The Angaran Chronicles: The Ritual

Epilogue

Alathis sat up, screaming like he never screamed before. He screamed words, syllables but he didn't know what they were.

It only took a few seconds for his mind to click.

'It's a dream,' he gasped while wiping the sweat from his forehead. 'Just a dream.'

'It wasn't a dream, Alathis,' said a smooth, soft voice that caused Alathis' attention to snap to its source.

Six figures stood in a semi-circle a few metres away. They wore cloaks as grey as the cave walls surrounding him, their faces hidden behind hoods.

Alathis wasn't in his bed; he lay on a stone bed. He was stripped to the waist, soaked in sweat.

'What?' said Alathis. 'W-what's going on?'

'Search your memory, Alathis,' said one as he pulled back his hood, revealing himself to be Telric. 'And you will remember.'

'No one has screamed after awaking from the Ritual before,' said a female voice as the speaker showed herself to be Kolmath. 'A-a strange occurrence.'

'A strange occurrence, indeed,' said a third, but not taking off his hood. 'But it may have. We just mightn't know of it.'

Kolmath shrugged.

'T-the Ritual?' said Alathis. 'Th-that was the Ritual?'

'Just so,' said Kolmath. 'Be proud, young Alathis, you have lived. You are one of the one in five. Just as I knew you would.'

'As I did, too,' said Telric. 'Congratulations, you are no longer a neophyte but an apprentice, Alathis. My apprentice. You have much to learn and much to overcome; there is more to being a Hunter than just martial arts and swordplay. But your potential is boundless.'

'I-I can't believe it,' said Alathis.

'Well, it is true,' said one of the hooded figures. 'What name have you decided to take?'

Despite his world whirling, Alathis didn't hesitate in his answer.

'I don't want to take a name.'

There was a long pause, but Alathis cut it as he remembered, and he began to hyperventilate.

'There's something, something living in the red sea.'

'Calm down,' said Kolmath. 'What you saw was not real; everything is all right, now. You are safe.'

'It was real, I-I know it,' he cried, then another word poured from his mouth, one which he never, ever intended to say out loud, and he had no idea why. 'Chos'choloth.'

Telric winced, his robust features paling. 'Y-you remember that?'

'Remember what?' said Kolmath. 'That...word?'

'I do,' Alathis said. 'I remember everything that cultist said with a clarity which terrifies me. And what I saw in the red sea was real, I know it. Th-there's something living down there, I know it! I know it.'

'This too is irregular,' said one. 'None who survived the Ritual have spoken of it, ever.'

'W-what...did I scream?' said Alathis, finally managing to use his training to calm himself.

'What?' said Kolmath.

'What did I scream, w-when I woke up?'

Again, Kolmath and the others shared glances before Telric answered, and the terror grew on his face while he said each syllable.

'You...said: It's...it's its hand.'