Gods Cry; Mortals Die

Chapter 3: (Un)divided Attention

A/N: From now on, there's likely to be profanity or mature language popping up. In case the ending of the last chapter didn't imply that already. Probably not much, but sometimes I feel the situation calls for it. Like being eaten by giant dogs.

Chapter 3: Undivided Attention

"-uck!"

Ian muttered and threw his arms over his head. At the moment he was bracing for impact... nothing happened. There were no physical sensations that would imply that he was being consumed by a giant dog. No drool, no crunching noises, no pain. Cautiously, he lowered his arms to see what had happened.

The good news was the hound had abruptly vanished. The bad news was: so had the room he had been in, and the mill itself. In fact, he had doubts he was still in the same world as a moment ago. Instead of the stone floor of the mill, Ian found himself standing on a large, circular marble stage that was at the center of a crumbling amphitheater. Rising around the stage on all sides were tier after tier of stone seats, the topmost of which was surrounded by a twilit desert. The sand had spilled into the structure, softening the corners and giving the impression that the theater was slowly being engulfed by its surroundings. The theater itself seemed ancient and had nothing in the way of decoration except for a series of caryatids around the outside that were holding globes of various sizes as they stared down onto the stage.

While there was no source of light that Ian could detect, the whole area had a vague glow like a night on a full moon. When Ian looked up, instead of celestial bodies he saw millions of those pinpricks of light drifting in the sky. The gentle but chaotic movements of the lights was much the same as he had seen in the mill, but being so far underneath it was like he was at the bottom of a phosphorescent sea.

There wasn't any sound of creatures or other humans; no wind, no nocturnal cries of wildlife. The silence was so complete that Ian snapped his fingers several times to reassure himself that he hadn't gone deaf.

Taking all this in, Ian immediately realized he was standing in the most exposed area he could possibly be in (not that there was much cover to begin with). He cautiously began to creep toward the edge of the stage, hoping to get to higher ground and see where he was.

Unfortunately, he didn't get very far. Two steps later and the stage was suddenly flooded with light. Bright beams shone down from above on all sides. Squinting into the light, Ian could barely see the globes held by the caryatids shining like miniature moons. Each light was focused on the stage and thus on Ian, making the surrounding tiers difficult to see clearly. Nonetheless, Ian could tell he was no longer alone: sitting in the middle of the stands Ian could vaguely make out the woman he had seen last night, and his objective this evening.

Ian gave up making his way off the stage, since he suspected he wouldn't get far. Turning toward the woman who had appeared, Ian slowly raised his empty hands, trying to show that he wasn't there to attack. There was no visible reaction from the seated figure, but he heard her shift in her seat as she regarded him.

Movement below caught Ian's eye. He glanced down to his feet where a kaleidoscope of shadows was splayed out from his feet...and then he did a double take. Where he should have seen vague, stunted shadows that reflected his own figure in the light, instead he saw harsh complete shadows for each beam of light. What had caught his attention, though, was that the shadows weren't reflecting Ian's movements at all. In fact, as he watched, all of his shadows turned to 'face' him. Each one seemed to be holding a weapon of sorts in their hands. Swords and knives mostly, but some had clubs and one even had a Morningstar. Some had assumed a fighting stance, 'watching' him with their featureless faces. One less hostile shadow wiggled his fingers at Ian in a frivolous wave when he had stared for too long.