The God's Game

Soul Retriever

"Run!"

River dashed . Tripped . And fell .

Yes ,shackles . He forgot.

Something in his gut screamed at him that if he wasted time he to get up now, it would cost him his life. He rolled to his side ,just in time , before a giant paw of vice claws crashed down on to the marble ,right where his head had been .

The forepaw was huge. Larger than reason allowed him to comprehend . There were five claws on it, each bigger than a grown man ,sharper than swords. 

A roar boomed above his head.

River made the mistake of looking at it in the eyes.

It was colossal. It was black . And it was angry .

It wanted him dead .

He backed away , unable to tear his gaze away from this monstrosity ,straight out of  a nightmare.  The base of the alter hit his back and he shivered against its coldness .

Fear froze him, making his waist go soft .  Panic held him in a vice like  grip .His breaths came out in shallow gasps at the sight of its beastly eyes bearing in to his soul.

River forced his body to move. He had to move . He had to run . Before it could squish him to the ground like a rotten tomato under a cart wheel .

Move ..move ..move..MOVE !

The paw swinged at him .

Its size did not come at the cost of speed, it seemed. The movement was nearly a  blur.

The world tilted .

The beast struck down the marble platform, blasting it in to smithereens with a crash .  Chunks of it flew everywhere . River breathed in mouthfulls of dust and coughed .

"Fuck !" Wolfram cursed  as he helped River to his feet ."That was close "

River 's slugglish brain figured that Wolfram had somehow pulled him out of danger's way the last second .

A roar akin to thunder echoed in the shrine once again . The beast stirred, purring ,  its three pairs of golden eyes searching for the subject of its ire. Smell of smoke hit River's nostrills.

Wolfram frantically searched around and picked  up a heavy block of broken  marble from the floor.

"River ! L-legs apart!"

He brought it down on the chain connecting his ankles together . Sparks flew , but the thick chain remained unscathed. River held on to Wolfram's shoulder to balance himself as he stared at the otherworldly creature ,who seemed to be puffing out steam in agitation .

"W-what i-" he stammered , tongue feeling wrong in his mouth.

Wolfram slammed the block once again on the chain , panting . " A Soul Retriever "

He groaned, frustrated. The block abruptly started glowing in a soft golden light. When he clobbered the chain with it again , it seemed to have done more damage than before.

River dug his fingers in to Wolfram's shoulder .

Kaizer was glaring at him , his now gold irises gleaming  under the shadows of the giant entity . His lips were curled in a snarl ,the expression sparking visceral fear in River .

Einar had passed out in his arms . River hoped he was only unconscious from exhaustion .

Kaizer cradled his limp ,fragile frame in his embrace, like it was the only thing that anchored him to sanity. The sight was hauntingly beautiful and unsettling . An avenging angel .