They coughed through the wave of dust and smoke. Alice and Lyle were closest to the crash. Lyle supported her sister while he tried to dispel the thick dust and smoke with his hand. Aden walked slowly along their direction. The last thing he saw were the antlers striking through Nukasuni’s body.
Then, finally, the air’s curtains slowly withered. As if joining the thick layer’s erasure, the clouds from above had also moved past the island, allowing for the blue sky and the shining sun to strike through them.
It was clear, now. And they were looking at Ledanai’i’s lifeless body, then to Nukasuni’s as well. The dragon was almost out of breath. The three stood beside the dragon, looking helplessly at the life-taking wounds in his body.
Nukasuni, gasping for little air, still managed to lift his head not to look at that the three, but to stare back at Ledanai’i. The deer had no life in it left, not after the broken antler tha
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God Hounds Chapter 68 – Blood
The village deep in the forest had not taken lightly to the news that Nukasuni was dead. To pay respects, and even more than that, they were silent and inside their homes. A great bonfire was lit just outside the village.Aden stood on top of the cliff, as always. Maria wasn’t there with him. Instead, it was Alice who he saw and he heard the footsteps.“Are you finally here to kill me?” Aden asked.Alice stared back in silence, but her eyes did not show surprise. She narrowed her eyes on him. “I find that you’re of better use to us alive. Besides, I know there’s still one more thing you need to do. I know that’ll benefit us.”Aden nodded. “My family. They’re alive.”Alice nodded back, with a slight smile. “Are you really going there?”“They’re alive,” Aden replied. “And I have questions.”Alice scoffed, then shook her head.
God Hounds Epilogue
Alice was back in her home in the town of Urrutia. It was still too early to come out of hiding. Their enemies, the other clans that Ledanai’i stirred to war, were still waiting for them. She missed Cavite, and the other places she used to freely go to. The silence in the room she was in was able to push her to that remembrance. Dante, she sat there on her bed thinking. Are you happy? Was this what we wanted? A crash before the growth of something else? Did I do it? Was I successful? It had completely been a year since his death.Alice buried her face in her palms. She was tired, but now she had rest waiting for her. A little break before a few more. Where does this lead to?She lifted her head from her palms, and checked the tattoo on her arm. It was still burning: the new one. She recognized the symbols immediately. There was a dragon, a hound, and a deer… fighting. It was the first new tattoo the Void had given her sin
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The bright and beaming white ball was firm above the sky as it stared down at him. It was a full moon. His breaths whirled rapidly. Gusts of air looped in and out of his lungs in an unstable, and unending, cycle. His head throbbed violently, like something inside was drilling his brain and he couldn’t reach for it. It felt like he had slept for a millennium, and his brain had already been shattered to pieces while he was asleep. He just woke up, after all. It felt as if he had just come back to life, after being left for dead—deep in a forest with no life in it. It was just… dark, woodland hell all around him. He was lying down in a small patch of seemingly dead grass. It looked as if the tiny pasture spot was purposely prepared for him—to die in an open, meadow-carpeted coffin. But, around him, it was all just trees. They stretched on; almost for forever. And without the sun, they were just color black. He couldn’t decide if the trees were also just victims of the darkness
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“Dante,” Alice said. Her voice echoed across the pitch-black abyss that they were in. A void; an empty black nothing—except for Dante and Alice. They stood on a sea of darkness, abandoned by stars and planets alike. It wasn’t even cold. Dante only stared back. Wordless. “It’s me. It’s Ali—” Dante turned away before she could finish. She watched as he stepped farther away from her. His footsteps rang solitarily across the lightless expanse they moved in. It was like a hallway. Dante could only go forward. And Alice followed. The destitute infinity around them gradually got more inhabited as she continued along Dante’s path. Stars, albeit distant, started to glow above them. Winds began to storm in. Eventually, they reached a table. Dante moved to the other end, and kneeled down. There was a mallet, and a hafted needle. Alice realized immediately; it was the rite of the batok. An old ritual. Done by the eldest tribes. The inking of a warrior’s skin. Wi
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He just stared at it. Dead silent. And it laid in front of him like it was some other mango he had to eat. He lost his memories. But he knew bodies didn’t fall from trees. He didn’t realize it, but he was getting closer. His feet pulled him towards it unconsciously. It felt like his soul took over, and desperately wanted to see what—who—was inside. He had no choice, anyway. It felt like a moral responsibility. Or an ethic. Or an inborn rule. The only way to react to a dead body is to go towards it. Wasn’t it? He questioned. He could feel its coldness. Like he was already beside it. It only just needed to turn its face to him.The air felt thicker as he closed in on the corpse. Flies and maggots? Everywhere. The pests sprouted out of nowhere. The stink got in his nose now, but he managed. And the mangoes stopped falling from the tree, like everything else waited… and watched. It was just him and the body. And he was possessed. By curiosity,
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It was the same moon. Unchanging and indifferent. The same light beaming from the black sky. But it didn’t give him comfort anymore. He felt betrayed by it. Deceived and seduced. Lied to by a silent, white circle fixed on the dark background. Its brightness could tell anyone that they were safe. But they were not. He knew it the hard way. But it was still good to have something familiar as he rolled down the stony hill in blood and broken bones. Why? He thought. Why him? Was it just right if he was dead? The pain and the motionlessness gave him enough time to think, as he lied down the ground drenched in his own blood. All he could do now was remember. The corpses. The burning tree. The river. The child. The dog. The forest. Yes, the forest, he thought. It was the forest. It wanted him dead. It wanted him to just stop. And he did stop. The thick, red fluid ran across his forehead and some got into his eyes. It obstructed him from seeing anything at all, as if
God Hounds Chapter 6: The Target
The forest seemed to breathe around them. The green panorama vibrated and exhaled itself onto Miko and Lyle as they trekked up the monumental mountain. It seemed to watch them every step of the way. It seemed to welcome their entrance. Their appearance. After many years.“How long has it been since we came back here?” Lyle asked. The way up felt like an escalator to them. Like a path opened up just for the two. And they wore their suits, in case the locals would ask.“Too long,” said Miko. “I miss this place.” He spun around slowly as he let himself be consumed by the little frames and systems that synchronously made the forest. Its curved trees grew in a way that represented movement. Like a shockwave at the center had just blew them all away and now they’re frozen in time. Its moss populated it enough to make everything colored green. For a moment, the two felt peace. “Your sister would’ve liked this,” Miko
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