[b]Wake up[/b]

An odd first command to hear, but an appropriate one. Somehow Aestus knew he would be hearing commands for a long time to come, though perhaps in a different way.

[i]The darkness...[/i]

Had he been sleeping? No...no that wasn't the right term to use. [i]Meditating[/i] was more like it. Before any other was aware, Aestus was. Until just now, he had no knowledge of time or space, nor was he even "alive"- at least, not in the normal sense of the word. But he was awake. He could feel the darkness rapping itself about him, like a chilling but welcome embrace.

[i]The darkness is...[/i]

His eyes shot open for the first time.
It was blinding.

The cave him and his brethren are trapped in is a dim one, with naught but a small glimpse or two of true sunlight. But, still, it was too much. It burned his eyes, and hurt his soul to it's very core.

[i]The darkness is calling...[/i]

Yes! The darkness, the shadow, that's what he needed! Not just standing, but leaping to his feat, he made a dash for the wall, hoping the shadow it cast would shield him from the hated light. He threw himself against it, bruising his head but hardly noticing, screaming like a bleeding rat. He would die before he went willing to the light again.

[i]The darkness is calling you.[/i]