The walls turned sideways, and my body fell, and my mind was too exhausted to scream for it to stand. The floor was dull and oddly soft, like jelly, then liquid, then I was sinking before I even realized it.
Why?
A question that always wandered on the back of my head. Why did I take her offer to be her guard, or why did I even continue for so long? She did not know who, or rather what I really am, and yet my past self continued despite it. A future problem and a problem that arrived quicker than anticipated. And it made me question why I would even continue.
Then a memory played. It was early in the morning, with the smell of grass and fresh rain. Looking outside the tent, and there she was, boiling tea over the campfire. "Good morning." She said, turning to me with a sun-kissed smile.
And I remembered why
Waking up with a warm stone against my back, and staring at the ocean of darkness that was the ceiling. A peculiar relaxation filled me. Though it was not the time to relax yet.
'Authority of the body. Vanity of the soul. Sanctuary of the mind-'
"You're overworking yourself again, dear?" 'Mother,' said, blocking half of the view of the ceiling
"You know, son, there are other ways to be productive," 'Father' added, blocking the other half of the ceiling. Both of them were looking down on me, and even with their featureless faces, their concern and displeasure were visible. And for the first time, they were oddly bigger.
"I did warn you to keep your distance from her." 'Myself' or rather my vessel, said, pausing to let out a sigh. "And you did the exact opposite."
"Will you all shut up?" I said and stood up. It felt weird having a solid body in this place.
"Now-now, dear this would be a perfect time to-"
"Nihil." From behind the word rumbled like a dragon bell, low, deep, and with clear resonance. My parents vanished before the word was even finished.
"hic es." Their words sent a shiver through me and caused my limbs to freeze. "Felix." A hand grabbed my wrist and forced my legs to run.
"What are you standing around for!" My vessel-no, Felix said, their brows furrowed and forced. Turning my head back.
"Fallen." The words left my mouth the monument my eyes landed on them. A jet-black antlered figure, faceless, with a humanoid body sculpted with irregular sharpness. Creatures I have only read about in books and heard in stories, and yet their descriptions were terrifyingly accurate.
"What-"
"Nihil'iter ergos solom et tu inter me." Cracks thundered and raced past under our feet, splitting and turning the ground before us into tiered slab walls.
It changed the plane… my psyche, MY DOMAIN! ONE OF THE FEW THINGS THAT IS ACTUALLY MINE!
"Sanctu-"
"Soul supera omnis."
"BODY OVER SOUL!" My fist hit the wall harder than my voice, splattering skin and feeling bone against rough-wet stone. Runes appeared across its cracked surface and spread to the other walls, flickering, then died along with the walls, crumbling into uneven flat ground.
A hand loosened its grip, and a boiling feeling coursed through my skin, barking to be free. 'Blades!' A wet crack, and my hands turned to red-veined cleavers. Turning to my victim, their form was hunched and arms open wide, their fingers elongated into long skewers. The silence turned the air thick, bearing weight that it could not support.
The stone beneath my feet shattered.
"E-" I was faster, my hands digging deep into their arm their silver blood spewing into my face.
'I'm scared.' A child in the dark.
'NO!' A burning village
'Please, we can make it.' Cradling a sickened girl
'Do it for her-'
A stabbing pain filled my chest, and the scenes quickly left my eyes along with a hint of my ire. Impaled and holding me high with one hand, they flicked me off their fingers, and for a moment, my body dashed across the air, then my back crashed onto something soft.
"…You ok?" Felix groaned from under me, and I quickly rolled off him.
"I am." I managed to answer; my legs were worn, muscles torn from the burst. Standing up, my legs shook along with my breath, my upper body was in worse condition.
"What was that?" I asked.
Felix looked at my face, then back to the ground as he stood up. "Memories, visions," He paused to take a breath. "I don't know, no one does, but you're going to get killed if you go charging into it without a plan."
"Then do you have one?" I asked, sharper than intended.
Felix turned his head to me with a smile. "I do, but you have to trust me." Their hand firmly grabbed my wrist. "I need my weapon."
"Can you really take that thing head-on?" My eyes glanced at him and to the Fallen, who was already approaching with their skewers, scratching the ground on their sides.
"Pull," I ordered, and they did as my arm transformed into a crimson backsword, its hilt fused into their hand.
Felix quickly swung the sword around, testing its weight. "It will do." They said and readied themselves, their eyes focused on the fallen. "I take it's weaker arm, while you cover me."
"Got it," I replied, positioning myself at his side.
The Fallen stopped a few yards from us and again spread its arms wide as if readying for a warm embrace.
"NOW!" He yelled and dashed, holding his sword ready at his side. Following closely behind, my eyes locked on its arms.
The Fallen silently rushed forward, cracking the stone beneath them and trusting their hands faster than both of us could evade.
"NIHIL." The word ravaged my throat and filled it with iron, and for a second, they freeze, giving us enough time to counter. With a downwards stroke on its hand, Felix cleanly severed it in two, and before it even hit the ground, he was already moving to strike its head.
'Cage!' Stabbing and bursting into chains of skin, muscle, and bone, my entire arm held back its remaining hand before it could even turn to Felix.
"ABITO."
An explosion of wind, my arm ripped before my body flew back. Felix held his ground, moving forward unaffected by the Fallen's word. Staggering back as if in shock, but it was too late, a rising cut, and the Fallen's head was severed in half. Their body stood still, unmoving as if turned to stone.