“Ate,” Lyle said. His head cocked up at the full sunrise of the morning shining upon them. He smiled. “This is what I was talking about.”
They were back in the mountain now. Heading for the birang. But now, they had Matthew with them. The day was already past its sun’s waking hours. If there was such a thing as a full sun, this was it. The cosmic yellow ball of fire hovered above them who stood on the mountain, and it had arisen in all its glory. Of course, a sun was always full. Unlike the white light in the night sky. A sun was always in its complete phase of blaring fire. It was just that the world had its way of blocking it. The clouds. The rain. The pollution. It wasn’t the sun’s fault if there was much shine missing in the world. But this time, the burning circle could never have been more perfect.
“You’re right,” Alice said softly. “It is beautiful.&rdq
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God Hounds Chapter 24: The Memory
The light turned into a bright flash. It covered Aden and Ramu, as if pulling them into another vicinity. The darkness felt like it speeded past them—or it was them who were speeding past it. Aden could feel himself—his body—deconstructing and re-manifesting into another place. But he still couldn’t quite understand where he was now. He felt like he was still in a state of being transported to another dimension. Like he himself was some kind of wind being sucked in another darkness.Through it all, he could hear Ramu’s voice. It echoed in his head, and he didn’t see the woman beside him anymore. “Hey,” Ramu said. “Let me ask you something, kid. If the void finally gets comfortable with you,” she said. “Will you finally believe everything it has to say?”“What?” Aden shouted to her. “Believe what?”He could feel it once again. The ravaging vibrating and manifesting all
God Hounds Chapter 24 (continued): The Memory
“Who are you?” Aden’s voice echoed against the hushed wind as he looked at the child kneeling before the deer statue. “Ailan…” he whispered under his breath as if it would make a difference. As if it would help him recognize him. “Accept the Ledanai’i,” the woman’s voice once again resounded across the scene he was looking at.“What?” said Aden, as he tried to make sense of what was happening.“Serve me, child…” there it was again.The boy’s eyes were filled with nothing but determination and solemn resolve. “I will,” he said.Then the statue burned. Bright red fire, bursting from its eyes, then it rapidly crawled to the figure’s antlers. It blinded Aden; his vision suddenly consumed by the flash.
God Hounds Chapter 24 (final part): The Memory
Aden walked—seemingly endlessly—across the red, empty sky. His only companion, he had just killed a few hours ago. The man. The god who attacked him. Yes, he was alone now. No Ramu. No thunderous voice. Not even the memories… have come back. Just him, on that endless, red desert. His only comfort was the sound he made as he paced across the solemn sands. Where was he supposed to go now? He thought. And how was this supposed to end? He had lost the energy. And he had almost lost any emotion. After what he had just seen, after what he had just heard. After seeing himself in that last, manifesting picture. After seeing himself… as Ailan. After that last manifestation of a memory. Nothing else had come up. The void had become increasingly barren. Without the voices that led him, and the scenes they showed him. What was he going to do now? He asked himself. Was this what Ramu was talking about? Before the void continued to show more of itself and his stories, did
God Hounds Chapter 25: The Cost, part 1
Aden watched as if everything happened in almost a frozen pace. It was just that his mind could not register—after everything he had just gone through—what he was then seeing. The first round of bullets came from the front door. Rifles, spitting and mowing down the hallways, the corridors, and the rooms. Blood; spilled across great distances as ammunition pierced through the guards’ bodies. Men in dark suits, charged through the entrance. Some rained fire through the windows with their pistols and their submachine guns. Slices of wood and shattered glass spewed and spilled beyond Ramu and Aden, who stared fixedly at the door. The dark orchestra of guns and bullets. It eventually died down. But still, through that closed door, Aden could hear the occasional resounding of guns shooting again as their empty shells drop to the floor. Aden could hear it. The Kadlum wouldn’t give up. Some of the guards, even through bullet holes in their chests, would scream and roar, hoping to ju
God Hounds Chapter 25: The Cost, part 2
“Take care of him,” Alice said, as he pleaded for one of the villagers to take Matthew in for the night—and the time being, while they go through the bloodshed of the evening. They had just received word that Ramu’s house was attacked by a gang, and they couldn’t call anyone inside to get in touch with them. “What about my family?” Matthew wheezed through his startled and exhausted breaths. He took all of the pain the void caused while they were in the sea of memories. So Lyle wouldn’t need to be damaged by any of it. It rendered him almost motionless. “They’ll be safe,” Alice said. “Don’t worry.” She placed her hand on his chest. “If you wanna get out of this and stay alive, you gotta hide. We’ll protect your family.” Although, in Alice’s head, she wasn’t as confident as the way she said it. After all, Ramu’s place had just been overtaken. There was only one thought that kept creeping in his brain. Aden. “Come on, Al,” Miko chimed. “We gotta go…”
God Hounds Chapter 26: The Start
The forest was thick. And the darkness was all over him, too. All Aden had as a guide was the gleaming, white dog that seemed to have absorbed the presence of the night with its glow. He had wondered, outside the woods, was time still stopping? Had the world still remained frozen?In those dark and dusky clutter of trees were the only two beings that could pass through the frozen night. Aden grunted as he tried to run behind the dog as fast as he could, while occasionally being hurt by the branches and the bushes he was passing.The quiet dog—to no surprise—would not give any sign or acknowledgement of anything except for a quick glance to watch him then back to the run again. The dog expected Aden to keep the same pace.Aden continued to wheeze through the bushes and the shrubberies, the shining moon—covered by the cape of grove—absent through all of it. He wanted to ask the dog to stop for a moment, or to wait. But he knew, somehow, the
God Hounds Chapter 27: The Guides
Aden and Abel sat on the quiet wooden stairs overlooking the backyard. Overlooking the guarding woods around them in that forest. Aden remembered, this was also the last place where they both talked before Aden received his name and his calling. Abel gestured towards the white dog, sleeping silently on the grass floor. “How long has he been sleeping?” Abel asked.“He slept the whole trip,” Aden said. Tired from all the recent mess.Abel nodded and chapped his lips. “Must’ve been tired,” he replied.Aden continued to look on, staring at it intently through pondering eyes. “It stopped time…” he said.“What?” Abel said.“The dog, man. It… stopped time,” Aden replied. “When we were escaping. I mean, I don’t even think it’s just a dog at all…”Abel squinted his eyes at him, smirking. He nodded subtly, then stared back a
God Hounds Chapter 28: Where Is The Path?
Nightfall.Aden and Abel walked in familiarity across the strange—although (to them) known world—that had long hidden itself inside the forest. To a stranger, it was a fallen architect of death and terror created for a poor soul’s collapse. To Aden, the forest itself—a symbol in human form, it was just a web of secrets in the pleasure of the night. A museum of eldritch knowledge and… chaos. Some would say… a god’s little amusement. But to Aden, he knew, it was just another testing ground.And at the end of that testing ground, was just another prize that had been waiting for him. The tribe, Abel had said. The ritual. The darkness of the forest seemed not only to encompass them, but also to linger across their skin and in their head. They could hear whispers. Eerie thoughts being implanted at the back of their heads. Strange pictures… even stranger noises.All of it, just preparation for the night.The whi
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