The Darkness Within Me

Chapter 1- Questions, But No Answers

I looked on as I saw the shadows behind me. The blood, the pain, the horror... they were everywhere. bodies after bodies, all of them lifeless. I looked at one of the bodies, his life was barely hanging on the thread.. his eyes a pale white. I took my knife and ended his pathetic life. There was no point in having him limp around and suffer like that. I looked around and still there is more bodies around me. The clouds were sooo red, like the blood these humans spill. It's a shame they had a war against me... they could have lived and had a relationship with what they call " woman ". I felt a sense of rush as I nearly ended my journey. The great city of Duranga, a place of peace and prosperity for all who lives there. Although, something in my chest pulsed.. it was like a great pain, a burden even. I knelt down and tried to regain control of myself but I couldnt. The pain, it was unbearable. That's when I noticed something terrible was erupting in me. It was beating in my chest, something these humans calls a " heart ", but how can I posses such a thing? I am not from here. Or am I? I cant remember... it was sooo long ago.

At that moment I believe I went unconcious. A dream occured.. It was about this guy. He put out his hand to me and I took it. "Khan", he said. I rised from my slumber. That word.. " Khan ". What did it mean? Could it have been my former name? I sat down near a rock and thought about that word for what seemed forever. I decided to delay my journey for now. Besides, Duranga was only a few more miles away. Its destruction could wait. I took a nap and more of these little bubbles of memory arose. I was in this weird place, it had a lot of buildings and so many people were busy roaming around the place. I looked out into the beyond and I noticed the same guy that was in my dream before. He came up to me and said, "Khan!". "There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere! Where have you been? ". All I did was look at him, I couldnt talk to him: "Don't you remember me? I'm Terek!...". I looked at him and my voice came out. "Ohh right right! I'm sorry, I was kinda lost there". "Good! Now hurry up! Were late". "Where are we going?". "To the game! This game is the biggest game of the century! We cannot miss it!".

I woke up after that. Who was this guy and what happened to him? This question haunted me. What happened to me back then? How did I change into the monster I am today. There was no point to answer all of these stupid questions. The past is the past. I cannot change what happened, so I must move on to the path I chose. I started down the path again to Duranga and put these childish questions behind me. What was the point of having them around anyways? I thought about this and I gripped my sword closer to me. The moment I did that, this dragon started to attack me.

I drew my sword and held it directly at the dragons head. I said to the beast, "I'm giving you five seconds to get out of here or else." It looked at me with no fear and made a mighty roar that could have scared any man. But then again, I'm not any man. I ran straight toward and and gave it a quick whack on its neck. It roared again and started flying over me. I started to run and I checked my side of my shoulders. The dragon was catching up and it was catching up fast too. It was right above my head now and was just about to turn to face me and give me one heck of a burn. I jumped up as quickly as I can and I landed on its scaley body. I looked at it as it saw its final opponent and said.. "I gave you five seconds didn't I?". I drew my sword and gave it a good swoop. The dragon let out its final roar and landed heavily on the ground. I said to myself.. "This was just a waste of time, just like those humans before."

Chapter 2- The Burden I'm Forced To Carry

The dragon sure did take a toll on me. I was so fatigued. I sat down for a few minutes and started cleaning my sword. That dragon sure put up one heck of a fight. I was getting bored of these humans and there little toys. I looked onto the landscape, It was so dry and humid. Not many people make it into Duranga. I had to find a shady spot to rest in. I was so sleepy at the time. I found a small tree, and decided to finish cleaning my sword. After the sword was all cleaned up, I sat around and just think to myself for a little bit. I went to sleep a little while later and thats when trouble brew. It was another bubble of memory. It emerged out of nowhere. I'm still wondering, Why is this happening to me? I guess I cant control it. This dream was different though. This time the guy named Terek was there along with a friend. Terek looked at me and said, "Hey Khan! Have you meet Barren before?" I looked at Barren next to Terek and said, "Yes of course, He's a good friend." Barren looked at me with this sparkle in his eye, I could see it was pure evil. He had something cooking up in that pot of his and it wasnt good. I ignored this feeling, for now it isn't going to do anything good. "So barren, how's things going? I heard you won the big game. Terek and I went to go see you." Barren snickered as if the game was nothing mere than a child's game. "Yea I saw you guys, I did pretty good eh?" Terek noticed the babbling that has taken place and said, "Now don't get too full of yourself! Your nose is soo far up-" I interrupted, I never really liked to hear curses, yet alone say them. "Terek! Watch yourself, at least around me" He looked at me with sorrow in his eyes. "Your right, im sorry. I shouldnt have even commented on that" I looked at him and just said, "Dont worry about it. Now where are we off to? I'm growing tiresome of standing around here". "Barren and I was thinking of going around and relax." I wasn't up to this at the time, for some reason the one thing on my mind was to get out of there. "No no, I.. I have to get out of here because I have something to do." Terek wasn't so shock as I said this, most of the time this was my answer. "Alright then Khan, have fun!" I started to turn around to go the other way, but as soon as I did that, Barren grabbed a hold of my arm and said to me, "Stay won't you?" At that moment he pressed on my arm and I gave him a glare and said, "No! I'm going, now let go of me!" He looked at me with this evil glare and let go, I started walking down the opposite side.

I felt a sense of deep sadness when I woke up. It was as if something terrifying happened. What could it have been? This sadness was so unbearable. What happened to Terek? I didn't care much for that fool Barren. There was something about him that made me uneasy when I was around him. Tears ran down my face when I realized the shocking truth. It came back to me as quick as rain falls from the clouds. Barren was planning to kill me and Terek risked his life to save me. Betrayal The word that kept on going through my mind. It happened the moment I turned around and started walking down the path. Barren decided to take out a knife and go after me. Terek saw what had happened and he went after Barren. Why would he risk his life to save mine? Look at what I had become, I am not one to be worth sacrificing He fell down as Barren striked him down. He looked at me before he died. I will never forget that look. It's one of the many scars I have the burden of carrying. After that moment I can't remember anything else...

Chapter 3-The Path I Must Choose

These tears, where did they come from? I was having enough of this emotional situations. I was and never will be the type to thrive in the past. I started to get my things and go on. This time the wind was blowing smoothly across my face. I decided to pay no mind to this, so I started going down the path again to Duranga. The moment I got up, this figure took hold of my shoulder. I didn't know what it was, so I was pretty shocked when I saw the face. Tears ran down my face once again and I started to fall. He put out his hand to me once more like the dream I had before. I didn't know what to do. "Khan", he said. "If you follow this path, you may never return." I looked at him and started stuttering. "I.. I.. I dont understand, your dead... How can you still be here?" He slowly started to take his hand off my shoulder. He just looked at me and said, "I am not really alive, I'm a ghost trying to warn you of your actions. Heed what I say. Choose the right path Khan or your destruction will surely fall in place." The words leaving Terek's lips hit me like a rock. Ripples started to show in the air and Terek's figure started to go. "Wait! Don't go! I... I must know.. Please don't leave me.. Help me out during these tough times." He was dissapearing more and more and he called out before he left, "Just follow what you think is right Khan."

I stood in that same place crying for a while. The thought of never again seeing Terek just ached. I was so confused on what path I should choose. I looked everywhere, there was two paths I could choose. One leads me back to the place where my journey first started and one leads to Duranga's destruction. The sun was gone by now. Clouds took over it's space and the night was a pleasent feeling for me. The lighting crackled over the trembling voice of my tears.