I am the darkness. do not believe I am only darkness I am the answer I am the final being I am the light. light is here surrounds me light is

"Arix?"

dark. which is light which is blinding blinding true light to the seer to the blind true darkness. riddle human? shift the stones the wind turn back look perhaps your shadow is truer.

"Arix? You're scaring me."

mortal? take the blessing of slow still death? no such death only return only return only burning burning away flesh from bone consciousness from thought will from desire burning only burning in the inevitable return. you will answer the darkness.

"OK I'm just going to carry you if you don't mind…" something was touching him, and Arix didn't like it. He lashed out. There was a grunt and he smelled blood. It woke him up immediately, like the smell of coalsteam on a cold morning. "Arix no. Aaagh." Steve held him back and shook him, as if trying to wake him up. He was wide awake. "Listen, we're almost out! I am not giving up here! Come on, we're going." and then he was pulling him. Pulling him towards the light. Arix thrashed and bit in dismay, but Steve fended him off. "Arix, we're almost out! Don't you want to leave?"
"No," he rasped, teeth bared.
Steve kept dragging him towards the light. They both slipped on the mossy stones. "You're not yourself. I'm getting you out." Arix sputtered angrily. He was sick of Steve and his patronizing behavior. Honestly, he was a clueless idiot who couldn't tell a bat from his own dumb face, and most of this trouble was his fault. Arix was done with him. But Steve wasn't letting go, and he could still fight surprisingly well. Arix slipped around on the rocks, cursing and kicking. Steve squeezed him through the crevice and the blue light slashed into him. He pulled away, screaming. Steve caught him. "No, stop. It's going to be fine." he sounded terrified. Arix hooked his hand into a claw shape and felt his wrist burn with intense pain. Heat concentrated in the palm of his hand. He swept his hand up but Steve caught his arm, stabbing the fingers of his free hand into Arix's neck. Arix momentarily lost consciousness and the heat died away. Steve grabbed him and ran for the water. That's not fair! thought Arix. Who taught him to fight mages? Oh right. His brother is Herobrine. Suddenly there was foamy water all around them and they were falling. When they hit the pool at the bottom the force tore them apart. After a moment of tumbling, stinging confusion, Arix realized he was floating underwater, a muffled crashing sound of falling water above him. A panorama of rocks, smudged with algae and mud, drifted in front of his face and a few fish darted away from his shadow. A branch tugged at his hair. He could feel the sun's rays beating down on his shoulders and he didn't want to get any closer to the source of that irritation, but he needed air. He swept his arm through the water. Nothing seemed to happen. Well. Damn. He'd never been much good at swimming even with both arms attached. Maybe it didn't matter. He'd rather stay underwater anyway. He let the water carry him forwards, hair floating around his face. His head bumped into a rock and he growled lightly. Above him, the sound of something heavy dropping into the water stood out over the constant thunder of the waterfall and a shadow came between him and the sun. He relaxed, enjoying it. It didn't last. A hand grabbed the back of his shirt and he felt himself being towed slowly but steadily upwards, closer to the light. He dog-paddled backwards and his would-be rescuer, who was swimming weakly, slowed. Arix was doing even worse, however, and before long he felt his head break the surface and instinctively drew in a breath. Immediately he let it out in a yelp as the sunlight burned along his scalp. Steve pushed him in the direction of a half-submerged rock and he glided onto it. "Hush. It won't kill you." Arix sank down so that nothing but his face was above the water and panted, growling now and then in disgust at the bright light. Everything was a haze of light. Dark objects stood out as if through a blinding mist. He could dimly see Steve propped up against another rock, head thrown back, basking in the sunlight and shivering gratefully as the heat sank into his skin. Arix shut his eyes, growling to himself, and ducked his head underwater to wet his skin. When he came up Steve was right next to him. He looked leaner than Arix remembered, and his wounds weren't healing. "Hey. Feeling better? We got a free bath." Well, he seemed happy. Good for him. He closed his eyes. "Glad to see it. We can't lay in the water all day, though. It's not going to save you." he half-opened his eyes and watched Steve filling the water bottle. "Drink up. We may be walking for a while."
"Where?"
Steve looked up quickly. "You're talking again!"
"Where are we going?"
"I mean, just barely, and you're still giving me that creepy blank-eyed look, but hey. Improvement. I think being out of the darkness helps."
Arix sighed. "Steve?"
"Alright, I'm not entirely sure which part of the woods we're in. I don't recognize it. But I've been all over these parts so if we just start walking I'm sure I'll recognize something."
"You don't sound desperate at all."
"I am pretty desperate, but we're out of the caves, right? Things can only get better."
"I never say that. I feel like I'm tempting fate."
"I feel like I'm tempting fate just by existing. Come on." Steve lifted him out of the water and pulled him onto the grass, where he lay down to rest. Arix cringed under the sunlight, growling, and slid back into the water. Steve got up slowly. "Does it sting? Sorry about that, but we can't stop here. It's not far to the trees. You can make it." he dragged Arix out of the water and up onto his feet. Arix mechanically followed Steve towards the trees, gasping now and then in discomfort and wishing Steve would walk faster. Yes, he had a stab wound in the leg, and it was probably stiff now, but he was Steve. He should be able to walk faster. Arix whined. "Almost there," said Steve. "Just keep moving." he was so focused on moving forward that it was several strides before he realized Arix wasn't with him. He was trembling, eyes squeezed shut, head lowered. Steve wondered if he should go back and help him. He didn't want to move any more than necessary. But Arix suddenly cried out and twisted, clawing at his back, then fell into the grass. Steve didn't quite manage to run but he reached him quickly and picked him up. His skin felt hot and probably hurt—he fought violently against being touched. He screamed. It was a human scream. Steve half-dragged, half-carried him towards the trees, heart pounding.
Arix kept screaming. He was burning, burning to death and nothing could help him. Everything was a haze of scalding light and prickling heat. He was still screaming when Steve pulled him under the trees and collapsed into the leaves. He didn't stop. Steve crawled into the deeper shadow at the foot of a large tree, dragging Arix with him, and buried him in wet leaves. Slowly he calmed and finally lay motionless, and Steve saw what he had missed in the caves. His skin was tinged a sickly green, more pronounced in patches, especially areas with less circulation. They wouldn't be able to walk under the sun. Steve scraped more leaves over Arix's face and looked at his surroundings. Birch woods stretched as far as he could see except for a rocky area starting at the waterfall. That didn't help him much, since he didn't remember ever seeing a waterfall near a birch wood on his scouting trips. And the sun was still rising. That gave him hope that he'd be able to find safety before monsters came upon him in his weakened condition, but it was bad for Arix. Slowly he let himself slide down into the leaves and watched the silvery birch leaves flickering in the wind above his head, showing pieces of bright blue sky and letting in rays of lethal sunlight. At some point he realized his eyes had closed without his knowledge. Well, he needed to reset his respawn point. If he managed to get killed off now and woke up back in the caves again, leaving Arix out here to fend for himself, that really would be too much. "Five minutes," he whispered. "Just five." he knew it would be longer.

A/N: Coalsteam, by the way, is one of those fantastical drinks, found occasionally on fictional faraway planets, which are definitely not coffee. Barely.
It's basically hot black mud that gives you heart palpitations when you sniff it. If you drink it, you forgo the need for (or capacity for) sleep for roughly the next day. If you're in the Guard or going to school (or, Notch help you, both at once—shudders!) you will need it.
This description, interestingly, was written under the influence of a "toe-tapper." Two shots of espresso with chocolate syrup. I am more awake than I've been in a month, and that's saying something since caffeine doesn't have a very strong effect on me. Usually.
Hmm. Coalsteam-addicted scholarly Guardsman. I wonder if… well, if he does show up he'll be a character in another story, so no reason to worry about him here.