Free
He could never stop.
He had to keep running for all eternity. He had to keep running or else he'd die.
For some reason, this explorer had an infinite amount of energy and stamina. It was very strange and entirely unexplainable, but it was so.
Also, time did not exist as he ran from the foul, heinous beast behind him. Like him, the beast also had an infinite amount of energy and stamina and could not, would not stop until the explorer's blood was scattered around the ancient relics.
Breathing heavily while pumping his legs endlessly, the explorer did not dare to look back over his shoulder for the beast was right on him. His eyes had to remain ahead of him, for if he tripped or messed up, he'd die.
How long has it been now?
Ten years?
Forty years?
A hundred years?
The explorer did not know, but he knew that he had been running for a very long time. The roads ahead were endless, not unlike the sky. He was surprised that he even managed to keep sane this entire time.
He wondered how he was even alive.
No, he no longer needed to eat. No, he no longer needed to drink.
An immortal, he was.
He never aged.
Eternally youthful.
Yes, it sometimes made him crazed.
Still, he kept running for one reason and one reason only. He wanted to live. But now…that reason seemed so ancient, like a decaying body.
That reason died.
Now that that reason had passed away, there was no other reason to keep running. There was no other reason to keep living.
It was over…
Releasing a wordless cry of anguish, the explorer threw himself off of the ancient relics, letting his body drop down towards the clouds below.
Now he was free…