Winter had not gone away. It had retreated inside the mountain, ready to leak out as autumn died.

A life wasted. A lifetime of no life at all.

They lay there to rot as the war raged around them, over them, on top of them.

I kicked a rock over the edge and it clattered downward endlessly.

I dunked my head under and looked around me to find the beast. Saltwater stung my eyes as I gazed into the blurry darkness.

I turned and kicked off of the cliff as hard as I could, leaping out into nothing.

Twilight ruled here, and the creatures of night kept the order in this world.

The sound rose up from the reeds and the mud, calling me back to the marshland.

I have been cast out. None shall sing my name. I will fade into nothing in this wretched place.