You recover consciousness abruptly, to the realisation that you have been
falling a long, long time. The red haze you noted on first beginning your
descent has become a dull, red-brown light and an almost unbearable heat.
You can still faintly hear screams from above, but looking up reveals no
trace of sky. This chasm may take you to the very centre of the Earth...
Something black looms suddenly at you out of the darkness, a blur.
Instinctively, you grab it, feeling it bend and sway at your touch. A
branch? There could be no branches this far down. Your descent stops
abruptly as the thing reaches the end of its pliability and you hang there
in space, burning without and within. You don't know if it's the light or
if your eyes have been seared by the fire, but you cannot see anything but
shadows and mists.
If you try to climb along your
handhold to reach some sort of safety, click
here.
If you decide to hang where you are for now until your sight
improves click here.