Sword of Flames [Book I] - {#Wattys2017}

Chapter 25 - Heat and Meat

WARNING - This chapter might be quite gruesome for some. Please read at your own risk.  And please make sure to listen to the music above (and maybe even turn off the lights) to make it that much more intense! Enjoy!

Chapter 25 - Heat and Meat

I have a one in five chance, Levana reminded herself. She stood in the back center of the cave so she had a view of the five entrances in one glance. Each ghost stared at her intently, the look in their eyes revealing not that they want her to go through their way, but rather the opposite. But, she had to go in somewhere; if not, she wouldn't be able to find her way out.

The five ghosts repeated themselves. "Do not go through here," they said, their inverse advertising causing much confusion for the young girl. Their body language was almost similar, only vague differences in posture differentiated between them. It was almost like a riddle, a game; she had to somehow make an educated guess, and even if she did, there were so many options that could be right as well.

Her mind was filled with logical inquiries and ideas. The scarlet-dress woman seems too confident... I definitely should not enter there, she assumed. The one entrance she had considered was already eliminated by herself. She was as lost as she was on the multiple choice section of her tests at school. If she was a bad guesser on normal tests that only determined grades, how was she going to pick the right answer when her life was at stake?

Levana knew she had to be rash for it to work. After staring at their postures for so long, she did not know how to decide which one showed more uncertainty than the other. She could not even decide the emotions of her own friends. Oh how she wished that she took more time to study interpersonal affairs when she was on Earth! But it was no time for regret, and she was aware of that fact.

"Um excuse me," she said, talking to the man on the far left. He noticed she was speaking to him, but was not startled at all. "Why can't I go through?"

"Bad things lay behind me," he answered. Although the vague answer chilled her, she was glad that someone for once replied to her upon the first questioning. She turned to the women in the golden dress and asked the same thing.

"Bad things lay behind me," she repeated. The Earthian was sure that their answers were manufactured by someone or something. From her, Levana decided to not ask anyone else; it was obvious that she was just going to get the same answer over and over again. The girl stared into the eyes of the middle man who watched her ask his comrades for answers.

"I guess I'll just have to try that one out," the girl said. She walked close to the ghost, whose translucency let her see an odd mist emitting from the depths of the passageway. However, she trudged on, getting herself ready for what was to come.

But as she was getting closer, the man realized she was coming towards him. He hovered towards her, making her stop in her tracks. The girl diverted her line of sight to the ground and walked past, but suddenly the ghost turned opaque and she bumped into him; and like that, he transformed back into his normal state. Her heart pulled from her surprise that such a feat was possible. The girl fearfully picked up her head and looked at the face of the man, whose countenance went from stolid to angry. His eyebrows bent in towards the middle between his eyes and his lips curved down. His face looked quite comical, as if he was acting out fury rather realistically reacting that way. But the light that shined on his face, which hit different points with some areas more shadowed than others, made the ghost appear a lot scarier.

"Do not go through here," he repeated. Levana gulped but defied the man's wishes, walking around him to the entrance. But, he caught up with her and stood in the girl's way once again.