The cold of the stone around her was suddenly replaced by heat, the most intense heat Essence had ever felt. The boiling air tore at her skin as it took on a red tint. Essence opened her eyes. All around her was smoke—not the pleasant, good smelling smoke that wafted from the fire after she cooked a meal. But a light smoke, smelling of something horrible and putrid—the smell of burning flesh.

"Hello, Essence," whispered a low, chilling voice. Essence whipped around, looking for the noise, but there was nothing but the white smoke and a red, fire-colored tint to the air. "I have long since awaited your arrival." Essence wracked her brain, trying to think of what was happening to her. She looked down at herself and realized she was no longer clothed. She let out an audible gasp and covered herself clumsily and rapidly.

"Who," she started, her voice shaking and her throat closing at the smell and heat. She was barely able to get her words out as she felt her body begin to convulse and shake. "Who a-are you?" She stared around, only seeing the smoke. "Where are you?"

"I am here," said the voice, and she whipped around, her bare feet touching hard, dead grass. She yelped as it scratched at her tender skin, and looked down in horror. What she had believed to be dead grass were instead stained, sharp and decaying bones. They littered the ground all around her, creating a carpet of death. And she was standing right in the middle of it. "Look for me, my darling," the voice hissed, filling Essence's ears from all around. She whirled around again, searching for something, a movement of the smoke, anything.

"Show yourself," she said, still trying to hide her naked body. A cold, unfeeling laugh shook through the field of bones, and she felt a hot breath on her shoulder. Essence screamed loudly, turning around to see nothing. Another chuckle escaped from the man or being she could not see, and the air around her became even hotter.

"My dear," hissed the voice, circling around her. She felt the wind against her exposed skin, and wanted to scream in fear and frustration. Though the breeze was warm, it chilled her to the bone. "My darling." The wind whipped around her once more, and Essence came to the startling realization that the wind was the voice. "My Essence." Essence began to shiver uncontrollably, letting out a strangled gasp and hugging herself. Nothing had ever scared her more than that voice. She had heard it before, she knew, but her mind would not allow her to remember.

"Who are you?" Essence asked again, shuddering, as another laugh echoed through the smoke. The stench began to choke her, and she gasped for breath. The wind reached up and wrapped its hot, burning fingers around her throat, closing it.

"You don't remember me?" hissed the voice in mock anger, and the fingers tightened their grip on her neck. Essence gasped for breath, her eyes widening. She tried to grab at the fingers suffocating her, but felt nothing. She tried to draw in a breath, but nothing came. Her lungs screamed from the lack of air as she struggled to regain her breath.

"P-Plea-ease," she whispered, her head slowly growing weary as breath evaded her. The laugh echoed around her, the hands loosening slightly.

"Beg me," he laughed maliciously, and Essence sucked in as much air as she could, yet only half her lungs filled with the putrid air. "Implore me," he whispered manically, an evil laugh escaping his unseen lips. Cackling boomed around her, and she fell to the ground.

"Please," she whispered, trembling as the bones scratched her skin.

"More," hissed the voice, and the invisible hands clutched her throat once more. She screeched, convulsing on the ground as the hands wrung her neck. "More!"

"Please..." Tears pricked at Essence's eyes as the grip around her neck slowly loosened. "Stop!" The pain overwhelmed her—it felt as if her windpipe had been broken. She had never felt this kind pain—her body was burning and ablaze, needles poking every inch of her body. Everywhere around her body was on fire and smoldering as she screamed—a heart wrenching scream that, in all her years of healing, she had never heard.

The hands unclasped from around her neck and she gulped in as much air as she could, grabbing at the bones on the ground as she sprawled out. The heat of fresh tears stung her face, and she wanted to scream. Essence collapsed, her body trembling as the gaseous fire circled her, licking and clawing at her skin. She felt utterly helpless.

"Essence…" the voice echoed across the room, spinning in her ears as she lay on the floor, still gasping for breath. "Essence… Essence… Essence…" With each echo of her name, shivers wracked Essence's body. Each hiss of the 'S' in her name sent her into another fit of coughing as the smell around her grew stronger. Laughter ricocheted through the white smoke, a dark figure approaching the frail, vulnerable girl. She breathed heavily as the figure drew nearer, cloaked in another layer of smoke.

"How do you know my name," she breathed, the newfound silence around her allowing her to whisper. She stood up, still covering her body timidly. As she looked down, she saw she was skinnier than she remembered; she looked starved. Her ribs were prominent, and her hip bones stuck out more than she would have liked. She shivered, clutching herself.

The smoke broke around her, revealing a man. His hair was thick and black, a substantial yet kept beard on his face. His face held a similar olive complexion to hers, but unlike her, his features were sharp and distinct. His mouth was turned up into a sadistic smile, and Essence opened her eyes widely and swallowed. The man's eyes were closed, she noticed, and his bushy eyebrows were highly set.

"Essence," he whispered. The cloak draping over his body seemed to be lined with the foul smelling smoke all around them. From the path at which he came lay the deepest black of smoke Essence had ever seen, and she gazed at the figure in confusion, and faint recollection. "Do you not remember who I am?" Essence stared at him, letting her arms drop from protecting herself. His eyes were still closed, and as she focused on him, her body felt heavy like lead.

"I…" she whispered, her mind still vague from lack of air. "N-No." She stared at the figure as his mouth drew into a smile, showing straight teeth which had faded to grey. He was an eerie sight, especially with his eyes closed. "Who are you?"

"I," he began slowly, his eyelids slowly lifting. "I am Mandos." His eyes slowly began to open, a wicked smile crossing his face as Essence's eyes opened widely and began to glow with fear. "I'm the one who created you, don't you remember?" He fully opened his eyes, gold shining through and illuminating the smoke around them. The same gold that appeared in her own eyes.

Essence's breath seemed to be pulled out of her as the Lord Mandos stared down at her, his golden eyes shining. "Y-You," she said, covering herself once more. He laughed slowly, his eyes narrowing into a vice grin. "H-How am I here? How did you bring me here?"

"I'm proud of you," he mused, his eyes raking up and down her body, which she covered more forcefully. He looked back into her eyes, the glow of hers matching his near perfectly as he evaded her question. She looked up at him, her eyebrows creased in worry and confusion. "You have used your gifts well."

"Mandos," she said, her lips drawn tightly. She stared at him, and his lips turned up as she said his name. "You're… the one who blessed me."

"Yes."

"Why do I not remember your face?"

"You were too young," he said, "To remember me." He looked down at her, the young girl he had watched suffer through pain and slowly grow up. He smiled to himself. "But, you have come of age." The girl before him frowned.

"Of-of age?" she questioned, staring at the Valor Lord before her. His smile twisted up and his eyes glowed with a fierce desire she had never seen before. "What does that mean?"

"Never mind," he said slowly, his own eyes still burning. Hers filled with confusion at the Vala Lord, who looked down at her. In reality, Mandos was not unsightly. He was, in fact, physically quite attractive. His stern features gave him a domineering appearance, something she herself lacked, and his angled face was appealing. But she knew that he was ugly within—he had taken her mother's life, though in exchange for her own, and given her a curse. He was, frankly, evil.

He let out a low, rumbling laugh. "So you think me evil, child," he said, his voice rumbling through the mist. She frowned, slowly shaking her head. He laughed again. "I, Essence, am not the evil one, as you will come to know." She scowled at him, unsure of what he was saying. He made her feel… uncomfortable and uneasy.

"You are the King of the Dead," she whispered slowly, squinting up at him. "What could possibly be more evil than you?" The Valor in front of her straightened his shoulders and his smile fell, a glare pointed directly at her. His eyes burned bright with anger, something she wished never to see again. She cowered back, knowing it was a risky move, and regretting it immediately. Instead of advancing upon her, he turned and looked the other way. His tall figure stood well above her own height, his dark hair slicked back on his head. The mist seemed to grow tightly around him, suffocating her with stench once more. The smoke began to encircle Mandos, crawling up his robes and clawing at them, as if trying to reach their way to the top first.

"I blessed those around you. Can you be so selfish as to think yourself cursed, while you bring happiness to so many others?" Yes, she thought. So many years of pain and the unkindness of all whom she had helped warranted her hatred of his gift.

"You are simply a child," he said slowly, the smoke creating figures on his back. A human writhing in pain, a pool of dripping blood, a spear as it took down its enemy. Essence shivered, the smoke slowly turning an inky black as it advanced in its climb. Black, the color of death. "I thought you had grown, but I suppose now, you have not." White smoke covered his head, then quickly changed to a pitch black. "You will understand in time," he said slowly as the smoke enveloped him and he all but disappeared. "For now, you must leave. The fools who hold you in their custody will worry if you do not awake." So, she was in a dream. She slowly stood up and uncovered herself as realization hit her. She was simply dreaming.

Essence was shaken awake by the feel of dropping and a large amount of yelling, and as she opened her eyes, the stench still in her nose, she realized she was plummeting through the air. Fear began again in her heart as adrenaline ran back through her veins. Her skin was hot and sticky, but when she looked at it, it was slowly turning from red to her natural shade. The yells from the dwarves echoed throughout the cavern they were falling into, but she paid no attention. A single question remained in her mind as she descended downward.

Could she be certain that it was a dream?

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