“I still get nightmares. In fact, I get them so often I should be used to them by now. I'm not. No one ever really gets used to nightmares.” 

-Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves

Your eyes darted about your surroundings. It was night. Everything was blanketed in a dark black veil. Thick tree trunks surrounded you, their saturated roots thickly overgrown to form gnarled and contorted shapes. Enormous rocky crags stood overhead, casting shadows over you from the moon. It was almost as if they were encircling you, closing in for the kill. The more you stared at the rugged mountain walls, the more they seemed to grow larger. Everything seemed familiar. You had been here before, you were sure of it. But where exactly was here? Where am I?

Suddenly, you felt an urge to walk through the forest. Acting upon your intuition, your feet carried you through the excessive foliage. Twice you had nearly fallen over an unforeseen stone or knotted root. The darkness made it extremely difficult to see through the thick woods. But it was as if you were reliving a memory. I've walked this path once, when was it? The direction your feet guided you through was not random. It was muscle memory. Your body was reacting to the environment. You began running through the trees faster, for there was an urgency prompted inside of you. Something was about to happen, something big.

You bolted as fast as you could through the brush. Your heart accelerated as it became harder to breath deeply. The air became thick with smoke, which was rising from further up the woods. It took all the energy you had left to push through the last few miles of the forest. When you finally reached the clearing, you realized exactly where you were. "Eliade," you whispered, holding your breath. You were in the Valley of Eliade, your home. How could I forget what my home looks like? 

But what you saw before you was nothing like the home you knew. Everything had been enveloped in scarlet fire. All the homes were being eaten by deep red embers. The storage areas for star energy were completely incinerated. All that was left was mounds upon mounds of black ash. The hot arms of the flames grasped themselves from the village into all surrounding wildlife. The trees became ignited torches, lighting up the night sky like falling stars. The sounds of animals darting and birds flying away from the fire rustled through the trees. You heard the ear-piercing screams from every direction. You ran towards the burning structures, trying to find the source of the screaming. "IS ANYONE THERE!?" You shouted, hissing as specks of ash flicked into your eyes, burning them slightly.

A loud cry responded to you from inside a burning home. Your feet sprang towards the house, kicking the wooden door down and rushing inside. "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME ANSWER!" You screamed. The sound of crackling echoed above you. Facing upward, you saw a large ignited beam begin giving way. Suddenly the burning beam fell. You ducked for cover, jumping forward as it came crashing down onto the floor. Some burning chips flew towards you, burning your skin. You hissed at the initial pain, rubbing your burned skin lightly as you quickly stood up and made your way through the fiery structure.

"I'm here!" a voice shouted. It sounded like a small child. You rushed through the burning confines of the house. It seemed as if you were passing through