Oh you poor creature, caught under all that stone. 

The voice shook me awake. I fell, I must have fallen when I lost my footing at the overlook. I tried to move but couldn’t feel anything. Did I break my back?

You must be so confused, but don’t you worry, sweet child. You have fallen into my safe, loving, hands. Give me one moment and we can talk.

A sharp pain ran through my body, and one by one my senses lit up. A fire of sensation washed over me. Pain, fear, and most concerning, cold. I tried to move again.

Nothing.

I tried to look around.

Darkness. 

Child, you took quite the fall. You may not see it, but your body is buried under the stones you once stood upon. I’m sorry you’re not long for this world.  

I began to weep but was quieted by the hush of the motherly voice ringing throughout my soul.

I know this must be hard, young one. But death is just the beginning of something new. I can soothe your pain, let you fade off if you’d like. Is that what you desire?

She put emphasis on that word, and I finally spoke.

“I want to live”

I could feel a shift in the room. I could sense a smile somewhere in the darkness.

Poor thing, poor, sweet thing. I want you to live. But… the cost of living can be great. Are you willing to accept the burden of refusing your fate, under all this stone?

I thought of my mother, my father, my friends, the teacher who taught me to read despite my protests. I wanted to see them all again. One more time.

Before I could speak, the Cave Mother spoke again:

Of course you would accept the burden, your mother would be so sad, so… worried. You just disappearing, that would certainly break my heart. 

“Please let me see my family again”

The temperature changed again, colder. The room got darker. The smile of the shadows grew to be a grin.

I’d love to, sweet, sweet boy. But I can only do it if you help me. You see, a long time ago, cruel, evil men sealed me in here. Much like how you are sealed now. If I save you, will you free me? 

I agreed. 

When you go home, visit the town’s temple, and knock down the statue of a man wielding a great shield. Break it.

Her voice echoed with that command, it rang in my head over and over.

 It contains the evil magic holding me here. Only then can I make sure your recovery is permanent.

And then, suddenly, I was walking through the front gates of my home estate. 

My mother wept as she ran towards me and took me in her arms. My father hid his face as silent tears streamed down his cheek and got caught in his bristly, curled, mustache. 

I ate dinner with them, the servants prepared a welcome feast of all my favorite foods.

The wine tasted like saltwater. The apples like plain oats. Nothing had flavor.

Break it.

Break it.

Break it.

“Is the meal to your liking? You’ve hardly eaten.” My mother looked at me with her swollen blue eyes. She had only just recently stopped crying in relief. Apparently, I had been gone for two weeks.

“I just need some air, I will return after an evening walk”

I walked to the temple under the shadows, not wanting to be seen.

Break it.

Break it.

Break it.

Her voice kept repeating in my head, a dull ringing in my ears accompanying each echo.

Soon, I made it to the temple, and when I stepped onto the grounds her voice stopped. 

So did the ringing.

But something new came. Pain.

The same pain I felt in the cave, the overwhelming numbness. The coldness. I coughed into my hands. Blood.

I made my way behind the temple, hobbling as I steadily grew weaker from the blood that was draining from my nose, eyes, and mouth. 

I was surely dying. 

I tried to push the statue, but there was no strength left. 

I was beaten.

I began to drift back into the world of darkness.

Then, I felt power in my chest.

I reached out to it with all of my soul, calling for it, and I felt my vision return. 

My hands, enshrouded by smoke, formed the shape of black claws, a cloak of swirling darkness rested upon my shoulders, and I could feel a burning hatred behind my eyes as I set my gaze upon the stone fixture that threatened my life.

I raised my hand, and a blast of eldritch energy shot from my blackened fingers, shattering the shield and destroying the statue.

The pain faded. The weight lifted. And the blood dried.

I was safe. My savior was freed.

The pact is made.

I returned home, quietly went to bed, and slept. 

I woke to the sounds of screaming.

The town I loved burning to the ground. Razed by the undead. 

I ran to the center of town, ignored by the shambling bodies mindlessly attacking the townsfolk.

I needed to find my family.

But it was too late. 

An elegantly dressed woman stood tall against the flames, looking on in satisfaction as my parent’s corpses burned at the stake. 

She turned and spoke without moving her lips. An all-too-familiar voice echoed in my head:

Ah, my sweet child. I thank you for freeing me from my imprisonment under this wretched town. I’m sorry about your parents, but they were complicit in my continued entrapment. Everyone here was.

Except you.

You saved me. I knew you would. Ever since you were drawn to my resting place as a child.

I give you my eternal gratitude and my motherly gift. But this town is mine, and while you may visit, you can no longer stay. Children must leave the nest, sometime.

Do you understand?