhumane. Looking at him for a moment, it raised it's blade and brought it down on Arthur's left arm severing it instantly.
After doing this it turned to look at his comrades currently battling each other and moved. Its blade moved like a whirlwind, knocking down each of the combatants.
Silence persisted now that six of the towering warriors lay unmoving. It turned to return to its original position before being disturbed by Arthur presence.
Unbelievably Arthur had reached to grasp the cube. His broken form had defiled all odds and crawled up The throne. The warrior moved, his blade severing Arthur's remaining hand once it tightly held the cube.
That action was futile as an explosion of light consumed everything and once it cleared Arthur was standing in the ruins of his world.