Limbo: Souls Lament

And then I died.

Oh, what a wretched soul I became in that moment. They say that dark shadows come for you when you die, but I saw no shadow, and I saw no white light. I fell. I fell, and I cried out in utter terror as I plunged headlong into black abyss. I could see nothing, and my descent increased in speed until I felt I would be ripped apart by the sheer velocity of the winds. My cries were stripped from my lungs, and my eyes squeezed shut tight when I hit the first cliff edge. The shock of that blow was astounding. I struck that rock edge with such bone breaking force that I was rebounded and cart wheeled back out into the abyss. My eyes flew open from the shock, and as I twirled through the air, momentarily suspended, I saw others, no luckier than I, broken on those sharp ledges. Around me flew a great host of winged horrors feasting on, and fighting over, those poor souls. I saw this in only a second as I flew, then, again, I fell. Many times my body was smashed against the ledges. Once, a terrible beast, raked me from a ledge, tearing a great hole into my side. I wailed from the pain as I plummeted, again faster and faster, I could see others around me falling, some crashing into one another, the number was so great. I fell together, with them, through a great cavern. So vast was it?s depths you could not see any end. And the fear than leapt into my heart as I saw what awaited me below, was more than I can tell. Spread out below me, like great tapestries, were horrid tortures and brutal suffering. Some crashed to the stones below, only to be impaled upon a jagged weapon and deposited into a pit full of broken souls. Others fell directly into the pits and were crushed by the soul above them, or beaten back from the edges with whips and spears. I fell into the open maw of a Demon mouth and was swallowed whole. Crushing and suffocating blackness surrounded me. I was burned and broken, tangled with others limbs, I thrashed against the confines, no care for those suffering around me. The crowding in that putrid stomach was more than any but the damned could bear. The beast, finally full, vomited us into the pits, one atop the other, twisted into the shape of its throat, we splattered in a heap upon those who came before.

Above me, before I was buried, I saw a great fiend, fallen souls crashing into its back. As tall as a mountain, it labored ceaselessly, reaching down into the pits with its massive shovel like hands, churning the cauldron of souls. Those below were brought to the surface, and others were lost to the depths. This motion created a slow current that moved us about, but not for a moment did my torment stop. Carrion birds circled above me, squawking for a meal, they dove, tearing my flesh. Others around me, fighting off the flock, kicked and punched me, all struggling to remain on top of everyone else. Though the birds ate me, and the maggots chewed my flesh, I fought to remain on the surface of this sea of souls. My greatest fear was the thought of being turned, for ever, beneath that crush. As if, through my fear, I wished it into being, a succession of souls crashed into my back, pushing me down with its weight. All is black now. I can?t recall when I last drew a breath, or felt the weight of my own form. There is only the crush, and the dark.