the darkness that consumes

Yuki ran as fast as he could through the rubble, letting his paws thunder across the ground, scraping against the rough surface and cutting deep into the pads. But he couldn't focus on that now. There were much more important matters at hand.

He ducked his head as falling debris threatened to crush him. Growling in exhaustion, Yuki’s pace slowed. Endless tunnels stretching around him.

The light of the lanterns had flickered away, leaving them as cold to the world as the stone walls that surrounded him. The only flame still burning bright was the one caged around his neck, bound by a fickle fate.

He couldn’t let the spark waste away.

Yuki got snapped out of his spiralling thoughts as he stumbled in his steps and fell forward, body twisting and painfully colliding with the rock turf. His paw was bent in an unhealthy angle, a horrible shock of pain echoing throughout the foxe’s entire form. A scream left his sore throat, momentarily blocking out the sounds of the whole cave collapsing behind him.

If he quit now, that’s it.

Slowly bringing his aching arms underneath him, he heaved his whole body right up to his feet. Well, most of them. The twisted foot rested against his chest, knowing well enough not to put any more pressure onto it. That would only slow him down, which he couldn’t afford right now.

As he pulled himself forward, everything inside him screamed, begging for him to stay still, but he saw the light. The blinding light.

Still feeling the flame within his own lantern as it fiercely flickered, he could hear every single ember fighting its way beyond the clear confinement. Some of the glass was broken, uncomfortably jutting into his chest.

Not that it mattered. At some point everything had become numb.

When the fox finally arrived at the exit, he noticed that something around his neck started to crack.

The beads were breaking.

The lantern.

He could only hope that it held on, only pray while he neared the warmth of the hot summer air. But fate has never been kind to children of the dark and as Yuki stopped, he reached out with the wounded paw to stop his body from tumbling.

Instinctively throwing himself towards the last flame, the smaller animal curled up above it, arching his back as he pulled the shattered remains close.

Yuki heard the earth splitting, the air being forced aside as the ground beneath him fell.

Everything went quiet.

…

But the flickering never stopped.

The spark was still alive.