Master. Where are you?

It's been months, maybe years. I used to feel the warmth of your presence blooming in my mind, but now you felt so distant and cold. I've heard your call, but I'm sorry I've been too slow to come soon.

My body now lay crumpled beneath the detritus of the swamp, crumpled and rotting. My flesh had sloughed off my bones, but that was fine. I had little need of it this time. All these flesh organs had been holding back in finding you. Where the flesh had failed, my spirit will do.

My spirit, it animates me. When all else has fallen, it shall give life to what should be dying. Even if all that remains of me is bones, I can continue forward, to see you.

But...

But I feel so tired. It may not be enough. Your light in my mind is fading every day. I feel my spirit weakening at the thought of your oncoming demise, not even there to protect you, to aid you at your most need.

I... I want to close my eyes and shut myself from the light so that I may not see it being extinguished. I shouldn't; it's the last few things that give me life anymore. I keep my eyes open. I need to see your light, even if it pains me that it's fading.

I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you or your holdings. All your friends, other companions, and pets, I failed them. The walls had fallen. Your walls had fallen, letting them in into your bastion. They were too numerous, an army of dead animated by foul magics. With flesh of rotting green and bleached white bone, they marched into your homestead, overwhelming us. The pale ones, they're evil.

You were away that day. At first, I was happy that you were far away from the castle, but my heart sank when I saw your light flicker in the distance. They had also taken you. They were not only assaulting here, they were also assaulting you.

The pale ones, they play with life and death. They play with souls, beyond what is acceptable. Azure stones, fonts of magic, souls of the dead, they desecrate them to create their colossi. Don't they see the ruins all around, the temples and castles of civilizations long past? They really are the successors of the ancient peoples.

We have seen the relics of their civilization. They played with things beyond their understanding, things beyond what they ought to be messing with. Their creations were great, they bore magics and technology paralleled by only a few. They tainted the world with their foul creations, affecting even other civilizations. A crisis that was still yet to end to this very day.

It was hubris that fell them. Do the pale ones desire to step in the hubristic path as the ancient ones? I reckon they do, and they're looking into ways of circumventing the same fate that had befallen the ancients.

Huh. I'm tired. They better fall like right now. They need an apocalypse. They better not be there anywhere when I wake up.

...

...

?!

Master? You... you're alright!

The light you're emitting is brighter than ever! Did you win against the monsters they have wrought? Or have you found a way to turn the tides against them?

No matter, the thought of you surviving simply fills me with life. It invigorated my spirit that had grown lethargic from your fading light. Northeast you went! I will find you. These bones that have gone inanimate from the grief and despair shall rise again. And so I rise.

I rise from the detritus and peat that my body had been buried. I arise from the soft sediment of my grave to face your direction. Your light guides me. It shines like a lighthouse, guiding my steps. It lights a path glowing, for me to follow.

My master. Your light calls to me. I hear your voice carried over the distance by the glowing star. This warrants a celebration... a celebration I can't hold.

No! I shake my head at that thought. My journey towards your embrace is the celebration in itself. Every step I take will be a party.

"Ahhh!"

Oh. There's a woman here. She's fallen to her butt in fright of my appearance. I suppose that a creature rising from the dirt like an undead would would have that effect. Though I have to wonder why a face of terror is painted on her visage. She looks likes she's looking at an unholy abomination.

I look into the water and what I saw shocked me to my core. I'm hideous. I jump back at the sight of my reflection staring back at me. I...

It reflects the features of my form: a skeleton enfleshed with dirt and peat. Vegetation grew upon my back like a coat of slimy matted fur. Inset upon my eye sockets was a pair of flaming orbs; they burned with a ghostly blue glow as they granted me vision beyond the need of eyes.

I...

I turn to the woman and see her hide behind some tree. I can't see her anymore, but her presence lingered in the air. I could hear her heart beating faster in her chest and smell the fear wafting from her form. I haven't come here to bring terror and strife, yet that's what I have wrought here.

I tried to come close to her, but she only whimpered when I came an inch closer towards her direction. Her screams could attract the attention of creatures more terrible than myself. I...

I shake my head. The creature the woman sees in me is irrelevant to my quest.

I turn my fiery eyes to the northeast. There, beyond the wild swamp, I could see a mountain range rising. Its granite cliffs popped against the dark night sky. The wonderful stars and crescent moon floats up high, giving light to an otherwise lifeless sky. Snow and glaciers cap the peaks with white brilliance.

However, their light wasn't the light I sought. Beyond the mountains, beyond the mines they bear, was your light, the light of my master, shining in my mind's eye. It shines in my mind twinkling, beckoning me towards its direction. It warms my heart to see your light shine with a great healthy glow.

But as I take the first step towards the light, your guiding light flickered. Your luminosity dropped, lower than it was before. My heart sinks in the same way your light have sunk. The sight fills me with fear. Worry overtakes my heart, willing my eyes to let out my nonexistent tears.

A slew of things gushes from my mind. They range from the totally benign and harmless to the insidious and virulent. The things my mind conjured from that small spot of light being taken away have frightened even itself. The creatures and scenarios that have floated to the forefront of my mind were maddening. Your safety and well-being are paramount concerns to me.

The things I have thought of and the things my mind has conjured were terrifying pieces of art: tentacled monsters of the deep rising to the surface to shatter your vessel; ancient railways collapsing over a great yawning chasm; strapped to a table surrounded by pale ones preparing for their dark rituals; a sea of the unholy legions of the undead rolling in like a tide of doom; an encounter with an abomination borne by the damned souls doomed to walk an ancient graveyard.

With each and every dark fantasy born from anxiety, my knees grow weak. My bones shake from the notion of a fatal accident where I'm not by my master's side. Fear dilutes the essence of my spirit, gnawing upon the strands of determination that puppeteers my form. The light in my eyes flickers the same way your light has flickered. I...

I cannot take on the world without you. Please be safe. I have swum across the seas and rivers and will swim some more to get to you. The mountains are not barriers, and the forests offer no obstacle. I will follow your light until I will come to your side. My spirit will not lose determination. I refuse to die not by your side, even if all that's left of you is ashes in a grave.

Stay strong, master. I am coming.

I run. I swim. The muddy waters of the swamp stand hinder me little as I rush to your rescue beyond the mountains. I weave between the trees as I trudged through the wetland as fast as I could. You're in mortal danger, and I know it. I just don't know whether I'll get to your side fast enough for it to matter.

Though I suppose me being on your side is reason enough.

The stars witness me. The mountains lay far, but my now untiring body reaches its base in hours time. I look up upon the craggy cliffs and hold the breath I no longer take. The snows that lay upon these granite peaks will not hinder my journey. I shall come. I shall serve. My loyalty is unbreaking. My self undying, fueled by my faith, fueled by my zeal.

I shall aide with the best of my ability, as I have always done. Though distance has hindered my ability to do so, I will ensure the curse of distance will soon no longer afflict us.

I stare up the snowy precipice. Their mortal dangers do not scare me. The glaciers and mountainous crevasses that pile before my path will be surmounted.

Your light guides me. It gives me strength. It gives me life. My loyalty unto you is unbreakable. And thus, I am undying.

Master, your light guides me.

Please stay strong.

Your most loyal companion is on its way, expediting its journey to your side.