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
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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
God Hounds Chapter 29: Kastrel
“Ailan,” whispers seized Aden from an unknown dimension. As if the voices had breached some sort of barrier and has now filled his ears with hisses and sneers. “Ailan,” and other words he could not recognize anymore; it just kept going. His eyes had not recovered from the flash. But he knew anyway, that he wasn’t there with Agapito and the others anymore. This was one of those… memories.The air around him had begun to change. And the voices drew closer. Whispers… of women. Or just one. Repeating his name. Ailan. The bright flash from the torch had now turned into a darker shade. Now a burning orange, as his vision dazed from the watching himself be sucked in to another… vision.Then there he was… in another space and time. In another state. He felt like the wind. Just passing through the plane invisibly, but seeing all. Aden saw—and was now witnessing—some sort of ritual. A far away place, he knew.
God Hounds Chapter 30: Nukasuni
There was chanting at first. Voices from tribal choirs seemed to circle him invisibly. Hallucinations of the forest. An illusion; and he hoped that the rat was too. But they were nonetheless there. And their chorus had demanded a fight. Had demanded an end.Gradually, the choir grew. Accompanying the humming voices were progressive drums that echoed across the air. All that, but Aden knew he was alone.The darkness continued to worry him. If the beast was going to pounce, he knew he wouldn’t be ready. He didn’t know where. But Aden could feel it. Waiting. Stalking. Looking for the right time.He had stopped shouting for Agapito’s name or Edgar’s. They weren’t going to come. This was his fight. So he gripped his blade tightly, leveling it to his head—preparing enough force and angle to cut through the rat’s eye with just one push.He wheezed through the process, the beating of the drums and the humming of the
God Hounds Chapter 31: Tadya hadj'ayer
The forest was filled with noises within the shrubberies. Gasping, wheezing, looking for air as they squeezed through the forest darkness—trying to find their long-lost target. “Come on!” Aden shouted. “Almost there!” Almost where? He had only heard the rat’s noises but he still couldn’t pinpoint how far… or how close.More sounds emanated from the forest as Aden watched the tall plants and branches fall apart beneath him with his ritual blade. They had hit it. Again. With an arrow. And with enough desire to just end the night and the hunt, Aden and the others were chasing it down.The dog relied on its instinct, on its senses. The beast’s blood was putrid enough for the hound to detect it and stream it with his noise. Between those gaps for air, and those wincing from the shrubberies, another voice like thunder disseminated in the air. Aden wasn’t sure if the others heard it, too. But it was there, for him.
God Hounds Chapter 32: Never About Being Ready
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God Hounds Chapter 33: But That Was A Long Time Ago
Maria looked over the sunset that shined thoroughly on the village’s overlooking bluff. Aden—Ailan—didn’t understand, she thought. To the man beside him, this was the second or third time they met here on the bluff. To her, this was one of many. With Ailan. She let the morning breeze pass through her for a second, as she thought of what to say. It was approaching noon. Pretty soon, Aden—once again—would need to go. She felt like she was talking to a different person right now. And she was begging, in her heart, for a way to carve Ailan Dei Kastrel out of him. How she felt about him… was still there. And Ailan hadn’t died… but the memories. She hoped, that at some point while they were in that forest: Aden remembered the same memories as her. She looked to him, smirking—squinting and turning away from the sunlight. Maria crossed her arms, “Why delay?” she asked. It was the only words that came to her mind. It had been hours since Aden came back from the hunt, and they
God Hounds Chapter 34: The Things I Want To Keep
Even if the day was blessed with a weather and a kind of sunlight that would only come at least once a month, even if the village and the forest, and the mountains, had it pleasant; wherever Aden went—it seemed—something else would always follow. As long as Ailan and those who knew him were still alive, uncertainty would always be there for him. Leven stepped out of the black car on the privilege of pressing sunlight. His sunglasses gleamed against the pleasant rays as it also hid the agenda in his eyes. Still, though, his smile and just the fact that someone else—someone other than Aden—was there gave it all away.Leven approached the old, overgrown, yellow house on the side of the highway within the forest. It had remained as conforming to the woods as it should be, and they had preferred it that way. Leven’s grin, however, had easily changed things. Easily changed the air.Abel stepped out of the house, the wooden stairs creaking at the
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