✓ The Song Of The Raven, Thomas ¹

007 God Of Souls

The voices came in whispers - flowing down many halls, circling her head, and nipping ferociously at her ears. They were begging, pleading her to listen to their hushed eerie words. Her eyes squeezed shut and no matter how hard she tried to open them, she couldn't. It was like she was trapped in a dream - a horrible one. Like she was trapped in her head.

She opened her eyes and inhaled sharply as if she hadn't been breathing before. Had she been breathing before? The poor girl couldn't remember. That had been happening a lot lately - her forgetting if she had been doing something before. It was like she was zoning out and zoning back in but couldn't remember that she had zoned out in the first place.

Wherever she was, it was gloomy. Fields that went on for miles and miles were decorated with thousands of dead flowers - the grass not looking any better. Storm clouds were painted across the sky along with the occasional clap of thunder. Despite the vast openness of the fields, she felt trapped. There was a swoosh that sounded from behind her but when she turned, there was nothing - just the same eerie fields that seemed to surround her.

Where am I? She thought as she turned in a small circle to observe her surroundings. Crunching of dead flowers caused her to quickly turn around and attempt to hit the thing that did it. The persons arm reached up and caught her wrist that was only centimeters away from their face. They never even flinched.

When Y/n looked at the person she felt her blood run cold and her skin pale slightly. His eyes were two different colors - one a rich gold and the other obsidian black. She tried to pull her wrist away but failed when he tightened his grip on it.

"Are you death?" She asked him. It was then that she realized how smaller he seemed - almost matching her height. Y/n could feel her body tremble in his presence.

"Sometimes." Replied a deep male voice. "But not today." His demeanor seemed to stay cold as he stared down at the princess. The man had deep and rich black skin - not a flaw present on him. His hair had dreads and was pulled back and out of his face, the shadow of a growing beard added to his intimidating form. He wore golden cloth that draped around his body beautiful.

"What are you. Who are you?" Y/n asked. The man let her wrist go and stood straighter in an even bigger attempt at being more intimidating than her - not that the large man needed it.

"I am Ruton, God of Souls." He boomed just as thunder rumbled by, creating an even more eerie effect. "This is The Dark Land, isn't it." Y/n said to him, her voice small as she gazed cautiously at her surroundings. The man nodded and started to slowly walk around her, almost like he was observing something interesting.

So many questions bounced around in her mind as she watched Ruton circle her. She felt small and weak under his gaze - her eyes never meeting his. How was she even here? She wasn't dead. Or was she? Ruton chuckled almost as if he could read her mind.

"Death has not come for you yet dear girl. Although, you Raven women tend to flirt with it from time to time." He snickered as he finally stopped circling her and stood close to her. He stared into her eyes and carefully put his hands on either side of her temples.

Ruton's eyes shut tightly and his brows furrowed as he looked from left to right behind his eyelids. He opened his eyes and took his hands away from her. His breathing slowed and he slightly stepped away from her.

"So much pain." He muttered. "In here." He pointed to her heart and then let his hands drop to his side. "I can make it go away."

Y/n stared at him for a moment, processing his words. "No. Pain is what makes us human. It is what keeps us grounded."