In a street teeming with goblins, orcs, and ogres, a lone figure walked with a police badge hanging around his neck.
"THUD," Darius bumped shoulder first into a pale green arm.
"Damn it," he groaned, stepping back. "What was..."
He looked up. An ogre stared down at him, two yellow tusk prodruding from its bottom lip.
"Watch where you're going, twerp," the creature spat.
The ogre lumbered away. Darius's jaw clenched.
"This place is filled with filth like him," he muttered in a hushed tone, dusting off his shoulder before pushing forward.
"Hey! Are you from earth?"
A hand gripped his arm. Darius spun around to see a women staring at him.
She quickly let go of his wrist. "Sorry," she breathed. "I saw the badge and thought... I thought you might be from earth."
"I am," Darius said.
She beamed. "Thank god. Someone from earth, everyone here just points at the dirt when I mentioned it."
Darius let out a short, dry laugh.
"Hey, it's not funny!" She remarked, though looked relieved.
"It is," Darius replied, glancing at the few humans scattered among the monstrous crowd. "Wait, are the others not from earth."
"Yeah. I almost thought I was going crazy talking to them,." She said, extending a hand. "I'm Elizabeth, from California. What about you?"
"Darius. From Ju'burg."
"Oh, so you're from South African." She said, her smile widening.
"Yeah. But instead of standing around here, would you like to meet the others?"
Her face brightened instantly. "Yes, please"
As they walked back toward the group, Elizabeth explained how she had suddenly appeared in this city of talking monsters. She spoke of shock at seeing how the local humans lived well these creature's.
"That's insane," She commented. "I would have never made it if I'd appeared out there"
The sun hung near its zenith.
"Hey, Ceal," Darius called out. "I found someone from earth"
"Technically, I found him, but it's potato, potahto," Elizabeth added with a smirk.
"I see." Ceal stood up. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ceal"
"Elizabeth" She said as the girls walked over.
As introduction rippled through the group, Vance sat on a bench nearby, his eyes fixed on his ledger.
The book had changed. The first page was now a map filled with red dots and only two dots were in blue. It only detailed areas he had personally visited: the valley, forest, and the current city.
But what made his teeth grind, was the list names. Half of them were gone.
'Are they dead?' He wondered, taking a deep breath. 'I should focus on the ones I can find.'
He scanned the remaining names. Every entry was written in red except for two, Jennifer and Skritch.
'I had 420 clients. Now I'm left with 168 clients.' He flipped through the ledger, a dark smirk played on his lips. 'I'll just redistribute the losses to the survivers. Its only logical to cover the cost of the search.'
He flipped back to the map. The closest red dot lay through the valley. He glanced at Ceal. 'Since there's is no one in the neutral zone, Ceal's contract is void by default.'
Vance stood up as Elizabeth approached. "And you must be Vance."
"Im am. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss," Vance replied smoothly.
"Oh," She blinked, stepping back, "I thought you'd be mannerless bastard based on how others describe you."
Vance turned to the group. Darius was smiling, Jennifer looked away.
He didn't have time for this. He turned to Ceal.
"To get past the valley and those stone beast, I just need to travel by morning, right?"
The group went silent.
"Why?" Ceal asked, his eyes squinting.
"A few of the people I'm looking for are beyond that pass," Vance said.
"When are you planning to go?"
"As soon as possible"
Cael's tone softened. "Vance, you won't make it. You need to wait until you've adjusted to this world."
"How long could that take?"
Cael didn't answer. He simply stared at him.
Then, stars appeared in the sky alongside the sun, competing for brilliance.
Ceal sighed. "Lets talk about this once everything is done."
Vance nodded, looking up at the vibrant colors that filled the sky. Auroras snaked through the stars.
Suddenly, everthing vanished.
The ground beneath his feet became an abyss, a sheet black glass reflecting the starlight below. The sky was gone, replaced by the silent looming presence of colossal, vague, cosmic forms whose existence imposed a crushing weight of insignificance.
"Ugh..." Vance eyes widened. His knees trembled.
'What is this?' He tried to look, to understand. Agony lanced through his skull. Warmth trickled from his eyes, tears of blood for daring to gaze upon the divine.
He turned his gaze to the stars beneath his feet yet the weight on his shoulders grew heavier with each passing heartbeat, settling onto his bones then his soul.
"THUD." He fell to his knees. Tears of blood raced down his cheeks.
His breathing turned shallow and ragged.
"Kurk.." He coughed blood yet the blood fell through the floor.
Then.
'What. Is. This?' Steps shimmering starlight appeared, fanning out from where he knelt forming paths, each leading toward a different colossal silhouette.
"CHOOSE" A commend thundered in his mind.
His bleeding eyes were drawn to the paths. Each was a vision, a promise, a destiny.
The first path burned with orange red of a forge and an iron scent of blood. It showed strength not of muscle but that of spirit. It showed the honor of battle, and its terrible cost. It whispered that the greatest of wars are not fought with armies, but alone within the quet chamber of the heart. This path offered strength far beyond human understand and yet promised the spirit needed not only to live but to conquer life. This was the Path of War.
His gaze, heavy as stone dragged to the next. This one gleamed with calm, timeless light of a blue white star. It showed truth layered upon truth, wisdom accumulated like strate in stone. It promised understanding that life was not a series of accidents, but a construct of purpose. It whispered that time was not a thief, but a teacher. This path offered the knowledge to see the patterns in the chaos, the wisdom to overcome all difficulties, seeing the end from the beginning. This was the Path of Fate.
He tried to shut his eyes, to close out the overwhelming visions. A third path unfolded before him anyway. It was the valvety black of void between the stars, speckled with a gentle silver light. It showed death not as the end, but a gentle release. It taught that mortality gives life it's precious urgency, its sharp, sweet flavor. Death was not a hunter, but a sanctuary of for all tired souls. This path offered the peace of acceptance and an end to all struggles. This was the only guarantee in all of existence, this was the Path of Death.
"No," he groaned. The visions multiplied, splitting into countless possibilities: The path of plenty, of dominion, of love, of secrets... Each screamed into his soul, offering salvation from pain, from doubt, from the unbearable weight of life. Each demanded his allegiance.
"No." The pressure intensified. Could he survive the eternal war within his heart? Could he withstand the tests of time under the infinite gaze of fate? And would he accept the final, quite embrace of death?
"No." This was a choice every soul faced in it darkest hour. The offer of creed, a purpose, a god to shoulder the burden of existence.
"No." His will, a lone spike of iron in the storm that would eventually win.
More path unveiled themselves. His eyes streamed crimson. His body wept in blood for the salvation it refused.
"No." The word was a wet grasp now, bubbling with the blood filling his mouth. A simple choice. One word, and it would all end.
"CHOOSE." The final command echoed through the hollow shell of his being. He could no longer feel his limbs.
The world was a blur of starry black and agonizing pressure.
As his consciousness frayed, his mind turned inward.
His life was nothing, but grasping, calculating and surviving on his terms. A life of moral grays and hard bargains, but his.
Every consequence, every victory, every failure all stemmed from his choices.
A strange warmth spread through his chest, cutting through the cold, divine pressure. A smile, fragile and bloody, touched his lips.
'I always had a choice.'
That was his core. The non negotiable truth. To choose a Path now, no matter how glorious would be to surrender that.
It would make him a vessel of a will greater than his own. His struggles, his burdens, even his purpose would be something that he borrowed. A fate chosen for him.
For Vance, that was not salvation. It was a fate worse than oblivion.
His smile held, even as the last of his strength left him.
"Thud" His body, broken and bleeding collapsed fully onto the star flecked void.
Vance did not speak. He made no grand gesture. But in the silent heart of the soul, where choices are felt not declared, his answer was final.
He chose the weight. He chose the bleeding eyes. He chose the unyielding pressure of a godless and pathless existence.
Vance choose himself.
He choose death. Not the path of death offered by the silent colossus, but his death.
The visions shattered. The pressure vanished but his body had long gone cold with a smile.