Chasing Death

Chapter 22

"Some days it's needed to look fear in the eye and say- you can't defeat me, not now, not ever. Even fear will cower in front of your courage."

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"Guards," Atropos waved her hands, and thunder rumbled from somewhere.

The floor shook beneath my feet as the floor started undulating vigorously. The ceilings turned black as night, the temperature plummeting. And they rose from the ground—muscular figures in charcoal hoodies They had no faces. Two glowing red slits appeared underneath their hoods. They looked like a bunch of overgrown bats. All of them bowed to Atropos in unison. Mrithun's face had lost the little colour it had.

"Arrest her." Atropos pointed at me.

My feet were frozen to the ground. I wished to move. I wanted to run anywhere, but my body refused to budge. The first guard floated towards me slowly. If he had a face, I was sure there would have been a smirk on it.

I ducked out of reach and almost collided with Atropos who yelped and staggered back. Getting the opportunity I picked up the fallen blade. I held it out in front of me as if that would shield me from the guards of the underworld. I wasn't even certain if they had a form or they were just illusions.

"Tora, drop the knife." Lachesis' voice was velvet.

But my mind was too preoccupied to search for cues in her words. My ears were buzzing, my heart was thumping. There was only one thought in my head, I couldn't get captured here.

The guard still advanced at me, unbothered by the knife. He had one hand extended. His flickering form was sucking all the light from around him. The space where he stood was a black hole, a blot in space from which nothing could ever escape. And I slashed out with the knife.

The blade swished right through his sleeves, missing his arm by a centimetre. It didn't stop him at all as the bulky fingers grabbed my wrist. The black hand closed on mine like the maws of a beast. I screamed.

I looked around the room frantically for help. Mrithun and Lachesis both stared at the drama unfolding, but none of them took a step forward. I could see Mrithun's shoulders shaking. His hands were balled into fists. Lachesis threw him a warning glance, and he unclenched his fingers again. His cloudy eyes were filled with lament.

I looked from him to the guard and back to him. Then I slashed out with the knife once again. Lilac flames lit up on the edge of the blade where it touched the guard's arm. A lone streak of dark tarry blood spilled on my wrist as he snatched back his hand.

And I did the most foolish thing possible—I broke into a run.

I gathered up my dress in my hands and sprinted towards the exit.

Mrithun uttered my name in a strangled cry. Just at that moment, the archway dissolved, and a solid wall formed in front of me. I skidded to a halt and flipped around.

The guards were now coming towards me from all sides. Coils of darkness were emanating from them as the surroundings turned gloomier and gloomier. I tried to run to the other side, but one of them was swifter. He materialised in face of me swiftly. I screamed and tried the other direction, but there was another guard blocking my way. I took a step back, and they came forward, like a pack of lions surrounding a gazelle.

And I made the mistake of looking into their eyes. Strength seemed to leave my body suddenly as my knees went weak. My heart thudded faster in my chest. I was paralysed under that gaze. I willed my torso to move, but it couldn't.

The knife dropped from my hand with a clank. The sound appeared to float from far off.

Tentacles of black clouds advanced towards me, and all I could do was watch. It felt like the darkness was sucking all happy emotions out of me. Every single beautiful thought was being coloured dark, slowly. Happiness seemed temporary. Eternal sadness started invading the farthest nooks of my mind.

The tentacles were slowly creeping up my sides, binding my arms in the grip of an anaconda. I closed my eyes and let them capture me. I was defeated. There was nothing more that I could actually do.

A guard held my arm and gave me a tug. I complied willingly as they dragged me, stumbling and shuffling. I shot one last look at Mrithun who stood utterly still, his face or eyes displaying no emotions. And then they pulled me out of the light and into the darkness.

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Where was I going? I did not know.

The passages were dim. They yanked me like a rag doll. My feet had given way, and I was almost hanging by the two hands that were crushing my bones in their deathly drip. They shook me roughly whenever I stopped moving, and I had to will my legs into motion again.

We seemed to move for ages. I heard the sound of water, mixed with cries and wails that rose and fell with the winds in the dark. The lamenting voices moaned and groaned somewhere in their eternal torture cell.

By the time we came to a halt; I was already trying to search for a weapon. I would rather kill myself than spend my days here. But unfortunately, the guards of hell seemed to have no weapon on their person. If I irritate them, would they slay me? I doubted that because they wouldn't do anything specifically without Atropos' order.

Also, I doubted if I could actually die in this realm. I was already in the underworld and I didn't have my name in the system. How inconvenient!

The guy holding me gave me a shove, and I stood in front of a tiny cell. It had no light, no opening, nothing except endless black walls.

I tried to backtrack, but they were stronger. One of them caught me and flung me into that dingy space.

I heard the clang of huge gates and my reverie broke at that moment as I realised I was well and truly trapped—trapped in the prisons of hell.

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