Tartarus

Eternally I am bound of iron and flesh. My mechanical limbs creak and groan with the weight of the countless slain. Stalking dark corridors, walls wet with gore and filth. What was my crime, who must I have slighted in past lives to deserve such cruel punishment? The adventurer’s folly is not their fault, dungeons promise fortune and the opportunity to be written onto page. They don’t know what foul creatures are lurking beyond the turns. My sinewy muscles ache and scream in protest as I cast forth crushing blows, their groans of pain stab me. Please leave, I don’t wish to kill, but I must. There is no wealth lining these rooms, only shattered dreams and hopeless exits. This must be Tartarus; only ancient Gods could think of inflicting such horrendous pain.

Is there even man in these dark caverns? Are they not reduced to animals when scrambling and clawing for survival. My hulking form will afford no chances for them. Please leave, I hear your footfalls approaching, with each step closer my heart aches for I know what follows. There are no Gods, a just ruler would never doom a creature to inflict such cruel pain with no recourse. Is there soaring sky above? I know only cragged darkness and punishment. I have not felt rest in eons, the moments blend through flitting screams and ripping flesh. I hope I may one day die and be released from this carnal vestige. I know not even my true form, only the grotesque limbs protruding from my carapace. This hell is unmatched, unending and forever painful. I wish only for it to stop.

Please, mercy! I cry. Only nothing escapes. I have not even the vocal cords to beg for mercy, to plead with my creator to end my suffering. Am I doomed to roam these halls, doling out brutal deaths to any I encounter? I wonder what the world beyond contains, is there any hope? Are there fields of endless carnations? Waterfalls of light? Songs of beauty? There must be something beyond the pain. Will I ever see the end of this? Will scraping horrors be the only music I hear? But still I walk, an endless struggle against unseen forces. The closing walls speak of only death and desperation, but I persist. There must be an end to this torture.