Chapter 49
Freya
After a quick outfit change Christian and I looked ready to rob a bank dressed in all black. We blended completely in to the night.
Houtouwan was our first stop and since we were doing this in secret I used my air elemental to make us invisible. We hiked acrossed the ghost town fishing village that looked uninhabited for several decades. The tiny hut buildings were almost entirely covered with creeping ivy and lush vegetation, creating a green landscape that is more spectacular than devastating. The ghost town was not a place, nor a thing of this reality, yet a pocket of time and space that was a hospital for lost souls. Rolling hills with tall grass and rivers reclaimed our surroundings. The sky is a rolling blanket of clouds the color of wet ash. Wintry air swirled around me taking every lick of warmth it could.
"Over there", Christian as we reached the of hill.
There it was, the rip less than a mile away. The tear was no bigger than a cantaloupe but the damage it created was devastating. The green pasture we just walk through was gone on the other side of the hill. The land was black and ashened like a pulsating festering wound. A heavy thick mist covered the land as if it was poisoning the very ground beneath it. Death had touched this place.
I made ourselves visible. There was no one around for at least a good ten miles. "Shall we?"
Christian unsheathed his sword and called out for my dagger,"Let's".
Side by side we walked down the hill through crumbling ground. Every step had a crunch that was intensified by the erie silence that draped over the land. Christian used his air element to clear path so we could see where we was stepping through the fog.
"What happened here?" I said focused in on a tree that once stood proud but was now cinched in black with bare branches.
"Shades hopefully".
"I've never seen Shades do this kind of damage", I confessed.
"Strong ones can", he explained.
"He..lp...me", a weak voice cried,"H..el..p".
Before I could open my mouth and scream back to the voice Christian held his hand out to stop me. He shook his head no.
"Help... please", The man begged. "Is... anyone out there... please!"
I made myself focus on the voice and I could tell he wasn't that far away. I silently pleaded with Christian,"We need to stay on this path. We have no idea what's out there. We didn't come here for him".
"Two minutes", I pleaded.
"He..lp", The voice coughed.
"Two minutes to get yourself killed. We stay on the path".
"Aren't you supposed to be a knight? Isn't chivalry a part of your code?" I asked.
"When it doesn't involve us getting killed. Can you not see that this is a trap?"
"Or desperate man who needs help. Christian, if you don't feel comfortable you can stay here. Give me two minutes", I started running towards the voice.
"Freya! Freya come back", Christan called out. "God's on high! Wait!"
I heard his footsteps crunch behind me,"He..lp! He...lp".
The fog was so thick I couldn't see the ground but I ran hard pushing myself to my absolute limit pumping my legs and arms in sync,"Shit!"
I tripped over something heavy andface planted into the ground landing on my belly,"He...lp please help".
I push myself up and looking back I expecting to see a person when all I saw something else. He was part man...yet part shade. His body was cut in half at his waist and his legs seemed to be sinking into the ground fastly decaying. Half of his body was human with pale skin and sunken in gray eyes and the other half was cast in a shadow of darkness I had only seen on Shades. One of his eyes glowed a soft pale light and teeth jetted out of his mouth that seemed to cut him every time he opened it. The arm that looked like a shade had been ripped open like a bad science project and his fingers were long black claws. This man wasn't a threat. He couldn't even sit up,"Kill me".
He looked over to me as tears poured from his human half eye,"What happened?"
Demand stared up hopelessly to the sky and wheezing he barely got out,"Death ...came for me but it did not take... all of me".
"We need to get you to a doctor", a surgeon or something. I reached out to help the man When his black claw shot out and grabbed my arm with an unholy amount of strength.
"You will know death on the brim of a new era, before the sun rises. Your life will be one long night never to step back into the sun. You will never have any children in this form, you will never have the family you so badly desire. You will wish for it, crave it and die for it. He will find love with another as will you. Before the light leaves your eyes, you will doom his soul to the darkest parts of Tartarus. Two souls that were never meant to be; eternally damning each other", He warned as I tried to pull away from his tight grip.
"Let go!"
"He knows of your existence. And he is coming", in a cackling laugh he fell back onto the ground seizuring as black blood poured from his mouth,"Take me, master! TAKE ME!"
His body quickly started to decay shriveling up until there was nothing more than black sludge and a blood curdling scream that faded into the night. My heart was hammering in my chest as I made myself stand up.
"What the..."
"The gods gifted you with speed as well? Are you racing Hermes?" Christian said coming up behind me with his sword raised ready to attack.
"Did... you see him?" I said wanted to make sure my mind wasn't playing tricks on me.
"Who?"
"It was a man here that was cut in half", I said pointing down to the ground where the man disintegrated into. But there was not even a mark to show he was there
"No. This phone could be playing some kind of mind trick game. The gods are partial---"
"No, he was here This wasn't a game or a trick. You heard him call out just as much as I did. He grabbed my arm and he started talking nonsense", I quickly told Christian everything the man had told me.
"Was he one of The Fates? Normally they show up in three: past, present and future or birth, life, and death. They are ruthless and without pity or remorse".
"I hope not", I said trying to shake off the ravings of a madman. He was dying nothing more. But I couldn't quite just let it go,"He screamed master take me. Do you think it was Zeus he was calling out to?
"The Fates have no master. It's what makes them...well... The Fates. Even Zeus can't escape destiny".
Let's hope that's not who I just ran into.
"It's probably nothing",I worried silently. "Let's close this up and head back. We can worry about the other site later".
"It is almost time for us to go. We can finish this up quickly if we stay focused", Christian stressed.
"Yeah, sorry. I have a bleeding heart I guess. I can't ignore a cry for help".
"Well when you feel the need to spring into action. Perhaps give me some warning or at least a head start", Christian smiled.
"Of course", We started walking forward and I couldn't help but look back at the spot where the man once was. I had a terrible sinking feeling I was meant to hear every word he said. But this was some kind of warning for the future.
A flock of crows with perfect black inky wings flew above us exclaiming and fluttering in their search for good worms. Thunder came as if to enrich the cloud-conjured sense of midnight.
