The room was warm. Much warmer than anything he had felt recently. The fire pit made sure of that and yet he still felt the cold. It was a bone deep chill that would not go away.
Anderson did not know how he got there but he knew he was cold. He got up from the blooded bed and walked over to the fire pit. Slowly he reached his hands out. Warming his hands he moved his body closer. Minutes passed while Anderson kneeled in front of the fire. He felt its warm. It was calming and yet it was not enough for him.
He moved his hands. Inching closer and closer to the fire. It was almost speaking to him. His hand drew closer. The embers of the fire were dancing.
His hand grabbed one. It burned. It was hot. It wasn't cold.
The cold in his hand was gone for a moment. The feeling foreign. Was it hope, pure unadulterated hope? Anderson didn't know. Neither did he care.
His hand reached out. One ember after another, he grabbed them. He felt the sensation of each ember burning his hands and the heat that came with it.
He was consumed by the feeling. It was everything.
He was going to do it. He was going to plunge his hand into the fire.
His hands moved. Closer and closer. The heat increased while the cold decreased. The tips of the fire whipped against his hands. Burning them and yet he did not stop he only moved forward more.
He was about to do it. He was about to be warm. He was about to be rid of the chill that he could feeling even in his soul.
Then his hands stopped. Not because he wanted to stop, but because he could not move any further.
"No. NO. NO!" He screamed as he couldn't reach the warmth in front of him.
'Why. Why can't I move?' Looking up Anderson saw why. A man had grabbed his arms.
Anderson moved. Kicking his legs up at the man. He managed to hit the man's wrists, causing the man to loose grip his grip on Anderson's arms. Moving back he saw the man that now blocked him from getting to the fire. He was much older, but that didn't matter. The man was summoning a memory.
Anderson moved. Running at the man. He need to get pass him. He need the fire.
He swung his fist at the man only to be block by cold hard hands. He kicked at the mans legs only to be blocked again. Every move he made was blocked as if he was only a weak kid.
The man was not Anderson's goal, the fire was. He moved around the man while still attacking. Then he turned and lunged at the fire. He was almost there he felt it on his burnt fingers.
Then a chain wrapped around his neck.
No it was no chain. It was a necklace. At the same time the man grabbed him. Stopping him from landing in the fire.
Anderson laid on the ground. Body hurting and yet he was not cold. Not as he was. Anderson's mind cleared the world around him shifted. It was as if he had regained control over his own body.
"Kid, can you hear me now? You shouldn't be under its affects now?" The man asked while helping Anderson up.
Head pounding Anderson asked, "What happened? Who are you and why was I like that?"
"You can call me Cast. What you just experienced was the curse of the ruler of this place. It typically only happens to those who had been seriously wounded many times. You're new here aren't you?"
"Yes I only arrived about a week ago though I have been pretty roughed up it seems." Anderson answered as he looked at his bandaged body. It was almost impossible to see his skin threw the bandages.
"You were in a worse condition about two days ago when we found you in the snow outside the city. We expected you would have early stage symptoms of it, but as you just experienced they were not early stage symptoms. Those were late stage symptoms. I don't know what you went through, but it must have been hell getting here."
"May I ask how you stopped the symptoms?"
"Oh that's simple, the necklace you're wearing dampens the affect of attributes. If you look at your runes it should be clear why it works."
hearing this Anderson opened his runes.
Name: Anderson
True name: [Chaos Conductor]
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Dormant
Soul Fragments: [4/1000]
Memories: [Climbing Claws], [Captain's Pipe], [Bloody Fur Coat]
Echoes: ___
Attributes: [Link to Reality], [Mark of Divinity], [Linked], [Chilled]
Aspect: Architect
Aspect Rank: Divine
Flaw: [Sacrifice]
Attributes Description:
[Chilled]: [The cold takes hold of you through injures. It is a relentless cold, one that will chill you to your soul over time. You will succumb to the chill. You will want to burn.]
"Well that's direct."
"Yes it is. Actually that was very helpful in countering it. One of the Sleepers here is able to forge necklaces like the one you are wearing to be able to not succumb to it. Its actually very impressive what that man has done. We lost many before he managed to make the necklaces. Specking of people you are the first person to arrive here in many years. May I ask you a few questions?"
"Um, sure. I mean you saved me so go ahead and ask."
"Is the world still alive?"
"Yes it is why do you ask?"
"Well I myself was part of the group that first arrived here about twenty years ago. We were almost killed off due to the lack of our numbers for the first year, then more people arrived. Each year for the first ten years more than a thousand people arrived here. More people showed up each year then nothing. We had started losing hope. It was hard thinking about the possibility that the world had died.
At the time new Sleepers stopped appearing there were about eleven thousand people inhabiting this place. We lost seven thousand people in ten years. This place is a true nightmare. We lost almost a thousand people to suicide. A thousand.
This place has done things to many that have been here. I want you to know you were very lucky to be found by my faction. Some would have left you. A few would have killed you. Most would have saved you to torture you later." Cast stopped taking after that while looking at the fire.
"I must go. Keep the necklace I can get another later." Cast transferred the memory to Anderson.
[You have gained a memory, Attribute Dampener]
"Oh and one last thing rest up so you don't loss it like many before you." With that Cast left Anderson alone in his room.