Exordium by Tyson Jordan

Author:Tyson Jordan [Jordan, Tyson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B07RFP7B5K
Publisher: Tyson Jordan
Published: 2019-05-05T23:00:00+00:00

21

Darkness Beyond the Gate

I opened my eyes and stood, alone in oblivion, seeing nothing, and felt no sense of gravity pulling me towards the Maw of the Giant as Innatus had once done. I turned my head from side to side, seeing nothing and no one, feeling no need to breathe, a numbing coolness throughout my body, and wondered if this was death.

The blackness of the ceiling grew lighter and reddened, revealing clouds like streaks of ink that hurtled over me, and I stood on a grey beach, staring out at a vast ocean that shone calmly with the reflected light of a dimming red sun. Despite the rhythmic crashing of waves and the growing warmth of the air, there was something terribly wrong to be felt in that place. I felt as though I had been pierced, judged by something knowable only by its unforgiving wrath.

I heard the shrill cry of a child behind me and turned, glimpsing a small boy as he vanished into a row of alien trees. I called out to him and heard a series of demented shrieks pierce the air. I ran after him.

Leaves and branches whipped across my arms and face as I crashed through the foliage, calling out to the child. Further shrieks followed, these louder than the first, and I followed their sound, breaking through branches that resisted my pursuit.

A clearing revealed itself, circular and grey, and I saw the boy’s small, tear-streaked face as he cried loudly, his back pressed to an impassable band of rock. His pursuers were nearly on him, one a green, twisted tortoise and the other a golden, fanged arachnid, and they moved closer, shrieking in glee.

I intervened, my outrage immediate, and charged at the bizarre creatures. The golden monster turned to me first, gnashing curved teeth and snapping its pincers, and I offered a violent greeting. My fist collided with its misshapen head, breaking its exoskeleton, and it fell stupidly to the ground, spasming. I grasped one of its pincers forcefully, grunting loudly as I jerked it free from a newly bloodied arm, and turned my attention to the tortoise.

The green beast rushed at me with surprising speed, its head low, and I held the pincer before me as I ran forward. At the last moment, I stepped deftly to one side, letting the crude weapon pierce one of the monster’s eyes and sink deep into its head. There was a spurt of liquid heat that coated my arms, and the creature fell dead.

I stood before the child then, soaked in liquid heat, and he looked up at me. His eyes were wide and grey, and there was no gratitude to be seen in them, only sadness instead. I offered my name to him, and asked his in turn, but he did not answer. He left me then, wordlessly, and looked back to see me in further shame before he vanished into the trees once again. I did not follow him, and stood in the clearing alone and dissatisfied.

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