The Legend of the Last Guardian

From where he stood, more intricate and bizarre engravings could be seen as the low terraces climbed away in every direction to the edge of the cone. He could almost imagine Edmund and other members of his kind moving slowly and orderly, their whispered voices harsh and concise while the world outside was frozen within a single heartbeat. He also envied them their long lives and the power they held over natural forces such as space and time. John then became aware of the long shafts of sunlight cutting through the shadow and realised that he could actually follow their movements across the stone floor. Outside, the sun was dropping unaturally fast towards the horizon. Of course, he knew that was impossible. It wasn't the sun that had changed, but him, and the closer he was to the singularity, the more time would seem to be accelerated in the outside world. Before daylight finally departed, John climbed back to the path then up to the arrowhead shaped opening. It led out to a naturally formed stone balcony that commanded a spectacular view. He then realised that the volcanic cone formed the highest part of a huge oval crater that lay on the opposite side to the plateau. It stretched out before him, a deep smooth bottomed basin half in shadow protected by steep sides and rimmed by a razor sharp ridge. John knew that contained somewhere beneath it was the great secret that Edmund has spoken of. 'One that could reunite us all,' he thought, recalling the alien's words. Beyond was the sea - that never ending expense of ceaseless liquid, and of course the constant breeze. John found a flat rock and sat devoid of emotion. He couldn't accurately recall the last time he'd eated, yet felt no immediate craving for food. The deep gash in his leg was healing well and blistered feet were no longer painful. He also knew that there was no need to panic, and slowly collected his thoughts and considered his options. All John wished for was that one day he would be able to see his wife again, hear her happy laughter and hold her close to him. Hopefully those thoughts would keep him going during the long, lonely centuries to come. Once an orange sun had slipped beneath the horizon, he retraced his steps down to the heart of the arena and sat in the shadow of the effigy, where darkness soon engulfed him.