The Seven Guardians

Chapter 26

- Heyyy! I'm back! Finally omg.
How've you all been?

Song is "Walkin' After Midnight" by Patsy Cline. I recommend.

Gotta extra long chapter here. Pls forgive if the writing is inconsistent; this was written on and off in a long extent of time mixed with writer's block and the indecisiveness of what to write where.

Warning: Minor blood, swearing

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Hall of Deities
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It was hot.

The air churned, thick, dense like molasses, viscous like oil. Heat coursed through it in wriggling waves, slicing through the heavy lake in piercing rays, setting the iridescent surface alight with blazing flames.

The ground beneath was searing, blades of grass blackened and scorched, reduced to nothing but brittle husks and ashes. The soil seemed to be shifting, roiling like the lake of oil he was plunged into, cradled within the boiling waves and ripples cascading through.

Dizzy...he felt so dizzy.

A feeble groan exhaling from his chest, he set his hands beneath him, slowly pushing his heavy body upward, arms trembling. His limbs were sore and stiff, thick muscles tight and coiled, feeling as if ripped apart at the seams. Threads unraveled, sticking out hazardously in frayed branches. Torn. Shredded.

My head...it hurts. Everything hurts. Everything hurts...way too much.

Body weighing a thousand pounds, he forced himself to his knees, ignoring the discomfort the position brought to his lower body. A heavy hand rose to his head, resting against his forehead. Soft, slick hair met his touch.

Heavy...I feel so heavy...

Heaving out a breath, his eyes fluttered open, his hazy vision meeting a messy image of blurred and splotchy colors, dark and murky. Something obscured the center of his vision, but his focus was elsewhere. He blinked, smeary vision fading into clarity. There was a low atmosphere of orange igniting the horizon, blazing like flames, clouds of black smoke funneling within the inferno.

Tongues of fire flickered across the ground, wriggling like weeds caught in a river's current, bright and seething.

He blinked again, and the burning horizon was distorted by a lone shadow.

A dark silhouette, black against the inferno, stood still and silent. No features were distinguishable. No expression. No aura.

He couldn't recognize the figure. Not even a bit.

But his body was suddenly bristling, hair rising, muscles bulging, hands clenching, teeth gritting. There was anger, there was hatred, there was frustration.

He felt his eyes beginning to burn.

There was...confusion. There was...sadness.
Betrayal...?

"What..." his voice croaked, low and deep. Rumbling in his chest. He wanted to groan, wanted to whine, wanted to complain about the pain. About his own confusion.

But words not his own exhaled from his mouth.

"What..." he repeated, chest heaving. His hands were shaking, arms trembling. His tongue lolled from his mouth, lips coated with bitter metal that dripped to the ground.

The silhouette didn't move. Didn't speak.

"...What...have you done...?"

There was a flash of light, a gust of air.