• The footfalls grew increasingly heavy. I waited for them draw closer and fade, but they came slowly. For an eternity, I held my breath, wishing I would become invisible. Hoping that my heart, beating maddeningly loud in my ears, would not be audible to my pursuer. I pressed my back into the wall. Finally, they began to fade. The heavy clang of this unseen pursuer's boots echoed in the distance. That, and it's deep gasping breaths were all I knew of it.

    I hurried back on the path and continued forward. For days my goal seemed to never draw closer. I could still see it, high upon that tower. Nothing ever changed here, not even the sky. It was world of permanence. I hoped, my existence here would not be the same. When I opened the next door, I found a pitch black room with iridescent platforms. They spiraled up like stairs. They were like beckoning gems floating gracefully above a black pit. One false move, however, would send me to my death. Just like every other room I'd been through. I marveled for a moment how I had made it this far. My reverie was broken by the sound of an angry roar behind me.

    I turned to see the beast that had been stalking me for the first time. It was an odious creature. Horns stuck out from its skull like a bull. It's face was that of a man, but far larger in comparison to my own. It had a heavy ring through its nostrils and two more from each goat-like ear. Its body was massive, possibly 8 ft tall and 4 ft wide. Cloven hooves stamped the ground like an angry bull. The chain mail tunic clanked. It raised a heavy black axe over its head and charged toward me. Despite my fear, I marveled at how the glass-like platform did not shatter beneath its feet.

    I turned back toward my destination. It was above me. I could feel it. There was no place to move now but forward. I got a running start and leaped to the next platform. The animal roared behind me again, closer this time. I dared not spare a look back, but pressed forward. My lungs ached. My legs tired. The beast prepared to throw his axe forward. I wouldn't be able to dodge. I closed my eyes and waited. The reward would be greater than this pain. I knew that.