An Immortal Love

Judgement

Amidst the roars, he hears the child in arms cry in pain and surprise from being crushed, but he can do nothing as the force from his back goes from pressing him to the ground to sucking him back to the village. He puts his weight below him and sticks to the ground as best as he can. He turns his head to the side, where, from the corner of his eyes and from the leaves of grass and dust flying around them, he sees the old couple's family doing the same, their mouths moving in silent prayer to all the gods they know and ask for mercy. Or he thinks that was what they were doing, as he couldn't hear anything from the winds lashing about around them.

He curls his body to look behind him and see, where the village was, a gigantic wall of wind circling furiously. He sees tiny figures in the wind, roofs, posts, trees and some human-shaped figures being tossed high into the sky and fall far,far away. No living thing will be surviving that, either after being carried by the howling winds to receive a thousand slashes by debris or from the fall.

Some distance behind them, he notices the people who halfheartedly follow them being ripped away from the ground and into the maelstrom. The winds drag at their feet and their mouths are opened wide in a soundless scream while their fingers dug into the dirt, leaving trails behind them. To no avail. Their whole body rises and flies into the windwall where they disappear. He screws his eyes shut; he can do nothing for them; it takes a lot of strength to keep his own body down. He joins the family in calling the names of the gods, terrified that the great wind will come for him. He calls the gods' names over and over again, in times uncountable, until his throat feels hoarse. Then the force pressing on his body finally lessens. He pokes his head out and sees the wind moving farther away from them. He keeps praying and clinging to the ground, until the great wind looks tiny in the horizon before he sits up.

He looks around him.

He can not recognize their location. There's no familiar sights to him; everything looks like hell on earth. There were no trees standing that he can see for miles; no houses where there had been. Debris is planted all over the land. No sign is left that a village was there at all.

He hears sobbing behind him so he turns to look. The people who followed him are crying out loud for each other and for their neighbors; no one is exempt. Their clothes and hair are disheveled; bits of grass and stones are sticking in their hair and their faces were dusty. The tears falling from their eyes makes mud trails on their faces, joining the snot that drips out their noses.

Yijun feels pain on his chest and he hears whimpering below him. He pries the child's fingers off his chest but the child's grip hardens further. Yijun tugs at the child's hand to relieve the soreness on his chest, but this only makes the child on his arms cry louder. He gives up; the child's grip is less important.

"We need to move. Leave the area," Yijun croaks at the family. "It may not be over yet." He stands up with difficulty; his legs were so weak he trembles like a newborn horse.

Their bleary eyes stare at him in despair then they get up on unsteady feet. Yijun leads them higher up and they shuffle after him like a zombie horde.

They reach the top of the hill then Yijun snaps awake when he realizes where he has led them.

The dragon looks down at them blankly as Yijun curses himself internally. Of all places they could go, he just has to lead them to the god who tried to kill them earlier?

He hears gasps behind them as the people see the dragon too.

"An immortal!" they gasp and he hears shuffling. They must be kneeling right now behind his back. "O Lord Venerable, hear our plea. Please help us-"