text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, drama, horror, dystopia, serious]
  
  The entrance stood tall, winding itself around the shadows. In the deepest and darkest corners, it rose fast, forcing me to lower myself onto hands and feet, reminiscent of my situation at the River. It had been months, perhaps years ago, and felt like a thousand lifetimes.
  
  The other side was brightly lit by the morning sun, sucking heat out of the air, shining its dead rays upon the outstretched fields covered by young wheat. The green rows carpeted the many carcasses that formed small slumps in the flat landscape. They lay brutalized, thick bellies rotting and riddled with marks of claw and teeth.
  
  "We shouldn't dally here," Amanirenas confirmed my thought. "The silence is false."
  
  And so we once again drifted through a land barren of distinct marks, gratefully accepting the respite it offered from both stench and storm.
  
  It was when the sun reached its highest place when movement aroused me from my daze. The noon breathed life in every corpse, forcing each and every shade to rise again. Their shivering cries and tears moved me, and I dashed towards the closest soul.
  
  "Hail, good shade. Is there anything to soothe your suffering?"
  
  The carcass turned onto its side, gastric fluids leaking from a big gaping hole that provided clear sight into the fatty visceral covering, which was ripped in turn and allowed access to the long curves of the gut itself.
  
  "Grain!" The sound came from that gap and quickly spread throughout the field.
  
  Quickly each carcass forced itself to its knees, using whatever appendage to clutch as many straws as possible, before gorging onto the plain feast. The sickening smacks and burps baffled me.
  
  "How do you even consider food in your pitiful state. This is truly a deserving place for all of you."
  
  Then I saw the most wondrous sight that paused my tirade before it had started. The grain, consumed and descended into the stomach, slipped through the cavity onto the ground, each straw symbolizing a little growth as it fell through until, after a thousand straws, the cleft firmly closed.
  
  "As bad as the first time," he now replied as if just awaking from a recurrent nightmare. "The itch is terrible, remains long after the mind turned numb to the pain."
  
  While the scene seemed so peaceful, I had felt a distinct sense of unease lurking beneath the surface. "What caused these wounds?"
  
  "The darkness of night." An even darker complexion overtook his round face. "It would be best to not dwell upon those sinister thoughts. We have a few hours till slumber yet. What brings you here, if I may ask."
  
  "Love. I breathe to reach her in the circle of Lust. The very same thing that forces my next question in turn. Do you know of ways to ascend towards the next plane?"
  
  "None close by, my friend. Come, let us be merry and enjoy the little moments of respite we've been given."
  
  Amanirenas' one eye pierced the fat shade in place. "Seize your buffoonery at once. Speak your words. shade, and we'll be off."
  
  "People speak of immense mountains that way," he returned indignantly, pointing first towards the horizon and later to his own posture. "Sadly, the passes are too narrow for most of us."
  
  "Then-"
  
  "But the few who dared make entrance never returned. Whatever lies beyond those walls is far worse than our fate here. Stay here for a little while. Others will join and surely know a better way."
  
  > And so you quickly said your last goodbyes and left.
  We ignored the cajoles and eventually the open hostility, trying to outpace the news of our arrival and refusal, moving towards the western mountain range as hastily as our tired legs could carry us. Meanwhile, we passed a thousand shades, all huddled together and seeking comfort in each other's embrace, much like we had done only moments before.
  
  "I must thank you for choosing to continue this voyage," my guide eventually breached the silence between us. "I know how this must be without any memories to keep on course. Know that you have chosen wisely."
  
  "I recalled the oasis," I answered after a while, waiting a few moments until the nearest shades were once again at a safe distance. "It was too good to be true, like water amidst an icy desert."
  
  Another group now passed us, offering wine and plants to forget about the worries of tomorrow. Most were openly fucking each other with a wild passion that hinted at hurt more than love. We respectfully declined.
  
  "Agreed, every tormented soul will lash out at any who doesn't share its fate. Suffering has made them mad."
  
  "You confessed you were influenced by this place before," I answered before wisdom caught up to my tongue.
  
  "And I chose to end my own life before dooming others to my own fate," she bit back.
  
  I could only hastily apologize and let the uncertain air of silence wash over us, watching as the mountains increasingly dominated the horizon. The closer we approached, the more somber the spirits became, as if to stay so close to escape, and yet choosing to undergo this plane's torment acted like a poison for their humors.
  
  They watched us with split looks of anger and desire, respectfully moved to allow us entry. We inched closer to the infamous pass, looked towards each other, nodded, and pressed on, climbing the treacherous slopes.
  
  Meanwhile, the moon replaced the sun, causing panic to the field below us, now invisible behind multiple formations of rock. I heard begging and cursing, an uproar of ever increased urgency followed by the sickening crunches of broken bones, a sound that reverberated unnaturally far and wide.
  
  "Don't dally. If I were a hunter, I'd choose this moment to pick up stragglers."
  
  > And so you pressed on, leaving behind those willing to surrender their fate.
  We climbed as high as the sky, proceeding into the silence of Envy.
  
  "It's been whispered," my guide offered. "That these tops hold riches beyond the dreams of any pharaoh, leaving even the grandest king a beggar in comparison. Be on your guard and remember the oasis."
  
  We reached the clouds. Immediately the air changed, becoming colder and poisonous. The spires now flattened into plateaus, each serving as the base of grand arches that spanned across the entire mountain, forming a network of roads leading to a single large palace.
  
  This centerpiece was as large as any city, with walls made of marble and roofs that shone the opal's breathtaking black and green shades. There were a thousand towers, each dwarfing the mountain in height and easily humiliating it in beauty. It was heaven given physical form, a majestic dream of opulence and grandeur.
  
  It were these sights that lowered our guard. A sharp point in my neck forced my attention back toward the present, allowing me a moment of panic before it pierced through flesh, bone, and nerve, ending my life right there and then.
  
  I awoke to the sight of a long and raspy tongue licking my left eye. I firmly pressed it shut.
  
  "Oh don't act coy, darling. A fresh eye does have its delightful taste." The voice sounded as sweet as vanilla, almost innocent in its disappointment. "Come now, aren't you wondering where you are?"
  
  I heard footsteps walking to and from my position, slight chattering behind a heavy door. Moreover, there was a breeze in the air, a promise of hope.
  
  "Don't even think about it. You are ours now, a unique specimen in our little collection."
  
  In turn, I felt long and soft fingers trailing over every inch of my body, most stopping in between my ribs.
  
  "Oh how long your kind has eluded us, sneaking through our playground in search of your true destination. We grew bored and restless, waited longingly for one of you to return. And now, an eternity later, now we finally have you."
  
  Another voice, a more sonorous one, appeared right next to my ear. "Do you feel his untapped energy, his untapped reserves? There is so much to be gained."
  
  "Shall we start with his heart?" the first voice asked back.
  
  And at once all fingers grabbed onto my ribs, dislocating them outwards. My scream was quickly cut short with a single hand ripping my cords.
  
  "Oh wonderful, I never had one beat so quickly."