Souls' Collision | ✔

H O L Y

~ Chapter Twenty Five ~

Liz woke up with a heavy fog settled between her ears.

It felt like her fingertips were burning whilst whatever she was lying on was swallowing her whole. It was soft — almost too soft after a week of sleeping in trees and ontop rocks. It felt like she was flying, like nothing touching her felt entirely solid. Not even Liz herself. She couldn't for the life of her open her eyes. Nor could she recall where she was. Something was impairing her, and somewhere, miles away in the stuffy corners of her mind, a fear woke up just as she had.

"Red..." she managed to whisper, her throat feeling like she'd eaten shards of glass. He had to be close by. He always was. "Red, I'm— I'm here."

Something moved. Somewhere. The sound was weak yet instantly stood out from the silence. Liz's pained grimace broke into an exhausted yet relieved smile, her body became limp and the material pulled her down greedily — she still couldn't open her eyes. Not that that mattered; it had to be Red in there with her. And if he was near then she had nothing to fear. He would sort it all out.

The sound neared, accompanied by the presence of a body.

"Red! Oh, Red, thank God—"

"The avatar has awoken."

The voice was light and cold, and nothing like Red's sharp tongue. It made Liz instantly retract back into the soft material, now feeling whomever had spoken lean over her body.

"Note that it has freckles, and a scar beneath the left eye... Far from mortal perfection — but I suppose She makes no one without fault."

"S-Stay away," was all Liz could think to say in the midst of paralyzing fear.

"Note that it stutters."

"No, no, no..." She tried to move, felt the presence closing in, isolate her — it was worrying her how her limbs weren't responding and the foreign material was restricting every move. That didn't keep her from thrashing and punching as best as she could though. "Leave me alone!"

"Note that the avatar is a violent specimen, perhaps enriched by the Goddess' primal glory and excellent hunting skills—"

"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!!"

Silence.

The body overhead slowly dissapeared, its shadow no longer shielding her face.

Liz froze, listened for any sounds.

The voice returned, this time not graceful, nor soft. Every word was a blade to the gut, offended and disgusted by Liz's words. "The avatar is rejecting me as a vessel. Note that we shall have to use further force."

Liz's breathing picked up. Her back arched violently in an attempt to break free but the underlay kept her in place. "No, no, please, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, okay? I'm so, so, so sorry, please don't—"

"Engage."

The holy ones watched as the avatar's body was charged with painful magic. It surged through her cells, penetrated her marrow with violent force, drawing out a shrill scream that hurt the entire way to her lips. They were all disdained. This was the third time they'd done this to the avatar yet it never seemed to become more compliant. They needed it to be soon, for the ceremony awaiting. For Her.

One of the robed men, the one ruling the sanctuary, raised a hand trembling from old age. The sleeve fell back, revealing tattoos as golden as Her glory curling around his every wiry muscle.

The holy one with his hands on the avatar's scalp let his fingers fall to his sides. The magic left the avatar's body at the same time his fingers did, leaving it an empty shell of spaz and tears.

"P-Please, no more... No more."

The head of the holy ones ignored the avatar's wishes, motioned for the torture to initiate once again. Liz felt the fingers return to her hair and cried out in despair.

"Be silent, avatar."

"You... are so d-dead," she hissed with clattering teeth.

The head of the holy stopped his fellow brethren just as he was about to let the magic work its way into the avatar's skull once again. He inched closer, narrowed his eyes, hopeful at the thought of a divine fortune. "What are you foretelling, avatar?"

Liz laughed, the exhaustion in her body making every sound hoarse and broken. "I have a mate..."

"Impossible."

She ignored his words but managed to let her head lull to where his voice originated from. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead, dripped into the unsettling smile that had stretched across her face. "I have a mate," she repeated. "And when he gets here— when he get here you're all dead... Every. Last. One."

The holy bretherin shared looks.

The wrinkled face of the head of the sanctuary contorted into a furious grimace as he, without sparing another second, granted his subordinate permission to continue the torture. Liz's smile disappeared awfully quick and her scream once again filled the room — the entire sanctuary, as well.

Pain — so much pain.

She couldn't bear it.

"RED!!"

Don't forget to leave a comment & vote if you enjoyed the chapter. A bit slow but it's a filler.