Last Hero

Moving through the grass seemed futile; there was nothing over the horizon, and no tracks behind him. He looked up for the sun, trying to think where he had last noticed its position. Alas, he had not taken note of such a thing, and now he noted that the sky was as void as the field that he stood in. There was in fact no sun, no source of light. The man glanced down at his feet, and found he had no shadow. Looking about, he noticed the whole placed seem to be evenly lit. Not even the underside of his foot cast any darkness upon the grass. He tried to shrug it off as he continued walking. He tried to remember who he was and how he managed to make it to this place. The attempt was met with pain. He gripped the sides of his head and screamed at the sky, as faint images danced in his mind, but he knew they were not his memories. The pain subsided, bringing nothing but a panting man face down in the grass. He slowly made it to his feet again, grudgingly continuing onward and purposefully keeping his mind clear. Padding through the sea of green the man thought about how easy it was to walk now. He nearly laughed out loud. How he had struggled so hard. Had enough time passed that such an early memory would seem so distant to him? He fought, trying to think about how long he had been walking. Hours perhaps? Maybe a day or two. . .could not have been more than week. These thoughts made him wonder if time was just in his head. "SLAE!" The voice boomed from everywhere. The man spun around, trying to find the source, but all he could see was grass; the endlessness of it almost made him feel sick. He tired of being alone, having no memory of anyone, including himself. He was feeling lonelier now than ever. "Hello! Whose out there?!" He managed at the top of his lungs. No one responded. He thought long and hard and for reasons he could not explain, the word seemed familiar to him. Not only familiar, but almost a part of him, as if the word slae belonged to him. He fought for answers, how could he know that? But he did not want to cause himself pain again, and breathed it away. "SLAE!" Again it rang, this time shaking the very sky. With that, he made up his mind. Until he learned otherwise, he would carry the word as his name. Slae, spinning about, screamed, "I'm here! I'm here!" No one was to be found, but before Slae could take another step a voice whispered in his ear, "Come to me." The voice was that of a female, and he felt her breath on his ear. It was warm and the voice inviting. An aroma overwhelmed his senses: he had never smelled anything in his short memory as sweet. He turned only to stumble backwards at what his eyes took in. A vast ocean, as endless as the plains themselves. A new sensation against Slae's feet. Pure white sand. It was unreal in appearance and poured down a slope from the ocean of grass into the ocean of water. The ocean's sky was as different from the sky over the plains as black is to white. The clouds turned and fought for control. Lightning pierced the water's surface and thunder so great it shook the ground. Large waves rolled from afar but the shore was calm. Slae, stepping toward the waters, caught a glimpse of his reflection. He was very tall with grayish tanned skin. His eyes were large and nearly solid black; the only thing darker was his hair that streamed down his bare back. He was naked, however unbothered, for he had no recollection of ever being clothed before and it felt natural to him. His muscles were wound tight about his frame and his body was completely hairless. Slae moved in toward his image, his mouth gaping. Something seemed out of place, but he could not quite put his finger on it. This was what he looked like, but he had no memory of it. "Who am I?" He sounded desperate, “Tell me. . .wh-who I am." Slae stammered, at first, then shouted at his reflection, "Tell me who I am!" He brought his fist against the water and wrenched back his aching hand surprised at how solid the surface of the water was. Not even so much as a ripple formed. Peering into the water again he gaped in awe, how can it be solid? Then it hit him, his teeth were missing. Just a solid black void filled his mouth for a moment, and then a light. The light was great among the darkness, and grew in size. Slae leaned forward, his heart pounding, quickly recognizing the light as a ball of pure white fire. He tried to pull away only to find his own reflection gripping him with a great strength. Twisting hard Slae struggled to escape without success. His image arose from the water, mouth still wide open displaying the great ball of flame. Slae tried to scream but his voice was struck silent. The reflection closed the distance as Slae squirmed violently. In a flash Slae was face first in the waters, there was no ocean floor, just visions of unimaginable death and destruction. Flopping to his back, drenched, he crawled backwards to the grass. It stabbed him. Turning about he peered at silver spikes taking place of the once lush green plants. Sharp pain drove up his spine in a frenzy, images danced in his head. Then, like before, all the colors melted into one as he succumbed to darkness. And then nothing. Light, bright and glorious, flooding over everything. The light was so intense that it shone through Slae's closed eyes.