Daevas -I- ✔️

Chapter 14.3: Memories

Ari shivered and hugged himself tight. It was so cold he could see his every exhale form like smoke, disappearing after a second. He could feel pairs of eyes watching all around him, but he could not see a single one. They bored into his back until Ari spun around and saw no one there. He wrapped his arms back around himself and breathed. He wanted to distract himself with something other than what laid below in the ruins of an old temple. It looked nothing like a labyrinth. Ari was coming to realize that with every step he took.

Pillars laid in broken piles strewn across one another along with heads of demons from statues. Ari could make out once was a horn on one and an eye on one other. The faces left remaining on the statues were ones of defeat and forlornness.  Ari carefully placed his hand on one of their faces and traced his hand across it. Its nose was broken off as well as its ears. As he felt across its broken horn, Ari lurched backward. It felt familiar as the time he touched Auovin's. It was too uncanny of a feeling that Ari did not dare to go and touch it again. Instead, he gazed at it. Their eyes were carved with such meticulous care Ari could imagine them as they once were.

Thinking of Auovin made his heart settle and made the place he was in a little less frightening. No matter the words or transgressions that was passed by him, Ari could not help but feel comforted by the thought of him. If it was as everyone had said it was-- that he was the man that Auovin was in love with-- then it made sense for why his heart was the way it was after everything. He was not afraid of Auovin but of himself and what he possibly could have done to have made Auovin the way he was now. In his heart of hearts, Ari knew he would never do anything to hurt him. Not now, not ever. So why was it like this? Why was everyone saying all those things about a man who they thought was him a lifetime ago?

A couple stones rolled down the hill of debris, catching Ari's attention. A pair of red eyes were seen before they vanished as quickly as his breath did. Ari stood fast and wiped his hands on his pants. He should not be distracting himself with such things. Ari took in a deep breath and took a look at his changing surroundings. The ice melted off the walls. He could hear them tapping against the slabs of stone. He wanted to get his mind off of it, but it kept eating away at him like a festering wound even at a time like this. He rose and quickened his steps but the footsteps followed. He could hear them hitting stone and causing some loosened pieces to tumble down nearby. 

Ari broke out into a run when the sounds became more pronounced. He climbed over a pile of stones and did not think twice about going inside the small entrance. As soon as his head was inside, something grabbed one of his ankles. It sank its claws into his skin and yanked him back. Ari kicked at it with his free foot, but it was useless. The thing had a hold on him so strong not even grabbing onto the sides of the entrance worked. 

It flipped him over, causing Ari's eyes to widen. It had horns the same as the ones as he had seen on the faces of the statues. Its eyes were red; red as an apple, with a large circular mouth. When it roared, Ari narrowed his eyes, but he could still see the rows and rows of jagged teeth in its mouth. It bent down and sniffed his clothes up to his neck. Ari shuddered at the closeness. He did not want to make any sudden movements until he had his dagger firmly in his hand. Just when Ari thought it would bite into his flesh, it moved away from him as if it was repulsed by him. It screeched and lunged while backing away. It ran off soon after. 

Ari wiped the drool from his neck and frowned. It smelled of death. The same smell he once noticed when he was with Kaval. It was like no demon he had ever seen before, but he had seen it somewhere, somewhere before. Perhaps, it was the statue's faces that was making him feel that way or, perhaps, it was his memory of a time before. 

"I must know what happened all that time ago," Ari said growing frustrated. "I must in order to set things right, but I cannot if no one tells me the truth. I cannot do a single thing if I do not know who I am or... was. Whatever painful memories they might be, that I may have tried so hard to forget, I must remember for both my sake and... and his," Ari murmured.