The New Demigods

Chapter 1: A Dream?

There was nothing but darkness and my ears filled with a quiet, unfamiliar hum. Time seemed to both stand still and pass faster than I had ever known. As a whole, I felt vacant and my thoughts seemed distant from my vessel. I felt as though I had fallen into an endless sleep with the absence of dreaming. I began to hear distant voices but couldn't tell who they belonged to or what they were saying. Even as the voices seemed to get closer I still couldn't see anything or even feel my limbs. It became clear to me that I was overhearing a discussion between very powerful voices. They seemed to be arguing about something, but they weren't speaking a language I had heard before. Out of the twelve voices I managed to distinguish, it didn't sound like any of them were able to agree with one another.

The room suddenly fell silent and the voices seemed to be in shock. A feminine voice began to speak and I felt enchanted by her words as they wrapped around me. It felt as if the atmosphere had changed; I felt warm and at home.

Another new voice laughed darkly and my homestead feeling felt threatened by his darkness.

The next new voice seemed sympathetic and fatherly but he was quickly interrupted by the voice that had formerly been leading the discussion. This interruption was louder than anything I had ever heard and I felt my being shake.

I continued to be cradled by the warmth that had fallen over me with the new voices. As the warmth increased to a more comfortable level I felt my strength returning. Instead of disembodied, I began to feel as though I was laying on a soft bed of moss.

When the booming voice finally finished, it was followed by the last new voice that was soft and nonthreatening.

The formerly booming voice responded in a calmer tone and it seemed as though an agreement had been reached, despite the tension in the room being at its highest.

Each of the sixteen voices then spoke in unison as if they were agreeing to some sort of verbal contract. When their chant ended, the warmth left and I felt like I was spinning out of control. Nausea overcame me and I felt a fiery pain seep through me. When the pain reached an unbearable level, I lost consciousness.