Destined To Die

Chapter 19 - Indomitable

-19-

-Indomitable-

"No."

The voice was quiet in the entity's mind, barely a whisper in the endless noise that passed through senses that hadn't ever been used before. Through the screeching of metal and the echoing crashes of the chasm, the single word in the centre of its mind with a powerful focus.

It was like the buzzing of a gnat in its ear, a persistent pulsing that distracted it from task at hand. The beings on either side of it, the mortals, those that bled, were ripe for the kill and yet something stayed its hand. It was strange, an alien insistence to resist.

"No."

The voice was stronger this time, increasing in volume as the blade rose for the killing strike on the armoured creature below it, but still the final blow did not come. The entity recognised the voice faintly, heard in the echo of a dream during its eternal sleep, the voice of the host.

"Get out!" the host's voice rose to a shout, and the entity took a step back from the tiny creatures around it, staring at the one bleeding deeply onto the stone of the sacred ziggurat.

Its eyes glanced up to the creatures nearest to the cradle, the two mages, registering them properly for the first time. Were these the ones to kill? Who were they? The entity walked up the stairs of the ziggurat, perfectly sized for its stride, blades dripping with blood as it advanced towards them.

A force acted against the entity's steps, hindering its actions from within and turning the easy stride into an annoying fight for control. This wasn't supposed to happen. The entity didn't know much, knew practically nothing at all, but this was one of the few things that it was certain of. Something was wrong. The tall entity pushed through this opposing will to put one foot in front of each other, drawing itself closer to the two mortals that stood by the cradle.

A black creature limped in-between the blonde mortal and the entity, positioning itself to protect her despite its grievous injuries. Black hair, long teeth and claws, already bleeding from a deep wound on its side. Still, it stood defiantly between the entity and the mortal. Pitiful, it would make little difference.

A spike of rage rose from deep within the entity, rage that was not its own, an influx of images and sounds flooding through its mind as it looked upon the creatures in front of it, felt the sheer willpower of the host, thunderous steps grinding to a halt mid-step in front of the creatures, looking down on them in confusion. Memories, these were memories of the host, flooding its body with the sensations of a hundred battles as a mortal, a thousand moments flashing through its mind with the faces of the two mortals standing before it.

>---<

Akane pushed with all his strength against the sheer enormity of the power the entity wielded, struggling against the chains that held him behind the eyes, watching the entity move but powerless to do anything else but shout and struggle.

Slowly, ever so slowly as it made its way up the stairs towards Maddy and Abigail, Akane screamed in the entity's mind, doing everything in his power to try and regain some semblance of control, feeling the heavy footfalls slowing to a stop as it looked down on the pair. There was still the entity's rage, the violence that was so central to its existence, but it was clouded by confusion as it reacted to Akane's influence. He could feel it sorting through his memories, reacting with confusion to every flash of the women standing before it.

He could feel the chains slackening as he broke free in the entity's mind, pulling with all his strength to break free from the influence and take control. Pieces of the entity's armour broke away as Akane strained against his mental bonds, the black metal and rags flaking away and vanishing into the air, its form breaking apart and disintegrating into a cloud of cinder and dust as it staggered forward those final few steps.