The Lord of Rot

As Konrad fell into this deep state of dreamlike consciousness, a state only similar to a near-death experience, he would attempt to struggle against each movement. Although only subconsciously, he would attempt to rebel against the mass which slowly encompassed his body. 

But it was no dream, it was something entirely different. 

He fell through waters, to each his sides were darkness yet. The waters becoming burdening, and the motion of slowly sinking would not cease. 

His ears would be pierced with a loud and long wail, similar to the cries and speeches of a whale. He felt that the noise would call out to him. He would attempt to see what made the noises, but he could not make out any of the shapes in the void. 

Then he would swim towards on of the bulbs. These masses of great light which began to appear out of nowhere. 

Although these bulbs of light shone, they would be swallowed by the intensity of the abyssal waters. 

Conrad would instead swim towards these lights, like a fish being drawn towards the sun. 

And as soon as he reached one of these masses, the light would suddenly be gone, and suddenly he would begin sinking towards the bottom again. 

Constantly he would fall, repeating a pattern in the same damp waters. The swimming would be futile. He could not reach a light before it went out, and even when he was close, the waters were far too dark to see through. 

Even though its futility, he would repeat it nonetheless. It was pure instinct which kept him swimming. It was pure human nature which kept him from giving up on his foolish behaviour. 

He could not grow tired in the void, but he would not acknowledge any movement of the mind either. 

Konrad would still subconsciously swim in the waters, seeking whatever was presented to him. As a mere reaction. 

Eventually he would feel the movement of the waters near him. Something that he himself had not been the reason for. 

The swimming became faster, more rapid. But this was only a physical reaction. 

Then, approaching another of the lights, he would see something that baffled him to his core. 

And instantly he would inhale the waters, filling his lungs as he wailed out in ultimate fear. When the waters entered his lungs, he would violently attempt to cough it back up. 

Then he would realise that he could not breathe at all, which he hadn't done earlier. 

The light which stood near him remained close, as though the repeating pattern had been broken. He saw it staring back at him. 

Something of eldritch horror, something unknown and undreamt of, even in nightmares. It could not be described in mere words, nor did Konrad see all of it. But it was only akin to a God, and the cosmic and abyssal deity would draw the breath out of him. 

Gradually he lost his breath. His body would resists all it could, but as his senses were dulled, he could not die either. His body would eventually take in the waters, not coughing nor shutting the mouth. 

Slowly Konrad submitted to the waters, allow their entry into his body. 

The instant this was done, he felt a sharp pain, indescribable flowing down the back of his neck, all through the spinal cord. It felt as though something burrowing beneath his skin, slowly but surely become harsher and more painful. 

The pain radiated all through his body, slowly leading from the spine into each extremity. He wished to scream, but it became impossible with the waters leading down his throat. 

The deity was no longer near. He began to fall through the waters, still unable to form a thoughts, still wailing from the pain within. 

The only thought in his mind was the image of the deity. 

*** 

Konrad took a deep breath as he jolted awake. 

He began to cough continuously, attempting with all his might to regain a hold of air. 

Konrad would feel relieved at the air being sweet, soft and different than before. He would reminisce over the housing, imagining that he was back there. 

Slowly Konrad would open his eyes, being met with a wasteland different than before. 

It was only slightly different, the fog had lifted and it was easier for him to breathe. He could not think of anything else. 

The events in his mind were still resent. But the images had already faded, and slowly they became distant memories. He would have thought it was a dream, the spiritual and lucid memories slowly fading into imagination. But the one image which would not fade was the glowing bulbs of light, for in the darkness with all the cosmic horrors that waited, only the bulbs of light seemed alien--unfit for that place. 

The odd feeling of drowning had already long left him. He became utterly confused, having already forgotten it. 

He felt in his pouch, trying to make sense of the next move. He became terrified feeling that there were no suppressants left. With some residual fear mongering still left in him. He would scavenge around attempting to find some more. This was not something that could be found. 

Konrad took to the obvious conclusion that the case of the suppressants were a pharmaceutical scam. Something that didn't truly work. Therefore he wondered the reasoning behind the Church Lords prophecies, the things they had said of the outside world. 

He knew that in his foreseeable future, scavenging and survival would be all. But the desolation of the earth became clearer now that the fog was gone. 

Leaning down, taking sips of the sweeter, still very humid and harsh, air. Konrad would see something in the distance, perhaps only two trees. It was not something Konrad had seen in the outside world, the wastelands were thought to be without vegetation, therefore the facilities were built.

Even more baffling was the life he saw in the distance, as his eye sight was not perfect he could not see whatever it was. But he saw a small mass in the distance moving. 

This excited Konrad on the prospect of being able to hunt, as many people had done in the world before him. 

Sitting down, gazing at the masses in the distance. Konrad would hear a slight rustling far behind him. 

Out of instinct his whole body would suddenly twist with violence in the direction of the noise. 

'Agh!' 

A sharp pain jolting down his spine. A shiver from the image of the deity in his mind. In mere moments his entire body turned around, moving at inhuman speeds. 

Now he saw before him a straggling creature, only shy of a hands length. Hideously covered in bulbs of clotted blood, scar tissue and bony extremities. 

The eyes of the creature would stare at him in amazement, it had no pupils and could not stare. But it bore teeth, and then the small creature would launch at him...