Dying Ichor

TWENTY-FIVE

   It was really warm and comforting around Elias. He didn't know what it was, but it felt really good while he took his nap.

The black-haired male curled himself into a ball, digging himself deeper into the warmth as he slept. His muscles were still aching, and he was mentally drained, though he found some form of solace.

He would've continued to slumber until something nudged against his face and neck. There were also various sounds of hissing and occasional thuds that made Elias groan, forcing him to wake up in a moody state. Shuffling with an extremely irritated expression, he was about to ask Lapetus what he was doing when he felt something slithering around his neck. The thing tightened, not exactly trying to hurt him, but it continued to stick to his neck as other things crawled all over his limbs and especially his stomach.

Elias hitched a breath, fully awake in a state of panic when the hissing grew louder and louder. There were also the sounds of rumbling right above him and some flapping, and he occasionally heard a few things dragging themselves across the cold grounds before going silent.

And then that's when he saw it. Elias immediately pressed a hand up to his mouth, forcing himself not to make any noises when the hisses grew louder.

There were snakes on him. There was a one around his neck, nonstop moving and tightening.

They didn't seem that vicious if he was being honest. They were mostly interested in moving all over his body, squeezing into tight spots before popping out to wrap themselves around him. Elias didn't really care as long as they didn't bite him, but he slowly tried to unwrap the one around his neck nervously. Even though they didn't look like they wanted to bite him, he was worried they'd start to if he aggravated even one.

Another rumble echoed throughout the abyss. It made Elias stop in his tracks, wondering just what exactly that noise once.

Just when he peeled off one snake off his body, he finally glanced up to see nothing but darkness. He didn't see where the noise was coming from, so Elias hurriedly brought his attention back to the snakes and took them off one by one. When he thought to toss one away, the snake was suddenly hard to pull on. He frowned, yanking it over to the side again when he realized how tough it was.

It was as if it was connected to something.

Elias scowled, pulling on the snake a little harder. The creature only hissed quietly, not exactly pleased, but it didn't seem that angry like he thought. The male then tugged on the snake harder, wanting to pull it off without realizing the rumblings were returning.

Very slowly, there were vibrations coming from the ground as something began to drag itself once again. Small sounds of different animal noises began to appear as something snapped its jaw, releasing a guttural groan that stopped Elias once again.

Annoyed, Elias looked around to see what exactly was going on. He tilted his head back up, expecting the same pitch black as before, but he was taken by surprise to see cracks of small light coming down at him. His gripped the snake without noticing, feeling a little frightened.

Before he knew it, the abyss he had been covered with was gone, as if it had lifted itself up and away from the male.

But it really did... though it wasn't actual darkness Elias had been accustomed to. It was a pair of colossal wings, all tattered and nearly ripped, but it was still a sight to behold it nearly made Elias fall back into whatever he had been sitting on.

Those wings were the "sky" he's been looking at?

He gazed back down to see himself standing comfortably on a large pile of matted furs. He didn't dare to think of what they really were, and he didn't have to. The various sounds of animal noises distracted him, causing Elias to return his head up to the sky until he jumped back in horror.