Golden Dawn

|Chapter 34 ~ The Ertheon|

It felt as if all sound had completely vanished from the world as we walked through the valley, the walls of obsidian mountain as ominous as pure death. The air felt wrong. Nothing I had ever experienced on earth.

No.

The air was not infected with putrid toxins nor dangerous gasses, but heavy with dark menace and ancient fury.

I gulped as we advanced, each step an echo across the quiet desolated landscape that waited for the death battle to begin. I suddenly wondered if one could ever be so afraid their entire body stopped functioning altogether.

Because I certainly felt that way.

The dark thought made me smile.

"Must I be troubled by that look?" Came the husky voice of Angelus as he seemed to appear next to my in the mere blink of an eye. The Defender looked ready for battle, his armour glittering deadly black in the moonlight and his star blade so radiating, I was simply awestruck by the many shades of dark lilac it emitted.

"I... I guess I'm just scared." I stuttered as reply, for once not at all bothered by what he thought of my pathetic attitude.

If it were to indeed be our last conversation before we die, it may well be as normal and comfortable as possible.

I was acknowledged by Angelus' crimson eyes, their red orbs hinting at slight solace.

I stared at the colour they emitted.

I couldn't help it.

They were so stunning in the darkness, I wasn't exactly sure if it was really normal for eyes to glow so bright.

"It is not a curse to be afraid Artemisia. It is after all why we survive. Exactly because we fear for our lives." He said. His words made sense but I couldn't grasp why he tried to comfort me. It seemed utterly abnormal for someone like him. A being who always stayed unemotional, a soldier of power and godlike authority.

I was however, thankful for his words and tried for a smile.

"I guess you would know." I only managed and stared out in front of us. The valley seemed to be endless and I suddenly got the feeling we were walking much longer than we probably should have. The ground felt strange, almost as if it was alive and swirling. The darkness of our surroundings seemed to press down on me, but I shrugged it off. The horribly feeling was still blatant in my mind as we continued onwards.

Suddenly Ferîan who led our party, froze in his tracks. His frosty wings glittered in the moonlight. His feathers were so beautifully crafted into elegant ice shards of all shapes that I once again had to admire how utterly stunning the wings of all the Lesphares were.

"Something isn't right Angelus." The male stated, his voice tight. Ferîan's frozen blade was clenched tightly in his hand.

I nodded in agreement, grateful I was not the only one who seemed to think something was terribly wrong.

"Maybe it is the air, it feels more condensed than anything I've ever felt before." Jacob muttered as he inspected our surroundings. Christa was about to open her mouth to reply, but stopped mid-sentence.

A terrible roar - so forbidding it cracked the very obsidian around us - thundered through the landscape.

My ears ached and I heard a faint shrill as if the mere sound of the Ertheon could already damage my very consciousness.

"What the hell-" Quîncîn started and cursed when the ground beneath our feet began to shake. The earth under our soles started to crack like glass and when I noticed the long fissure that had already started to form across the rock, I immediately yelled my horrifying observation to Angelus.