THE MAN UNKNOWN

Darkness...All that he could see around him was darkness. All of his sensations were gone. He didn't know what happened to him. The last thing he remembered was headlights coming towards him. And now he is here, and where that HERE is, he had no idea. The time of day was unknown to him, as was the time that he spent in this darkness. There were no sounds, lights, nor any other sources of stimuli that would give him any clues of his whereabouts or his general surroundings. Maybe he is deaf and blind, he thought to himself, but that can't explain the lack of scents or feelings in his skin. Darkness was endless. Suddenly, a very weak sound came to him, giving him hope that he's not deaf. A crackling sound came from some distance away from him, or he had thought so. Away, in the distance, it seemed, small light began to emerge. It was dancing in the darkness, casting light around itself, enlightening something that looked like a small cave. It was coming towards him slowly, at first, but then, suddenly, he had a feeling of falling very fast towards the light. The sound was getting progressively louder as he was getting closer. He recognized the sound of big cracking, roaring fire. Light has by now taken shape of a great bonfire in a big cave. His falling speed has slowed for a moment and he was able to see some of the details of the cave, as well as the fire itself. He noticed that cave was very large, with a stone altar on the far side of the cave. A dark figure was standing in front of it, hands raised high, holding a staff in its right hand. The fire was emitting a very strange light. It seemed that it was burning from the ground of the cave, having no wood or fuel that should be consuming. Suddenly, the speed of his falling increased, and in the next moment, he found himself engulfed in the flames. The fire took him as soon as he hit the ground, burning his flesh in its flames, sending crackling and melting sounds echoing thru the cave. Screams have been silenced by the roaring of the fire. The pain was so unbearable and it made him pass out but in the next moment, he found himself back in the darkness. Darkness was heavier than the one before. The absence of any senses or feelings overwhelmed him and dropped him in despair. Unable to feel his heartbeat nor his breath, fear struck at his mind and cast all reasoning aside. Engulfed by the darkness and silence once again, trying to assess the time passed was a task set to fail. And then, the pain struck. Feelings and sensations returned to burned body parts. Every inch of the burnt flesh was hurting beyond all tolerances. It hurt more than anything ever before. It lasted forever, it seemed. And then, it just stopped. Few moments passed, as much as he could gather and a feeling of heaviness started to lift. Sensations started to return gradually. Coldness on his back gave a clue that it might be the cold ground of the cave. Warmth around indicated that it might come from some kind of heating implement somewhere close. The sound of a crackling fire identified the source of the heat. Darkness was present still but it was unclear if it was dark or his eyes were still shut. The sound of footsteps was getting closer. "Why don't you open your eyes now? " asked the voice by his side. It sounded like order so, mustering as much will as possible, he started to open them. The light hurt his eyes at first. As time passed, the vision became clearer. At that point, the situation became understandable. He was laying on the cold stone altar while the fire was burning in the middle of a cave to his left. To his right stud a dark-cloaked figure, seemingly having no face under the dark hood. Only two bright yellow-glowing eyes, at least he thought those were the eyes, could be seen in the darkness of the hood. "Aren't you curious about the state of your new body?" asked the figure with echoing voice resonating thru the cave. "New body?" He was confused and terrified by this statement and the obvious pleasure in the tone of the figure's voice. "Yes, new body. I went to all this trouble getting you here and adjusting your body so you could be capable of doing the deeds that I summoned you here for, and you don't even want to test it out. That's ungrateful and disrespectful ", said the voice with noticeable disappointment. Still confused and now in need of the answers, he decided to indulge this strange person's request. He got up to a seating position and put his legs power the altar's edge, remaining seated on the stone table. Moved arms and legs while seated and realized that they grew in size and felt stronger than before. Insecure in his capabilities, stood from the stone table and the cold cave floor sent chills thru the spine and the hair on his neck reacted. Taking a few first wobbly steps showed that it all works perfectly for now. There was no pain or difficulty in any of the body parts. The mind was still a mess though. " Go on, go to that wardrobe and get dressed," said the figure, pointing at the large wooden wardrobe in the far corner of the cave. He wasn't aware that he had no clothes on till now. With slow steps, still not trusting his legs, he came to the wardrobe and opened it. It gave a screeching sound while the door was opening. Inside was black clothing, similar to the clothing that a figure wore. Black boots, pants, shirt, coat, and wide rim hat. While putting on the clothes, something was caught in the corner of the eye. Shining with an ominous dark red glow, stood a sword. "You like it? Are you feel like you're drawn to it?", the eyes of a figure shined in a provocative smirk " Go ahead, take it. It's yours if you want it". Unsure if it was just a challenge or a genuine offer, he took few insecure steps towards the sword. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe. Take it" Encouraged by this statement, he walked to the sword and stood there for a moment, intoxicated by the glow and the energy that the sword emitted. When he came to his senses, he took a sword ever so gently, fearing that it might break if he's not careful enough. "Don't worry, I'm not that fragile" he heard the voice in his mind "Are you going to be my new master and friend?" asked the strange child-like voice "Yes?" he responded in his thoughts with doubt in his words "Finally. I am so happy to have a master and a friend again. I am yours to command. Welcome, master", said the voice, and the light started happily dancing on the blade of the sword, sending rays of lights in all directions, illuminating the dark corners of the cave.