One Last Chance

We only had one last chance. The odds were not in our favor. “Are you almost done?” Rune pestered anxiously, hovering over the alchemist concentrating hard on their concoction. “Are you almost done?” the alchemist responded mockingly. “I’ll be done, when I’m done,” they grumbled annoyed at the frequency of this question. Rune glared at them and kept pacing around the cramped, dimly lit room. Both of them had been cramped in the hideaway for weeks. They were waiting on the last hope their entire world might have. It was just a small hole in the ground, for emergencies, and it definitely wasn’t made for two people, it was hardly made to fit one in fact. Suddenly, everything shook, and dirt fell from the ceiling causing them both to cough up dust. “The decay is rapidly taking over,” Kieran muttered looking up from their concoction. “Wow! What an astute observation,” Rune snapped back, irritated from everything that happened and is happening. Kieran let out a sigh and got up. They went around the room, looking through crates and shelves that filled almost all the space in the room. They were muttering to themselves as they looked as they always did, it drove Rune insane. Finally, Kieran grabbed a small flask containing thick, yellow sludge. Rune wrinkled his nose at the sight, it looked rancid and spoiled. Kieran sat down at the table with the concoction and pulled over the arm with a strong magnifying glass that was attached to the table itself. Kieran carefully took the flask and the jar of the concoction and slowly poured a minuscule amount of the yellow sludge into the jar. The concoction bubbled up and then turned a strange blue that almost seemed to glow. “It is done,” Kieran said, grinning from ear to ear. Kieran turned to Rune. “Now, it is your time. You need to get it to the lake.” Kieran looked at Rune with determination in his eyes. “I know, I know,” Rune said, antsy at the thought of finally being able to leave this cave and finally have the world return to its beauty. Kieran handed the jar containing the potion as well as a mask. “Under no circumstances are you to remove this mask and breathe the air around you. It is full of decay and death and will kill you as soon as it enters your lungs.” Kieran solemnly told Rune. Rune nodded, this was it. The world was either going to end or be fine. There were only 2 hopes left in this world, Rune and this potion. Rune put on the mask and tied it snuggly around his face. He placed the potion in his satchel and headed to the trapdoor that lead to the outside. Neither Kieran nor Rune said anything, whatever was about to happen was all that needed to be said. Rune quickly opened and shut the door to the outside. He looked around, this was the first he had been out since the beginning of the decay. Everything was dead, not a sliver of green in sight. Not even mushrooms had survived what was happening. Rune walked quickly, climbing over fallen trees, that crumbled at the touch because of the rotten wood. Rune knew he just needed to get to the lake. If he could pour the potion into the lake, life would be brought back. The lake was far and there was no guarantee that the potion would even work but Rune had to try. Rune stopped as the ground began to tremble. “Another wave of decay,” Rune thought, trying to keep his balance. Suddenly a violent and loud buzzing sound started to fill Rune's ears. Panic filled Rune, he looked back and saw what he had dreaded most. A thick black fog started to creep toward him. The decay. It wanted to stop him, it knew what he was doing. Rune started to run, stumbling over bones, rocks, and rotten wood. The fog seemed to keep the same distance from him even though it looked like it wasn’t moving. “Faster, I have to move faster,” Rune thought, sprinting as fast as he could. His legs and chest burned, he wasn’t used to moving this much or this fast. On the horizon, he caught a glimpse of the lake, he was almost there. The fog seemed to creep closer and closer. Sweat dripped down Rune’s face, burning his eyes. Suddenly, something snagged Rune’s leg and he fell, hitting the ground hard. Rune looked back and saw the skull of a deer had snagged his leg causing him to fall. The fog was just a few feet away from him now. “This is it,” Rune thought, petrified at the decay coming. “Rune!” he heard a voice yell, “It’s not over yet, keep going!” A wave of calm and determination took over him. He couldn’t fail. There was so much he was fighting for, so much life depended on him, and he could not let them down. He got up and kept running, the lake was just a little bit away. Suddenly, Rune was frozen to the ground. He looked down, panicking as to why his body stopped. The fog had latched onto his legs, holding them to the ground. Rune struggled against the fog, trying to rip himself out of its grasp. It was no use, it wasn’t letting go. Rune looked over to the lake, it was so close, this couldn’t be it. Rune looked around quickly, trying to find anything he might be able to use to get free. There was nothing around him, everything was dead, and by the looks of it so would he. The fog began to creep up his body. Rune needed to do something fast or everything was going to be over. Suddenly, it hit him, Rune knew what had to be done. Rune reached into the satchel and took the potion out. He unscrewed the lid just enough that once it hit something it would pop off and spill the contents inside. He looked straight ahead at the lake and reached his arm back. With everything in him, Rune threw the potion toward the lake. He heard what sounded like a screech from the fog as he did. The potion hit the bank close to the lake and the lid popped open, the contents spilling into the lake. Suddenly the world began to shake. This was either going to be the return of life or the victory of death.