These are the only things you know: You woke up on a dry river bed, 7 dead bodies litter the ground, your hand is bloody and it curls tightly around a key. This is all you know. You search for days on end until finally you find a small keyhole in the trunk of a large oak. You slide the key in and turn. The oak opens and reveals an ancient cave. You step inside.

Or maybe you know this. Everything. You stare deep inside your own head until you realize that every atom is a solar system and all the living things on these planets inside your head call you god. While you are exploring the universe in your mind something moves behind you, something that smells of ancient death and ruined cities. You run blindly forward until you notice a small spot of light ahead. As you run the light pierces your eyes until you break free of the cave and fall into an endless desert.

The things you know are constantly growing with every step through the dunes. First you meet a beast that is consuming his own heart. You try to speak with him, but he is obsessed with his consumption, so you move on. As you’re leaving you notice that he looks very much like you. What feels like a thousand dunes later you meet a girl that is buried in the sand, with only a small portion of her face visible. You dig her out and she tells you that she has just been reborn. She follows you through the dunes, night after night, until finally she tells you the only way out. You must call the snake. But she gives you one important warning.

Beware the snake. He always takes half of what he gives.

The things you used to know are gone. The ritual is complete and the dunes are shaking, caving in on themselves. You stand your ground, prepared to meet your fate head on. The snake appears, his huge head blotting out the sun and plunging the desert into night. You beg the snake to release you both from the endless desert and he greedily accepts. Now it is his time to bargain. He always takes half of what he gives, and his price is the young girl. His fangs drip and the young girl gives you a sad smile. She walks, unafraid, towards the snake, and it is at that moment that you realize she has done this before. How many times has she been eaten by this snake, only to be reborn for the next person that finds themselves stuck in this evil place? How many sacrifices must she make?

You know what you must do…