He couldn't move.
He couldn't breathe.
"H--"
The words couldn't leave his parted mouth.
...It was him.
It stood, watching silently in the dark.
'That hair...those eyes...that coat...that blade...'
'...Me.'
Blubblhh....blurrrhhh...
The flow of blood ran hot in the air as Riven just stared...
It was identical, down to the fine details.
Riven's chest locked as his throat bobbed.
The only separating factor?
...It looked more hollow, apart from its paler skin.
A darker shell.
A colder version.
'A trick...?' The thought came hot.
The figure stood in the blood-mist, and all Riven could do was watch...
He refused to take his eyes off it, for who knows where it might end up.
"....h..."
The forest hadn't just stolen his breath.
It had stolen him, in all his form.
Blubblhh....blurrrhhh...
Riven's hands trembled. His eyes strained sharply as his gaze never left.
He looked closer.
It wasn't still.
The blood mist around it swelled and fell in rhythm, as if the forest itself was pumped through its veins.
Its veins ran black beneath its pale skin, crawling up its throat like strangling roots...
This wasn't Riven.
It couldn't have been.
"...What...are you?" The question fell, scattered and small as Riven watched with uncertainty.
It didn't answer.
Blubblhh....blurrrhhh...
The eyes...his eyes... fixed hollowly on him.
Grey, void, they dragged Riven's chest tighter until his breath stuttered.
It appeared suddenly, making no sound in an environment that screamed such.
There was no vibration that shook that blood covered floor. There was no whistling of wind to signal its appearance.
It was just watching, for who knows how long...
'...Had I not spotted it...'
A dark thought swept Riven, threatening to floor him once more.
Would it have stayed?
Would it have gotten closer?
Would it have replaced him?
There was no way to know.
"...What do you want?"
Again it didn't answer.
The silence pressed heavier than any reply.
Heavier than before because there was now a face to the madness.
His grip tightened, till the bone in his hands ached.
Why wouldn't it speak?
Why wouldn't it move?
His chest refused to move.
Not a blink.
Not a breath.
Nothing too look away.
...It was a standoff.
Blubblhh....blurrrhhh...
Blood bubbled, ever so fluid in the air.
Riven's eyes stung, as veins crawled up to them; but he refused to shut.
He didn't want it to get closer.
And since it hadn't already....he must be doing something right...right?
Splosh...
The blood covering the ground rippled as Riven took a nervous pivot.
The forest's sounds dulled to a pulse.
The bubbling throbbed in slow motion, the wind hushed its pull. Riven's heart was the only thing left, hammering against his ribs.
Thump!
A chill rolled down Riven's neck. The outline of its shoulders shivered, as though the cold had too affected it.
Slicked sweat rolled down Riven's palms onto Mael's Fang.
"...Say something."
The silence breathed in the line, before engulfing it.
The figure did not reply; even the blood below didn't ripple from its presence.
Riven's chest heaved. He blinked once.
'Gone!'
His breath hitched as those grey eyes shook nervously, scanning the trees.
The grip on Mael's Fang tightened...
In that frantic search, something warm traced his ear.
A breath.
Close.
Too close.
"...give up."
THUMP! THUMP!
The voice was his. Not spoken, but yanked from his very bones, rattling out as if the forest had took control.
A shiver tore down his spine...
His blade whipped back, carving through the blood mist.
Whsshh!
Nothing.
Thump!
No form. No resistance.
The trees watched as heavy silence collapsed, seemingly mocking the strike.
The blood rippled below as he stepped.
Splosh.
His teeth grinded as his heartbeat sung madly.
'Its toying with me...'
Thump! Thump!
Was it?
It seemed that was the case, as Riven stood on edge.
Suffocating was the aftermath, silence ran thick....
That was until a sound fluttered at his other ear:
"...worthless."
Thump!
His eyes darted, refusing to blink. He shifted his stance, blade angled low...it wasn't there.
His grip stayed firm, his chest still burned.
Another whisper slid through, this time behind his head:
"...weak."
Thump!
The words dug beneath his ribs; simple as they may, sharp as they were.
Whsshh!
His swing lashed at nothing, his blade carving the air.
"...Show yourself!"
The heat in him was cracking.
Again there was no form, no resistance...
Was he battling his own mind?
"Pathetic."
His stance faltered, each whisper pressing heavier, leaching the fight from his veins...
"...Stop."
The word rasped out, thin, barely his own.
But the whispers didn't stop.
"Worthless."
"Nothing."
"Why did you run?"
They pressed, layer upon layer, until the air felt like a weight; a weight he was getting buried by.
"You run."
The first hiss slithered.
"You run."
It pressed, closer.
"You run."
Each time the phrase came, it dragged more pressure into his chest.
His fingers shook as his blade threatened to fall.
The rest bled through:
"Every step you take leaves another corpse."
Thump!
"How many more before you admit you're no better?"
Thump!
"She's dead because of you."
Thump!
He froze.
"You run."
Thu--
"Did Maelis save you... or did he just pity you?"
Thump!
"He only picked you because no one else would."
Thu--
Little by little.
Piece by piece.
The truth ate at him.
Emerging from his voice, it all seemed like it was his inner thoughts spilling out into the forest...
"You never stop."
'...no...'
"You still run, don't you? Even here."
'...no...'
"Even death doesn't want you."
The last echo didn't slither, it crept through the cracks of his ribs.
His vision swam, the dark swallowing its edges.
His breath faltered. The ground lurched.
The forest tilted as his knees buckled.
Blubblhh....blurrrhhh...
The blood surged up to meet him, swallowing the last of his strength.
As he fell he saw himself, swaying in a mist of blood, chin slumped against an invisible tether.
Darkness came; not gentle, but sudden...
Merciless.
Leeching.