Fly Til Dusk (boyxboy)(ON HOLD)

Chapter 17: The Shadow King

It felt like nothingness had passed through him like water through a fine cloth, easy, fluid and uncomfortable. Idos was expecting his ultimate death, yet there was nothing but darkness. Was this how he would die? In the way he had been born? In true darkness?

The next thing he felt was the hard ground beneath him and the heavy breathing in his lungs. It was like he was heaving for air for the very first time as it entered his lungs. His eyes were blown open, and he heard whispers around him. His instincts pulled through him, and he pulled himself to his feet. There were... people looking at him.

These very people were in a line awaiting a desk, or what Idos assumed was a desk. They huffed and talked to one another, but he was not in that very line. He was outside the railing as he panted for his breath. Where was he? He looked up and saw nothing but the night sky, the stars of the loyal scattering across the vast canvas. He blinked back down before turning his head. It looked like a portal of sorts.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Idos turned his head. It was a child with red hair and freckles on his cheek. He was in line too with a woman striking similar to the child, his mother mayhap.

"The demons tell us to get in line to enter. Maybe you should get in line before you lose your spot inside?" The child innocently said.

Idos looked at him funny, but now that he looked around, he slowly began to realize that this wasn't the world he was so used to. These people . . .

They were in line to get inside the Realm of Shadows. All these people were dead.

Idos smiled, looking down upon him. No one recognized him, him being the lord of shadows for a reason. He approached the child and held out his hand. The mother was hesitant to have her own child grasp a stranger's hand, but when he did, the child gasped. He felt something inside Idos.

"Y-you're--!"

Idos pressed his finger to his lips, chuckling, "I think my place in line can be given to someone else, yes? Don't you worry." He let the child's hand go as the very same stared at him with wonder, "Just stay with your mother, and pretty soon, you'll see the rest of your family. Doesn't that sound neat?"

The child wasn't able to respond since demons were flocking the middle aisle where it bid entrance to this portal of sorts. They swarmed the poor god as he grew confused. Why were they surrounding him?

Oh right, God of Stealth and Shadows. No one can sense me unless I bid it so. Idos sighed to himself. That was a obvious problem when he didn't know how to to prove that he was Cancer. Most of the demons probably had never seen his face before.

"You're supposed to be in line, soul. How did you wander away from the barriers?" One demon asked with his trident almost poking him, "I smell demon, yet you are not of specific breed?"

Idos gulped.

"He smells different, not like any' other soul," Another demon, quite big for his size, leaned and sniffed, "We needa' get em' to one of the officers. They'll know what ta' do with em'."

Suddenly, he was pushed towards the portal and his hands handcuffed--Is that necessary?--behind his person. They felt like strings were tied his wrist to one another, and Idos stumbled onto his feet. He looked back to the demons and scoffed before pulling apart the handcuffs like they were nothing. The power of the realm was his own source as Idos began to realize the reason why they felt like feathers on his wrists.

"That can't be.." One demon began, but Idos was already in a sprint towards the portal, a whole squad of demons on his tail.

Normally, human souls would not be able to pass the portal until given a pass, but Idos walked through it like water. As soon as he passed the barrier, that gasp of air held within his chest. He felt so many presences around him, and he grasped his chest in pain. He felt the power enter him like a cloud of smoke in his lungs. Idos coughed and struggled, but the demons behind him were catching up.