Stars Of Madness

Chapter 13: New Enemies

"HUNT THEM DOWN!" Echoed the Praetors voice across the woods causing a sense of fear to seep deep into my soul, we locked eyes for a moment, he wore decorative robes of black and green with gold lining in decorative signs all symmetrically encompassing his robe, the other looking my direction had similar robes but with not as much intensity and prestige as his had. They were all wearing that same mask I had received at my doorstep not too long ago, some of them were cracked and withered like they had been under the service of a dream god for a long time yet the Praetors looked like it was in pristine condition...my thoughts stop dead in their tracks as I notice half of his face is no longer his own, and my heart nearly stops as green eyes pierce my soul and mind.

"...I SEE YOU HERALD..."

Before I could register more Aela nearly ripped my arm off and we started bolting anywhere but here.

""RUN!" Aela said with a hint of desperation in her voice as we ran.

I glanced back and saw that the Praetor had a mask on with...that thing not there anymore. A howl caused me to table that thought and run faster instead. Aela grabbed my hand and before i knew it we moved somewhere but were still running I looked to Aela as to why but no explanation was required when I noticed swords and daggers risen from the ground where we used to be. This made me unconsciously stay closer to Aela because I truly had no idea what to expect, I could see cultists teleporting to keep up with us and some were now ahead of us waiting for us to run into them.

"Looks like we aren't running." Aela said slowing down and stopping with me alongside her.

"What?" I responded with fear, "What are we going to do then?"

"I'll fight these crazies. You hide."

"What are you insane? These people will do anything to kill you specifically, and they have no limitations on you it seems. Wouldn't it be better if you just use me as bait?" I asked skeptically.

"If they get you then they get what they want and that will spell the end of us and everything else in the universe itself as it is. I really didn't want to die this way," Aela said solemnly as the cultists slowly started to surround us and the Black Sheep creatures snarling and gnawing at us from the edges of the circle the cultists made around us. "I only have one idea and I don't know if I'll come back from it, but if it means you have the chance to escape and hide yourself to prolong the end maybe you can have a somewhat decent life before the end." Aela turns to me with a serious look on her face, "Get behind something, you don't want to get caught by this. and Howard...thank you for staying with me. NOW GO!" Aela cried.

I was speechless...was Aela...sacrificing herself for me...she barely knows me and she's going too...my legs tried to move before my mind could process what I was doing but my legs stiffened as I felt a presence enter the circle of death encompassing us. My head turned to face the man they were calling the Praetor entering the circle his aura alone causing my mind to crack and my perception on reality to warp as the sky itself became glassy and the ground from a natural forest to something that resembles the inside of solitary confinement for the insane, I fell to my knees overwhelmed by this feeling almost vomiting in response to it. I looked up, the Praetor was intimidatingly tall almost casting a shadow above me as he approached.

"Were too late," Aela said with horror dripping from her lips but her face remaining stoic.

"Looks like this lw'nafh'nahor uh'enyth has not prepared you well Herald," The Praetor said, his voice echoing across the forest with something else even deeper hidden in his voice making parts of what he said unintelligible.

"You ah'legeth cannot be ignorant enough to think you can stop what is only natural. He will return...whether you agree with it or not. The Dreamer will rise and we will be rewarded for his return to his rightful throne, you can join us still you know, our god is nothing if not understanding." The Praetor said with what sounded like genuine promise.