Walter gently maneuvered people out of his path as he pressed through the crowd. Germain followed in his wake, noting the steadily decreasing levels of light and music. Germain rose up on his toes and tried to peer over the crowd. He looked to his left. One by one, lights at the fringes of the crowd were flickering and going out. To the right, it was the same. Many of the party goers were still drinking, laughing and dancing, but some of the celebratory spirit was fading, turning to anxious looks and nervous whispers.
"Walter, it's going around both sides now."
Walter looked out over the heads of his fellow students and frowned, "I see it, alright let's hurry"
Gentle shoves became firm presses as Walter sped his pace to a brisk walk, cutting through the crowd like a wedge. Walter's big suburban was in sight. He pulled out his key and triggered the remote start. The beast of a truck roared to life, it's powerful lights cut through the night like a lighthouse, promising sanctuary. Germain and his cousin finally broke free of the crowd, but to their dismay, the dense, smokey mist swept past as they approached. The fog was knee-high now, and plainly visible. It flowed by, choking the engine to a sputtering stop and killing the lights. The fog rolled on, swallowing what few lights remained at the edge of the party, until the mass of teenagers were enveloped by a ring of dark smoke, with only the flickering bonfire and the full moon for light.
And then the smoke began to rise.
The cousins turned to each other with anxious looks.
"G, We gotta find another way"
"Agreed." Germain and Walter turned and pressed back into the crowd, moving towards what little light remained. All the partying had stopped, carefree smiles had turned to clenched jaws and eyes full of fear. A boy yelped and jumped as if he had stepped on glass. Germain looked down and saw tendrils of black smoke snaking along the ground towards the bonfire.
Not that way. Germain stopped his cousin by the elbow and looked for another way out. The ring of smoke had risen up like a great dark wave about to crash down on them. A panicked yell snapped Germain's focus back to the flickering light. The black fog was swirling up into a single point above the bonfire. The smoke condensed into a winged woman, her figure silhoutetted against the the light of the fire. She held up an object that Germain couldn't clearly make out. It began to glow from within with a growing golden light. Germain couldn't look away,
It's so beautiful.
Someone screamed and slammed into Germain, knocking him from his trance and onto his hands and knees. Walter bent and grabbed Germain as if to drag him to his feet.
"Let's take our chances with the fog, we gotta go right now!"
And then all color left Germain's world, a piercing brightness turned all he saw to light and shadow and silence. His clothes fell away like dust. The light washed over him and through him, filling him with a warmth that felt like home.
This is amazing, it's like a dream. Germain smiled and turned to his cousin. His joy fled as quickly as it came, replaced by a knot of fear and panic.
Walter was burning.
Walter's clothes tore away in flaming rags. His skin and hair turned to dust. He raised a hand to shield his face from the light, but his fingers crumbled to ash and smoke. Walter screamed in soundless agony as the rest of his arm followed. Germain tried to reach out to him, to call to him, to do something,
I have to save him. But Germain's hand went through his cousin as if he were made of salt, and when he opened his mouth he found he had no voice. Pain crushed his lungs, he was suffocating. He tried to breath deep but found no relief.
There's no air. The light rose to a blinding intensity then ceased suddenly. Germain was deafened and knocked prone by a surge and snap of air. He laid on the ground gasping and choking on dust as his sight and hearing slowly returned.
As his vision returned, Germain rolled to his back a found there was no light but that of the moon. He was lying naked in a crater of ash and swirling smoke, and he was alone save a few other naked figures scattered throughout the pit. Them and the woman walking towards him.
She stood clad in black and gold armor, with ebony feathered wings stretching from her back and a sword hanging on her hip. Her mailed hood veiled her face in a darkness that light could not pierce, and her presence swirled with a wispy, acrid aura of smoke.
"What happened, where is everyone?" Germain rasped as he pushed himself to his knees.
The woman's reply emanated from the darkness within her hood, "The light of the source has chosen....those deemed unworthy have returned to the dust" her voice was deep and airy, like and ominous storm-wind. Germain's head was spinning, he was so confused, none of this made any sense.
"I don't understand, where's Walter. Where is my cousin?" The woman cocked her head to the side in a curious manner. She picked up her foot and kicked ash into Germain's face.
"There he is." She said as she loomed over him.
The ash stung Germain's eyes and tears ran down his cheeks. "Why would you do this? HOW did you do this? Who are yo-" the woman slammed an armored boot into Germain's ribs and he crumpled in pain. He looked up at her as she drew the sword from her side. It was black as sin, with veins of golden luminescence.
"You try my patience, boy. I am your adversary, and that is all that matters."
Germain's eyes widened as The Adversary raised her sword. Instinct took over, his veins rushed with adrenaline. He rolled to the side as the blade came down, slicing through the ground like potter's clay. Germain scrambled up and out of the crater, kicking up ash as he streaked naked through the trees.
Thiscan'tberealthiscan'tberealthiscan'tbereal. He heard the beat of wings behind him and plunged into thicker foliage, ignoring cuts and scrapes as he sprinted under the forest canopy. The sounds of wings faded and Germain ducked and hid behind a tree, listening for his purser. His breath caught in his lungs at the sound of a snapping twig and the clink of metal. His blood was pumping, his head was pounding, he was floating, fear was choking him like a noose and holy shit he was floating.
What the hell?!? Germain grabbed onto a tree branch as he somehow
floated into the canopy. He listened, not moving, not breathing, to the sound of armored footsteps circling his hiding spot. The footsteps receded, and were quickly followed by the beat of wings moving away, back towards the crater.
Germain breathed a sigh of relief, and almost fell out of the tree as his weight returned to him all at once. He gingerly descended to the forest floor, wincing as his naked body scraped against the tree bark. Bleeding, naked, shell-shocked, and covered in ash, he stumbled off in a direction he thought would take him home. T
his can't be real, this can't be happening, it's gotta be some kinda crazy nightmare or hallucination. I just need to make it back home, and when I wake up, Walter will be alive, and everything will be back to normal. This is impossible.
This can't be real.
