Random Fits of Fancy

AWD Rewrite, Ch 10: Have It Your Way

I decided to post chapter 10, if anybody wants to read it. Xol is gonna be Xol, but any ideas what her plan is going to be?

~~~

The ominous silence was broken only by Xol's radiating fury. It was all Winters could do to stay silent and still, every muscle frozen but screaming in a desperate need to run and get away from her as fast as possible. A chaotic melody stirred and crackled in the air, disruptive weaves zinging on Winter's exposed skin. Her heartbeat picked up, matching the tune of the symbols that screamed of her deity's frustration and jealous rage. Negative emotions were overtaking Xol, and the deity was thriving in the storm.

Run, Winter's inner instincts screamed. Move, get away! It took everything she had to remain still. Her base survival instincts would get her killed with Xol if she wasn't careful - she had learned that lesson the hard way. There was nowhere she could go, she wasn't strong enough in any capacity to run or fight. Don't think. Mind blank. No movements. No provocation. Mind blank. Blank mind. Don't think.

She repeated the mantra over and over, willing her turbulent thoughts to slow down. For her heartbeat to not jump like a rabbit's, even as a single footstep snapped a twig behind her. Xol was toying with her, stalking her Champion like prey. Xol wanted her to react. I must not. Mind blank. No thoughts. Don't think. Don't move. Stay silent. Mind blank.

Something stirred, disrupting her mantra, threatening to splinter the words and scatter them amongst the churning winds...but was it real or just in her head?

..."Champion"... A familiar voice, dripping in malice with a singing melody.

Mind blank. Don't move. Don't speak. Mind blank. Baleful talons of shadowy fingers slithered and latched onto her limbs, pinning her to the earthen floor with sharp, pinpoint nails exerting precise pressure onto her skin, the threat of bloodletting all too real. Their weaves sang of deadly promises and chaotic glee, a sadistic need for bloodlust, all threatening to shatter Winter's battered will.

Mind blank. Don't think. Don't move. Stay silent. Mind blank.

Another footstep, with a heel grinding down plant debris. Crunch. "Champion..." The same sing-song melody, only closer.

Mind blank. Mind blank. Don't think. Don't move.

"Don't breathe." The voice wrapped around Winters like a serpent, coiling and twisting to be somehow behind her and in front of her. Her entire body jerked, her flight instincts almost taking over. Sweat prickled at the back of her too exposed neck and her palms itched. She felt like she was shaking, but she had to remain still. She had to.

The silence was unnerving. No more footsteps, only the intense feeling of being watched and hunted. The weaves whispered dire warnings that she had no way of heeding, giving her more insight into Xol's mental state than she wanted, and she could do nothing but stay still. She was a fox and Xol was a hound. Champions could not fight against their deities, they had no control...the deity held the leash, the reins, and everything in-between.

Don't think. Don't move. Mind blank. Champions aren't supposed to think. Mind blank. Stop thinking. Mind blank.

Her careful mantra shattered when Xol blew out an icy cold breath inches from Winter's slightly bent face. "Boo."

The full body flinch was a knee jerk reaction she couldn't stop, shadowed talons slicing at her skin with the movement. Xol's mirthful laughter echoed through the forest cruelly as Winters stumbled and rolled backwards, pain zinging through her fried nervous system as she landed hard on her back, slamming her head into the dirt. Her heart was beating too loudly, the weaves were screaming and whispering all at the same time, she couldn't see or even sense where Xol was, her mind was bare, cold and empty, filled with Xol's laughter, her fear made her jittery-