Wish

Dreams || Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Intrusion

"No... no! This can't be real! That god forsaken page wasn't real, this isn't real!" he yelled, completely overlooking that he could draw attention to himself. "...It can't be..." he sobbed.

He looked up towards the grand structure looming above him, really taking in all the details. The stone pillars attached directly to the small staircase towards the entrance, two large, dark grey doors with seemingly magical symbols and patterns scribed onto them. However, they seemed to have somewhat fallen into each other, leaving the seam one would normally see as straight, diagonal. It seemed nearly everything had done the same.

Halfway through some of the pillars, they had been eroded away, leaving the top half to fall and break into rubble on the floor. Some steps were chipped, and the walls were cracked, moss growing from multiple corners within it. The roof was the only thing that seemed truly sturdy, reinforced with curved tube like objects made from stone, multiple times over. Sure, there were still some small pebbles falling off, but compared to the rest of the large structure, it looked like the most well constructed thing in all of Southern Levonia.

Whilst it was definitely old... it was somewhat beautiful. Something that looked that ancient would almost always look wondrous, but the large structure standing in front of him? That was another thing entirely. However, there was still a pit lurking in Talo's stomach. It didn't help when he heard the hissing again. "Damn it!" he whispered, before quickly turning around to see the unfortunately familiar ring of purple.

He could see the shadowy figures' silhouettes shake and convulse, waiting impatiently to let loose into their murder spree. Sharp points stabbed the ground as the wind howled, sending the mist into a grand swirl. It flowed through Talo's hair and the natural green leaves scattered upon the creaking branches of the trees towering above him. This is where the mist was the most concentrated, for sure. Of course it had to be near the old, creepy temple which probably housed some demonic summoning centre or some sort of dungeon. Too bad that he would most likely have to run in and hide.

He looked around, evaluating each of the creatures, looking to see if they had some obvious weakness he had only just noticed now, until one in particular caught his attention. One that looked... unlike the others, to say the least. It looked strangely... human. But it towered above all the others, up to the higher branches of the trees. It looked down upon him, like he was but a roach to a giant. Realistically, that wasn't far off from the truth. It was much stronger than him, he knew. He didn't have to think about it. He just felt it.

Wait, what was he doing?! They were here, they had found him! Why weren't they getting closer, or at least, not yet? Was it... the temple? Were they perhaps scared of it? Why? 'No time to think, idiot! Come on!' The Darkborns growled as they slowly stepped from the shadows of the foliage into the moonlight of the misty plain, seemingly no longer quite as hesitant to approach the large, dark grey building residing behind Talo. Now they were not afraid, but he was. Greatly.

He began to back away bit by bit, nearly tripping up the staircase, but re-balancing out of pure willpower of not wanting to be torn apart piece by piece, slowly and painfully. That was not something he had on his to-do list, personally. They began to etch closer, except the strange, unbelievably tall one. It just looked at him, waiting, biding its time. He could feel the cold stone of the doors hit his back, and he swiftly tried to find any little spot he could possibly push the door open, whilst still keeping his eyes on the approaching Darkborns.

He flailed his arms around trying to find anything, a crack, an actual intentional way to open it, or even just a weak piece of its structure to pull the doors apart, as panic began to swell within him. He scrambled and scrambled, nearly begging to find any sort of success. The Darkborns quickened their pace, getting closer with every second Talo wasted searching in his seemingly fruitless attempt to save his life. He looked to the door, feeling too repulsed by the thoughts of what the creatures would do to him and even the villagers all the way back in Labed Village to look at them.