Oath [BL; Book 2]

14

Dissatisfied, concerned and left with more questions than he startled with. Xiao had delt with the monsters leaving his evening free of worry, however, it was full of worry. He had taken the Stellys with him on his last visit and explained to Zhongli how Aether came across it only to learn the Stellys was extremely dangerous in human hands. "Is the Traveler safe?" He wondered, a calm expression on his face as he watched his enemies fade into blue ash. "Should I worry? His condition only became better, has he been doing well?" Finding himself sinking into the darkness he had to clear his mind, it was now full of Aether.

To his surprise he thought of his laugh, the way he smiled and how elegant he looked while sleeping so closely to him that night. Baffled by his own thoughts he quickly cleared his mind of everything flustered by thinking such a thing.

"No." He had to remind himself, "He is mortal, his life is but a small pebble in a raging river. It will.. only vanish in the waves of time." However that didn't help to make it any better. Instead it riled the darkness as it hurt to think of it. "Ugh-!!" Gripping his shirt tightly he huffed, ailed by the agonizing torture.

The black wind swirled around him like roaring demons, and he had to force them to be contained. It grew suddenly harder to, and now he knew he failed to contain them as their roars became louder and louder. That thought was enough to completely throw his balance of understanding.

Suffocating under the pressure the string gripped his throat and they pulled, choked, unable to gasp for even just an ounce of air he found no salvation in the cursed torment. The damned grabbed at his arms, his legs dragging him, the very anemo power he thought was his own turned against him and he felt them reach for him.

The wails of the other yaksha lost to the darkness,

"XIAOO!!"

"HELP ME XIAO!!"

Tears he wished he could stop, cries he wished he didn't hear but they were so loud.

So loud.

"AAAAAH!!" A roar of a monster, tears streaming down his cheeks pain running over his entire body.

Spear in hand more monsters came and he sprung into action. Spears erupting from the ground as he ran with speed, slicing through each as he passed. Skewered some and ripping his very spear right out, leaving a trail of dead bodies. Growling, blood dripping, he couldn't feel it, the gurgling deep inside as blood dripped from his mouth. Yaksha mask covering the pain.

Fighting, it felt endless. Striking down his enemies he continued the onslaught finding more to defeat.

It hurt.

"I can't breathe."

The screams of the monsters as their lives were forfeited mixed in with the screams that howled in his head.

"This pain."

Growling, gripping his spear tightly, his chest tightening. Finding no one to fight he fought himself.

"Is there no salvation for me?"

He couldn't find a shred of light through the endless darkness.

Paimon floated by Aether and sighed, "Paimon needs a rest!" She complained.

"Haha, you always need rest Paimon!" Though he teased her he decided to make camp, trying to start the fire he couldn't get the light going and sighed confused as to why, then tried another way, "Yay!"

"Fire!" He and Paimon hurray, "Let's have grilled fish!" They said in unison, "Right!"

"Hahaha! I'll get to fishing, why not get some twigs for the fire, Paimon?"