Venom

30: The Dance of Death

A/N: Sorry for the wait, promise I haven't forgotten about yall, I just had a passing in the family a few months ago and it got me before I could finish this chapter so I had to pause on writing. Death has a way of putting somethig's into perspective and rearranging things. I've been working on myself and on being more consistent with my time but since writing has always been close to my heart I did not want to come back until I was certain I would be as me as I have been in writing. So here, I am. *

Madness can take form and root in anyone if thoughts continue to roam until they begin to sound like opinions discussed by many but created by one. For who do you need the excuses if you knew the answer all along? For whom do you lie? And why must you lie? One can know every step in the dance and still find themselves dancing in circles when the music never existed to begin with. Speaking something into existence might be more frightening than confronting the truth within the confines of the mind, but deciding without hearing out the whispers of the world around you might be the moment the madness has taken root, intertwined with the sanity of confidence that you need no other. Not even for a moment.

We had to travel back down to the town in order to use the teleportation room once more, but with the tower Master's word, as we walked close to the shadows behind the buildings, it was clear that the residents in the streets had been told to return to their homes early this night. The silence was deafening, waiting for us to leave to spring back to the liveliness they claimed. There was only one person waiting for us, the woman who had originally sent us to the tower. She did not seem like the type to volunteer for such a mysterious task, her face tight and nervous as she fought to keep the professional smile in place even when her flickering eyes were curious but weary. She hadn't been the only one to see us arrive, but she would be the only one to see us go. One life to blame if word got out that two out of three guests of the tower had departed.

The city of Necropolis, the dead and all of its various, wasn't as far as most predicted but it was too dangerous to go to the closest direct portal. The tower Master hadn't argued with my pointing out the stupidity of going directly for the crown regardless of the importance of the mission, but her displeasure at hearing that I would make a few stops to throw off any leads made her lips pinch sourly. I wasn't just speaking on any enemies following behind, she knew that as well. Viper and I had already lost two tails by splitting from one another and blending into opportunistic crowds with advantageous structural buildings nearby. She and I had been skirting around one another for too long, and I flipping the hunt on the unsuspecting much longer, to not notice the first two black robed figures that followed too close by. Whoever she had send had done a wondrous job of glamorizing their features to look mundane for one and inhumane enough to not stand out, both concealing their magic aura, yet even Viper came to recognize their footsteps trailing behind us not to late, always stopping with us on breaks and continuing in the same direction we headed towards.

"Friend, foe or snack?" She asked without looking back or needing to clarify. I sighed, squinting at the rising sun ahead. We hadn't slept all night and would continue to do so if everything were to go smoothly. There were a lot of things to be wary about and a lot more to complete then the simple retrieval of a crown.

"Friendly foe most likely," I clarified. I brought my hand up and covered my mouth as I felt a rough cough coming along. I grimace at the sensation that it gave the back of my head, like emptiness filled the space between my brain and skull. The expenditure of my chest was much more bearable, the skin numbing. "We just have to lose them."

"...alright."

I was just grateful that had been all she said, I continued to look ahead despite the weight of her stare. The tower Master was right. Despite her aid in producing the highest ointments and potions to slow the slow spreading wound at my chest, I was still dying from the inside out. If I had delayed this any longer, I would have entered a delirious, feverish state on the last day of our return and that wouldn't have been a help to anyone. I was still functional and if need be, I would- my mind went blank for a moment, all thought leaving me. What would I do? I knew what my choices were but what would I do? What could I do? What was the right thing to do for everyone? My fingers dug into my backpack straps. Focus only on the now and the few steps ahead. The rest would be there to sort whenever I thought of it later. Problems were the last thing to go and solutions the first things to come when one tried not to think it over too much.