IRON GOD | 2: Empyrean

[28] Kolo: Only You

While Kolo struggled to grasp her predicament, the holf lay quiet by her side, newly deep red eyes eerily staring.

    Once she'd caught her breath, she turned to stare back. The beast watched her, still unblinking. His huge, tufted ears shifted slightly to follow her movement. The wind dusted his cryptic fur with snow and spruce needles.

    Kolo walked to his other side. Slaaek's eyes and ears followed her.

    She reached out with a ghost hand to touch him. He was dreadfully warm.

Slaaek pushed back against the contact, lips parting ever so slightly.

"Death is the ideal outcome for the likes of us, you say?" Kolo took a deep breath. "I don't know where you got such a rotten idea."

    One tufted ear twitched. You're so loud.

    "Well, you tell me." She extended another ghost hand and grabbed his ear, making him jolt. "Where did you get such a rotten idea?"

    Slaaek got to his feet. A low growl rumbled deep in his chest, one Kolo didn't hear so much as feel in her bones. She fought every fiber of her being to stay put, not to run or even flinch.

Maybe she flinched anyway, because the holf's horrid eyes seemed gloat. It's not my idea, i'iba. He leered down, breathing hot and fast down her back. Sothyrion told me so as he guided me toward you. He actually didn't want me to pass it on to you.

Kolo tipped her chin up and straightened her posture. "Why's that, huh?"

Everyone needs you. Slaaek's head twisted at an odd angle as he read her expressions. Isn't that right?

"I keep hearing that." Kolo started walking at a slow but steady pace back toward the bluehole. "And no one's ever really straight with me about why."

And what answer would satisfy you? Slaaek hung his head over her and took shaking steps on legs that clearly didn't see much use. What would someone have to say or do for you to change your mind about anything?

Kolo ignored the beast and pressed on.

Where are you going? The holf's heavy paws crunched over ice and rock. Sothyrion sealed all the blueholes. I already said so. Are you deaf?

"If I am, it's only because I had to survive you." Kolo scratched at her right ear, which all of a sudden hurt so bad it filled her with fiery rage.

How very clever you were, i'iba. Slaaek's nose nudged at her back and took a deep sniff. You smell like our god. His breath was hot on her neck. Nice smelling.

"Back off me." Kolo tried to speed her pace, but the increasingly rocky terrain as they drew nearer to the shore practically guaranteed a broken ankle if she ran. She managed to climb up onto a higher rock, giving her a clearer view of the now completely frozen lake.

Nice smelling. Slaaek pushed the idea again. I want our god. We all wish!

She squinted. The glare from the ice sheet was like looking straight at the sun. Or maybe like a god's eye. "You told me your song was a lullaby of wishes for the heart before it stops."

The holf let out a long, low drone.

"I'll bet Sothyrion wishes for our god all the same." She closed her eyes and wiped moisture from them. "Let's see if he hears you."

Slaaek came to sit beside her, panting heavily. The fact that a short walk had left him so winded made him seem so much less frightening. They looked at each other and made eye contact, perhaps both recognizing the absurdity of their situation.