I cannot risk being further tainted by darkness! I will endure!

You look at the gauntlet on your hand, knowing that it is a symbol of the dark magic that pervades this very land, and you feel your resolve strengthen. You've already been touched by evil in the form of the gauntlet connected to you now. You won't allow yourself to be further tainted! You cannot allow that! Not if you wish to remain sane and whole.

So, despite your vicious thirst, you turn from the underground spring and start down another tunnel. You walk through the twisting tunnel for long hours, your resolve buoying your spirit and strength for as long as it can. But resolve and determination are no substitute for cool, clear water in a human's body. You cannot drink determination nor sate your thirst with ideals. No, for that, you need water and you passed up the only source that you had seen for hours on end.

Your mind grows hazy and your body weak as you continue to walk through the tunnels. You lose track of time as thirst robs you of senses until it feels like you've been walking for days. Each step feels as though you are pulling boulders behind you and every bit of stone tunnel you pass looks identical to the last. You are panting with exertion and your arms hang limp at your sides as you **** yourself to take step after step, putting one foot in front of the other only through a supreme effort of will...and then even that fails you.

You take a step and lose your footing, the strength leaving your legs as you stumble to the ground. Your chest strikes hard stone sharply as you fall, knocking breath from your lungs as you lay limp on the floor. You try to move, to lift yourself up once more, but you cannot find the strength to do so. Your arms will not listen to you and, at that moment, the cool floor feels far too refreshing to leave. Your body is heavy and your mind tired. All you want to do is lay your head down and rest now. All you want to do is lay down...and....rest....

Your eyes close and darkness soon engulfs your senses. As you sink down into the blackness of unconsciousness, you think you can hear a whisper somewhere. A raspy, unidentified whisper that sounds almost like it's right next to your ear.

"Foolish mortal...", the whisper says and then you hear nothing more as you fall into unconsciousness...never to wake again.