Through the Lantern

As the old hag wonders the darkness, she collects the souls of men and women who cross her path.

Through the Lantern

Payton Smith

 

How long she has been there no one knows. How old she is no one knows. The woman that was known as keeper of the lantern, wandered in the darkness always looking for more souls to keep her precious lantern going. She must have been very old for her skin was wrinkled and very pale because she had not seen the sun for many ages. In her eyes all she saw was the blaze of the purple flame in her lantern. Grown into her long white hair was moss and it began to grow onto her skin slowly devouring her. She was missing her left arm from a long time ago a knight stood challenge to her, but his soul now floated with the rest in the purple flame. Most of her teeth had rotted out of her mouth and the few that were left were long dead.

The surroundings around her had never changed, a blanket of shadows as thick as fog and kept the sun from peeking in, the ground like a sponge with moss and fungi everywhere, and weapons from the battles of ages rusting where they were placed hundreds of years ago. The woman had forgotten what sleep was a good ten years ago, she had forgotten the taste of food and the quench of water, all she survived off was the souls she had stored in the lantern.

Step after step she took but whenever there was a sound of anything unusual she would examine everything around her. This happened to be one of those times, as a cling came from the distance to her right. Observing in the darkness she stopped breathing as she listened for a heartbeat, and there it was. From the darkness a young boy walked out.

Around the age of seventeen he looked. He wore a white cuirass, baggy black pants, and had a sword sheathed diagonally across his back. The two met eyes and stared each other down. The old woman began to slowly walk towards the young man. He did not move, but he moved his hand slowly up to the hilt of his sword. The old woman began to chuckle and she put the lantern down to the ground.

“A young soul to add to my collection,” the old woman’s voice came as if she was speaking with the last bit of life she had within her, “I think you’ll fit right in with the others. Oh you guys will have so much to talk about for the rest of eternity. So come her sonny and make this easy for me because I’m too old to play your childish games.”

“I’ve heard of you before,” the young man said, “many people have been caught victim to you, but how you’re such a slowly moving hag.”

The young man drew his sword and took a step closer to the old woman. He held up the sword and stabbed into the rotting flesh of the old woman. She smiled and the young man tried pulling the sword free with no result. The woman took a step forward causing the sword to rip through the muscle in her back. With her one arm, she reached for the young man’s head, he tried to let go of the sword but it was as if his hand were glued to it. The old woman’s long uncut finer nails began to press into the young man’s skin. With a struggle of trying to pull his head away as the nails pressed blood from the veins in his head. The nails reached the bone of his skull and with a crack they pressed through. The young man screamed at the top of his lungs as the pain rushed through his body. He lost conscious.

The old woman pulled her arm fast from the young man and a white flame was held in her hand. Cracking a wicked smile she backed out of the sword and walked towards the lantern. The flames grew as it merged and even changed to the same purple color with the other flame. She picked up her lantern and continued on.

It was as if the young man was floating, floating in complete darkness. He tried waking himself up, but it was no use. Was he lost within his own mind, was he dead, or what? He struggled to move, it felt as if he couldn’t but he had to try.

“Don’t struggle,” came a voice from the darkness, it was the voice of a old man, “you’re here forever now, so just sit back and relax. There’s nothing you can do.”

“I won’t just give up so easy,” the young man said. “What a b***h, thinks she can just take over my soul. No, I’m getting out of here.”

“Try all you want, but no one has ever done it,” the old man said. “Just try to keep it quite over there, I’m trying to relax and I can’t if you make noise.”

How could he get out, what if he was stuck forever, he couldn’t let this happen. He looked around, but there were no signs of light. Days began to past and he still couldn’t find a way out. A month it felt rushed by, and he slowly began to give up… and relax.

 

Author's Note

This is just a quick story I felt like I had to write, yet I'm not to fond of it. But I hope you enjoy.