Stones and pieces of clumped dirt fell from the dangling roots, rushing down the cliff-side - causing even more earth and rocks to join them in the journey downwards. The small landslide was caused by a rushed movement above, my own movement as I clung to the slippery roots of a pine tree. At first I thought that climbing five meters up the cliff was an easy task, that the roots would provide decent support and assist me, making it trivial. Oh, I'd regret that, more so.. already did.

"..fff..." - My mind didn't have the strength to mumble curses as I looked down - seeing the land so far below me. My head spun at the sight, causing me to nearly slip and fall. It's not without reason every time people climb grand heights in movies, the same line seems to pop up every time: "Don't look down.". How would I not look? After two or so meters, nearly halfway up, I've felt the root I've clung to vibrate.. as if it was... ripping. The fall would surely kill me, though I WOULD get down rather fast...

Not even a second later my whole body sprung into action, as an arrow released from a bow. I flung myself towards the next bundle of roots, gripping them so hard - my fingers seemed to crack. A root broke down and fell, only to get stuck in the tendrils a few meters below.. Rocks fell down, drumming down the cliff. I was safe... but I looked down, following the sound of stones and earth crashing into the ground.. I couldn't even make them out in this distance..Indeed I was safe..

The issue here was.. the roots I've held to... Were dangling right above the steep drop.. no ground to climb down to, no turning back - as there were no more thick enough natural "ropes" that could possibly support my own weight. Instead of getting up, I had ended up going even further down.. So there I was, dangling from the cliff, clinging to the roots of a tree surrounded by large clumps of dirt, looking like a bunch of potatoes plucked fresh from the ground.. Hesitant to move, hesitant to blink, to breathe and move even a muscle.. I was beneath the ledge I've woken up on.. now the edge of the cliff seemed even further away.

A minute passed, then another.. eventually I've felt my muscles hurt a bit.. There was no way other than up.. so I started climbing, feeling sweat dripping down my neck. Every movement made my whole body flare in pain.. the earthquake had more of an impact on my body than I thought at first. From the dirt and dried blood, I couldn't tell that I was covered in humongous bruises all over... more bruised flesh than unbruised.. Now though, the pain notified me on my condition, but gritting my teeth I moved up... little by little... until my palm pressed upon the flat ground.. pulling the tired aching body over the edge.. to safety... finally. Face down, I lied there breathing heavily - sand and dirt clinging to my dried lips. I didn't care.. only pain kept me awake at this point, my head spun and I felt nauseous... seems like another concussion took place during the quake.

".. well.. in the grand scheme of things.. what is an another loose screw?" - I laughed like an idiot, dirt was blown away from the laughter, swirling away or sticking to my exposed teeth and gums. The whole situation was crazy.. this place was crazy.. seemed like I was finally going crazy as well.

My thoughts replayed the quake over and over and over again, like a video on repeat - even if I tried to brush the thought away, it just kept coming back. The roaring inside my head was what sent shivers down my spine... the black sun.. was it real? Was it the cause of the earthquake? If so.. it was a power so great, it made my whole body numb.. it was immeasurable to someone like me...

"So the dream is real or?" - I couldn't help but wonder... if I was to think of rules of this world as you'd usually think about lore in a game where nothing is told directly, I would eventually come up with a decent theory.. But now.. HOW?? How could that place be real, it was but a dream.. a dream that followed me every night from the day..

".. no.. it didn't start abruptly after the fight with the toaders... whispering - it was there before. It solidified, slowly.." - I've regained my breath and pushed myself up, spitting dirt out.. which was rather hard to do, as my throat was dry. I straightened up and looked into the sky, then around me..

"How am I supposed to get back?" - The scenery was completely different... forget the gargantuan tower-mountain.. Craters, sinkholes and canyons littered everything in sight.. mountains covered a part of the view.. getting smaller the further from the "tower" they got..

I touched the right side of my torso in hesitation, there was pain, but also something else. My stomach felt cold, the feeling of being pulled still fresh in my memory, it faded, but remained... a slight tug.. that felt like numb toothache. It was hard to ignore, but manageable..

I sat down on the trunk of a felled tree, looking downwards onto my shadow. Under my feet, the ground was rough and uneven, moss littered the exposed ground in small patches here and there... completely different sight to the lush green forest.. chaotic land of ruin, somehow I thought this look was more appropriate for this harsh world.. My fingers slid across the rough edges of the bark, which was covered in dozens of cuts and scrapes. Even if I'd find my own marking on the tree, it would serve no purpose.. I'd not be able to tell the direction it originally pointed at.. there was something else that could at least somewhat help me with finding my way back.. the sun... though I didn't know the time, I would be able to somewhat say if I was facing east or west. As the shadow passed a marking on the ground, I knew that my "home" was the opposite direction from the tower.. Even considering the fact that during the quake I was flung around, still I couldn't have been thrown away too far.. A dozen meters or so wasn't enough to completely shatter all hopes of finding a way back.

...

The other side of the newly formed mountain wasn't as steep, it was more of a slope.. nevertheless, getting through all the felled forest was rather time consuming, there was no straight path, no solid flat ground.... so before I knew it.. darkness already started setting in.. Despite the abundance of firewood.. to my own shame.. I wasn't able to light even a small fire..

As the darkness covered everything in sight, I stopped my attempts and sat, curled into a ball next to a failed campfire, with my back to the thick tree trunk. My eyes stared into the darkness, trying to travel during the night was akin to suicide.. even during daylight, just walking down the hillside was already hard enough.. In the dark - there was no telling where the next sinkhole, fissure or canyon would be..

I struggled to keep myself awake, but eventually - my mind drifted and I was sound asleep.

I was so exhausted and battered, that there were no dreams, only darkness... that's what I wish would happen...however, despite all my hopes... it was there. The dream. The roaring darkness of a black sun and the barren lands around me. All the same as always. The sound didn't bother me anymore, so I simply sat down and waited for it to end. There was no meaning in trying to walk through the plains, through the world of gray and black.. It had no end, it was consistent in that regard.. waling through it felt like walking on a treadmill, stuck in the same spot... I sat, resting... In the mean time, the only thing I could do is think and stare at my own arms, feet and take a good look at the condition of my body in this dream.

"So I have a body... and I am naked." - I brushed my arms along my chest, all the scars were there... though the bruises weren't.. it seemed a tiny bit too realistic to be.. well.. a dream. However I'd rather believe that it was a dream.. otherwise.. things were going to be strange. If it was real.. where was I? Why was I naked? Was it a parallel world? My own subconsciousness? Really, too confusing to understand and comprehend the situation. As a dream it was a lot easier to accept.

"If this land is of any meaning.. Does the fact that it's charred mean I've burned my life away? So the black sun might be the cause? My own fear or something? ... " - Looking for a meaning in a thing that could be meaningless, best way to kill time.. I was sitting in the middle of the endless black plains.. fiddling my thumbs and trying to come up with any symbolic meaning to the whole dream. For the moment the whole thing was rather edgy.. Blackness in a black black.. something for a fifteen-year old kid obsessed with.. emmm.. stuff..

"This shit could have too many meanings... really nearly everything can be explained by it.." - I giggled at the stupidity of my attempts.

"Charred lands ... my previously healthy body fucked up by the cancer.. ehh.. which is the black sun.. or considering it being cancer.. the chemo fucked me up to get rid of it.." - I frowned. - "Nah.. it's still there, the black tentacle shit... and I'm completely fine.. I've seen my lungs a few.. months ago, they were rather.. um.. clean..."

Somehow my own conclusion didn't seem very... convincing. If there was a relapse in the time I was here, in this world.. well... I'd be fucked really..

"Nah.. that's just paranoia speaking.." - I tried to calm myself down, but the sound similar to a helicopter flying made me jump up.. It wasn't the usual roaring, but I couldn't see the source anywhere... The sound was completely out of place.. I turned around.. and suddenly all became dark.

...

I popped my head up in surprise, the awakening from the dream was sudden. All around me was just darkness - the night was still young and I couldn't even tell where my own arms were. Something was making this loud vibrating noise, moving into the distance. The direction was the same as I was going - though in the silence, I could tell that there wasn't just one source of it.. there were many of them, echoing in the night. The sound wasn't at all calming me down.. on the contrary - it made me nervous.. previously the forest was quiet... This.. was out of the ordinary..

"Maybe it's a good thing I didn't make a fire..." - I reached in front of myself, fingers brushing through the nearby dirt, looking for a stick. It was there when I fell asleep. Finally I found it, a crooked branch - hard enough to serve as a club for a few swings at the very least.

...

I've set out had the light only started to reveal the area previously shrouded by darkness. My stride wasn't all that sure, as I hesitated to take each and every step. The area seemed completely unfamiliar, however I knew that I was going in the right direction. How, you might ask. Well.. now and then the felled trees would reveal the familiar markings on their bark. I've seen three for the last three hours... meaning that at least I wasn't going in a completely wrong direction. Still - the terrain was a huge problem..

"Damn.." - I looked down the edge of the long fissure in the ground.. As far as I could see- there was darkness in it.. not even a sign of a bottom to it.. It stretched far to both my right and left - like an immensely long scar.. the dark line wandered off into the distance.

Then I stepped over it.

"At this rate it might not take that long to get home.." - Despite the anticipation of returning to the hut, I had a bad feeling in my gut regarding the noise that I've heard this night...