He stepped out into the cold, dark night. The air smelled fresh after the storm. He gasped as the cold air sliced through his throat, his breath dissipating from a cloud of steam. He wrapped himself more tightly into his black cape, and ventured forward into the night. The sounds of his feet crushing the pebbles underneath, the ravens spilling out their haunting call, his own breath quivering in the icy atmosphere - these noises chilled him even further. Shook his spine and froze his heart. He stopped suddenly. As if he could take no more, as if the world's conspiracy against him on this dark night had taken its final toll on his vulnerable soul. A distant sheet of lightning cracked through the sky, briefly lighting a tortured, hallowed face floating directly in front of him, mirroring his own. …
