Prologue

It was a chillingly silent night. The trees were as still as the dark sky and the critters were as dead as a man in his tomb. 

It was pitch black around him. He couldn’t move a single muscle. It seemed as if he was contained in a claustrophobic cage unknown to him. His mind was distorted. He couldn’t exactly recall why he was imprisoned in the first place. He couldn’t recollect what his appearance was or what his identity was, nor did he have any sense of where he was or what day it was. All he knew was that he had been caged for as long as his time permitted. It was painful to stay still for him. His inability to stir even slightly shook his mind violently every time he thought about it. He finally concluded that his only purpose in life was to stay still forever as a caged bird. 

His life was stripped away of everything that made him human. He didn’t choose to be where he was right now. It despaired him whenever he wondered how long he had been trapped in a never-ending cycle of torture. He was never free from the chains of Darkness. It would always haunt him, taunting him about his free will because it knew he had none. He lost track of time since it was useless to him. His body refused to convey the emotions that his mind so strongly suffered from. He would attempt to cry, but no tears would come out. He would attempt to scream, but the bitter silence would always conquer. He was a slave in his own body. His mind had become so weary that he no longer had the will to thrive. Even so, no matter what he thought, he couldn’t do anything about his situation. Even if he wished to end it all, he couldn’t. Even if he wished to live, he didn’t know how to. Sometimes he wondered if he would continue to live a life in complete darkness.  

Suddenly, he heard an ominous noise from far away for the very first time. The resonating sound was from a clock tower. The first ring came, then the second, and then the third. The chiming of the bells echoed eerily in his ears even after it had stopped. It was so sinister sounding that it would have sent chills down his spine if he could get them. Moments passed and life continued on. He was in a world where time would keep flowing around him, but the only thing that it had shunned was him and him alone. So when he heard the bells ring, he knew something was strange. All these years, he had never heard any noise until that moment. After the bells rang prophetically, he knew exactly what was going to happen. The hour had come when his curse would be broken and his life would be returned back to him. 

Then, he heard a rustle. The noise seemed to be in close proximity to him. At that very moment, he heard a deafening explosion. A multitude of rocks crumbled down and hit the floor. During the process, the rubble caused an echo every time they came in contact with the ground. Footsteps seeped their way into the enclosure. Oddly enough, the man felt free. He didn’t feel as stiff or as heavy as before. It felt excruciatingly wondrous to him. He had never experienced this euphoric feeling in such a long time. Am I free? He thought. He attempted to move his hands in a hopeful manner. To his surprise, he didn’t feel any force stop him from moving it. His fingers curled in and out as if he was testing how much strength he should exert. 

“Open your eyes.” Someone spoke soothingly. The first voice. It reached him and rang in his ears. The first words he heard sounded commanding and yet comforting at the same time. His hands froze in hesitation. It was quiet for some time after the voice reverberated in the dark. The man clenched his jaw weakly in contemplation. At last, he pried his eyes open to the vivid world around him. His body was merged with a huge vertical translucent crystal. He was inside a looming underground cave that had similar crystals like the one he was in. The abundance of the crystals was like the amount of blood spilled in a brutal murder. The cave illuminated a brilliant hue of shining crystal blue. Even though the cave lit such a beautiful glow, he could still sense the intense darkness around him. Instead of paying attention to the wondrous light, his gaze focused sharply in the leaking shadows behind the radiance of the seemingly innocent crystals. Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. A cloaked figure slithered right in front of him with a hood over his head. The shadows caused by the hood prevented the man from seeing his savior’s face. The stranger proclaimed,

“Tonight, you have been reborn.” The secretive man extended his arm and delicately caressed the crystal that had imprisoned the caged man. He observed the hooded figure carefully as he noticed lines appear on the stranger’s right hand. The whole entire mark was purple. There were outlines of circles with spirals crossing them, forming multiple shapes that insinuated a majestic look. There were lines of a diamond close to the wrist and at the very bottom of the mark. Barely a second later, the mark lit up and another explosion ensued. This time, the crystal that had surrounded him shattered into pieces unimaginable to him. They glimmered in the air beautifully like the milky stars of the midnight sky and the shimmering raindrops of a bright day. The pieces clattered around the two while they stood there as still as stone. He stared at the stranger in amazement and disbelief. Moments passed and the stranger whisked away from him to head towards the entrance that was made just recently. He followed hesitantly after him, taking little steps at a time with his bare feet. The blinding shards cut his skin but it didn’t matter to him. It was as if the shards were attempting to keep him in the underground cave for as long as they could. Despite that, he relentlessly persisted in escaping the cave that cruelly confined him. His weak legs carried him up towards the clear sky until he was finally at ground level. The stranger waited there along with some others. They also wore the same cloak as him. The freedman gazed at the glittering night sky that showered him in awe. The moon and the stars above welcomed him warmly with their light grazing his cheeks. An overwhelming feeling engulfed him. He breathed in the crisp air and kissed the lush green grass with his bloodied feet in immense ecstasy. He was finally free from his misery and the dreadful darkness that had haunted him for as long as he could think of. Tears streamed down his face as he couldn’t control what he was feeling. His legs buckled and he fell to the ground. Regardless of that, he stayed focused on the glistening stars of the heavenly sky. The pain he felt from his feet was nothing compared to what he had gone through during his imprisonment. Instead, the pain was more of a message of freedom to him than anything. He had finally conquered his worst nightmare and was now living in an angel’s dream. The tears began to cover his vision so he closed his eyes and breathed in. He stayed in that posture for a long time under the warm blanket of the tender stars. His head faced the light and his arms were relaxed by his sides. At last, he murmured,

“I don’t ever want to experience that again.” All he could feel was the vast emotion of relief, knowing that he had finally found freedom.