I've been having these dreams lately; dreams of fire and the world ever changing. But in a place like this, you don't have the privilege of seeing a world change around you.

"We're all stuck down here. Stuck to rot until we all DIE!"

*Gasp*

Awakening to a restless heart and a cold sweat running down my brow and temples wasn't so refreshing. That voice again, lashing out in my dream. Was it speaking directly to me? Despite the horrid nature of the voice's tone, it sounded vaguely familiar. Maybe it was familiar, or maybe I was losing my sanity. Either way, that's why it's called a dream.

The small fire in front of me was dying down as I watched the embers fade from life. The hard wood under my sleeping space was as unwelcoming as usual. My mother was sound asleep in the opposite corner of the space.

My name is Zeke Valimore. I'm 14 years old and I live in the base of Blight Town with my mother. Every time I ask her why we're down here, she tells me the same thing:

"Zeke, sweetie, this is our home. We live down here because it's where we belong."

She would always feed me that nonsense with the kindest smile, as if she was hiding the real truth behind her false happiness. But I didn't pry. I loved her. She was the only family that I had.

After sitting up in my blanket and thinking for a while, my mother eventually woke up to my blank stares into the fire. She yawned and began scratching her scalp.

"What's wrong, sweetie? Can't sleep?"

My eyes left the embers to see her exhausted face smiling at me.

"I'm fine, mother."

Her expression suggested that she didn't believe me. She was right not to, because I couldn't go back to sleep even if I tried.

"Is everything alright?" She scooted past the fire and rested her arms over me from behind, "You know you can tell your mother if something is bothering you."

I disliked her need to embrace me like a child, but I didn't resist. This was her only way of showing me how much she loved me; holding me against her heart and humming a special melody that she could only recall from her childhood.

Down here in Blight Town, we had nothing. My mother was forced to wake up painfully early and go harvest what little vegetables she could from the filthy watering hole past the giant sewer tower. Climbing down the ladder was dangerous, and climbing back up with a bag of harvest was even worse. There were also dangerous insects flying around, as well as a tribe of dung beasts that crushed their victims with boulders and devoured them. Regardless, that was our only source of food and she accepted that. A small family at the far eastern corner of the village attempted to feed on the rats inhabiting the swamp, only to be struck with plague and die. Ever since that tragedy, we've all come to an agreement: Being too careful is impossible in this environment.

The giant slugs that inhabited the watering hole were known to attack people. Some of the attacks ended in death, while others died from the poison that infected their bite wounds. A select few people have survived after being attacked near the watering hole; three to be exact. When I think about my mother being forced to tread such a place just so we can survive, it pains me. My father is dead because of the conditions in this horrid cesspool unfit to be deemed a vile swamp. My mother tells me that he died fighting off the dung beasts to save her life during a late harvest when I was 7 years old. Although I wasn't there to see it happen, I always have this strange feeling that she's not telling the truth.

There has always been a strange silence at work down here. An unbreakable secrecy keeps the parents and other adults from telling us anything about why we're here and what the rest of the world is like. Even during the brightest and happiest of hours down here, simply speaking of why we live down here can silence everyone and cause the atmosphere to grow cold. Each generation retains less and less information on our origin and why we have to live down here until the end of existence. Well, I've been seeking answers since the day my father died, and things are going to change.

As the small amount of sunlight we receive began creeping down into the valley from over the castle walls of the New Londo ruins, I stood up from my sleeping space and approached the ladder down to the swamp. I could hear my mother sit up from her sleeping space.

"Zeke," I halted in front of the ladder without turning to face her, "Be careful, sweetie. It's going to rain."

I turned my head slightly to see her face from the corner of my eye, "Yes, mother."

Grasping the firm, rotted wood of the ladder, I slid down to a solid landing on the mossy ground and began walking straight towards the swamp. I was lucky enough to have two irreplaceable friends down in this place; the first of them being Aelia. She was 14 years old just like me and unnaturally intelligent for her age. The others claimed that she was blessed with knowledge and wisdom beyond her years by the Gods. Although she was somewhat quiet and didn't ever give a high opinion of anything, she was loyal and would stand up for anything she truly believed in. Neither of us slept very often, so our time was spent in the swamp.

Just as I had expected, I approached the entrance to the swamp and there she was; sitting on a rotted tree stump over the water gently swinging her legs back and forth. She liked gazing up at the castle walls while the sun was shining just right on their magnificent surface. The elders of the village refused to tell us anything about New Londo or what happened to the city of people who disappeared there. To be honest, the fact that we even knew that much is unsettling for my mother and the others.

"It's going to rain." I said while sitting next to her on the stump.

"Hm," She mumbled while still gazing up at the castle walls, "You're right."

Aelia was fond of adventuring like me. We always looked forward to finding a new place every day. Though we knew not to venture too far out, exploring a new place was the summit of our daily entertainment.

"What do you think's there?" I asked bluntly.

"Hm?" She muttered as her eyes left the castle walls only to be unsure of what I was asking.

Aelia had the most beautiful purple eyes. They were pure of heart and radiant of wisdom. It was rare to engage in conversation with her unless you were part of the trio, so one would be wise to enjoy every moment of eye contact with her.

"Up there, inside the castle walls." I explained, "What do you think is there?"

Aelia's gaze returned to the castle walls. She blinked a couple of times before resuming, "I honestly don't know."

There was a limit to what we were able to accomplish in this place, but at this moment, something inside of me rose out and spoke with an unusual sense of bravery.

"Want to go see?" I asked with a smile.

Her eyes returned to mine, but this time with doubt behind them.

"Did you even hear yourself say that?"

My smile dissipated, but the strange bravery from before was still ever present.

"Sure I did. Yes or no, huh?"

She continued staring at me without saying anything, until finally exhaling softly through her nose, "Okay…. I do. But that doesn't mean we can."

At this point, I already knew the answer was decided. That was a trademark personality trait about Aelia; once you peak her interest, the battle is won, so to speak. I knew she wasn't going to refuse.

"Oh, come on. We could just go see it up close. That would be good enough for me. Let's go!"

Her face shifted to a doubtful and confused expression now. I expected her to resist my idea for at least a little longer, but to my surprise, she sighed and hopped off of the stump in the direction towards the village.

"Fine, let's go wake up Kid." She said and began walking back to the planks.

"Eh, now!" I stuttered in confusion.

She turned her head without stopping, "Yeah. He's coming too, right?"

I just smiled and began scratching the back of my head, "Sure. It can't be an adventure without Kid."

I hopped off of the stump and caught up to her as we began walking back to the ladder that went up to the village border. The swamp was located outside of village limits and my mother dreaded me going there under any circumstances. It wasn't nearly as hazardous as the watering hole past the sewer tower, but it was a long walk back to town and you had to descend down a very long ladder to get there.

It really wouldn't be an adventure without Kid. Well, the three of us were the adventure. If we weren't a trio, it wasn't worth exploring. That was our rule; our pact as friends. You're probably wondering why we call him "Kid." It's a long story to be blatantly honest. Long story short, his name is Kota, and he's the youngest of the three of us. Aelia and I are both 14 years old, going on 15 in the next 6 months or so. However, Kota had just turned 13 a couple of months ago. A year and a few months don't seem to make a very big age difference, but we made it seem like they did. To us, he was Kid, and no less a part of the trio than either one of us. The three of us had an unbreakable bond and a thirst for answers that remained dehydrated since the day we were born. When we were very young, we made an agreement that stayed between only the three of us. One day, we would uncover the answers to all of the secrets being hidden from us no matter what. Had I known that the day of our first secret exposure would be today, I probably would've rethought things….

Climbing the ladder back to town, we began walking through the center of the village. There were several people outside of their sleeping spaces going about their business. A man and his wife were setting out buckets to catch the rain for drinking water. It seems almost impossible for rain to reach this trapped and bound place beneath the earth, but it would now and again. After walking past a few pots that were the size of our entire bodies, we reached another ladder to climb. Kid lived near the top of the planks with his older sister. Both of his parents had died from plague when he was no older than 5 and his sister had been raising him up to this point. She's currently 19 years old and takes the same dangerous measure as my mother when it comes to harvesting food.

It wasn't easy to find anything down here. The only light that we received came from the sunlight gleaming down against the castle walls of New Londo, so trying to find something all the way back inside the village with only torches at every ladder was difficult. We ascended one more ladder to the immediate right and stumbled upon Kid. He was fast asleep facing the opposite way of the ladder next to his sister. With his back turned to us under the torn cloth blanket, Aelia and I both grasped the edge of the plank floor and examined his body slowly inhaling and exhaling in his slumber. He was definitely sleeping.

Aelia looked over at me as if suggesting that I be the one to wake him up, but I just smiled and didn't move.

"You know, he's kind of cute when he's napping."

She rolled her eyes at my remark and reached over to tug on his shirt. After a small tug, he yawned and resumed his seemingly peaceful sleep.

Aelia grunted and tugged on his shirt again, this time speaking out to him in a soft but aggressive voice, "Hey, Kid! Get up!"

This time, Kid lazily rolled over to face us with a moan of exhaustion and mumbled with his eyes still closed, "Huh? Guys, what is it?"

I gripped the ladder tightly in my left hand and balled up my fist on the surface of the plank floor from the sheer excitement of telling him, "Get up, quick! We're going to go explore the castle wall!"

Aelia shushed me angrily because of the volume of my outburst, but Kid's reaction was a different level of surprise.

"WHAT!" He stuttered loudly as his eyes shot open, "We can't!" He yelped as Aelia and I both reached forward and mummified his mouth with our hands.

"Shshshshsh!" Aelia called out as we slowly removed our hands from his face.

After collecting his thoughts and finding his quiet voice, he continued, "You guys know we aren't allowed to go that far. I mean, think about what'll happen if we get caught!"

Aelia shrugged her shoulders without care and muttered, "Whatever, baby…." before sliding back down the ladder.

After my eyes followed her to the bottom, I looked back up at Kid and he was pondering at the plank floor. We knew he didn't want to get into trouble, but we wouldn't go without him. I suddenly realized how mean it was to wake him up to such a pressurized request. It made me feel bad because he felt pressured now and Aelia was aggravated about our adventure being cancelled.

"Hey, look Kid. We don't have to go, alright? It was a stupid ide-"

"NO!" He suddenly cut me off, "No. Stop treating me like a baby. I'll go if you guys really want to. But it's just a bad idea, that's all."

I balled up my fist in front of Kid and grunted, "Yes!" before throwing my arm around his neck and sliding down the ladder with him in a headlock. He yelped from surprise and shouted at me to let him go until we hit the bottom. Once at the bottom, I nudged his arm and smiled at him as we started catching up to Aelia. Upon hearing us running up behind her, she smiled and her face lit up at the site of me running up to her with Kid beside me.

"Well look who decided to grow up." Aelia said with a sarcastic grin.

Kid simply smiled and replied, "I'm not a baby. Not anymore."

Aelia threw her arm over his left shoulder and I threw my own arm over his right. The three of us began walking towards the ladder leading to the swamp at the edge of town.

What we would later encounter, however, was beyond anything we were ready to comprehend….