The Survival Saga - Chapter 9

[sunsetmondays]

A big thank you to my super awesome beta Silvercheers (aka flyingsquirrely) for helping make something shiny out of my terribly messy drafts.

Also, Things are happening!!!! Things with a capital T. If you guys have any theories or thoughts or suspicions on what you think's gonna happen then comment comment comment. I wanna hear all your thoughts.

I also haven't forgotten about Pyro either. He'll get his turn soon enough. Don't you worry your pretty faces. I'm sure everything will be just fine.

P.S. Sassy Nebris is best Nebris.

Event Horizon
It was raining again. Lightning crackled in the distance, filling the sky with stunning purple light. Smoke wafted above the far edges of the forest. Seth shivered, hunkering under his coat as he patrolled the edges of the compound. The wind mimicked the haunting howls of zombies and cracking branches snapped like bones. It had been like this for days.

Seth raised a hand to shelter his face from the rain, his eyes sweeping over the horizon. Creatures peeked out from between the far-off trees, eyeing the compound like the starving predators they were, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

It was a pointless gesture, but Seth held up his sword and sliced it through the air: 'stay back,' he thought. They blinked their cold, lifeless eyes, unmoving from the forest's edge. Seth lowered his sword and continued walking along the compound's fence.

He was almost done. Only one more sweep around the edges of the compound, then he'd be out of the icy rain and into the shelter and warmth of his own home. After three months of sharing with Baj, Seth and a few others had finally managed to put together a small cobble house for him within the confines of the compound. It was ten by eight blocks in size and only held a bed, a bathroom, a dresser, and a few other bare necessities, but it had a small fireplace and kept out the wind and rain. It wasn't much, but for Seth it was more than enough.

Daydreaming about getting out of the rain, Seth continued his patrol. The mobs were mostly subdued and he hadn't run into any trouble so far. Despite the rain, it seemed like it was going to be a relatively easy shift, for once. Healing wounds along his arm reminded him of the last time he was on patrol and things weren’t so quiet.

CRAACK. The deafening sound of lightning arcing through the sky pulled him from his daydream. The very ground shook beneath his feet and an imprint of hazy white filled his vision. The smell of burnt earth assaulted his senses as he blinked away the blinding white. As if commanded by the heavens above, the rain petered to a stop.

Seth rubbed his eyes, his vision fading from white to foggy grey. He blinked again, the image becoming darker. Confusion gnawed at the edge of his thoughts. Then, a bone-chilling, high pitched chirp sounded from above.

He looked up.

Purple: the kind caught in a paradox of a blinding violet glow and a dark void that seemed to eat at the edges of reality. A pair of bright, inhuman eyes stared him down. Panic. Heart-stopping, joint-locking, sense-numbing panic. Seth remained frozen, staring into the nightman's eyes.

It tilted its head somewhat nonchalantly and burbled. It almost looked curious.

Seth's grip tightened on his sword, his pulse thundering in his ears. Eyes glued to the nightman, he took one step back, then another. The creature looked away.

Seth turned and ran.

In an instant, a gurgling scream filled the air, bombarding Seth from every direction. It shattered the afternoon’s stillness, the sound filling him with a glacial chill. Mud splattered against his legs as he bolted across the grass. The air snapped and crackled as the creature warped in and out of existence.

Seth looked up from the ground ahead to see the nightman racing towards him. Its jaws were locked open in a ghastly scream, teeth as black as night protruding cruelly from its wide mouth. Seth struggled to keep a hold of his rain-slick sword as he ran, and the creature disappeared with a burst of violet sparks.

He yelped, otherworldly claws slicing effortlessly through his armour to rake down his back. Muddied grass began rushing toward him as he tripped and stumbled. He landed hard in the mud, the wind knocked out of him on impact. The air crackled and warped as the nightman disappeared and reappeared again.

Seth reached for his sword as he rolled onto his back. He gasped for breath as the creature approached again, its purple eyes staring him down. Its piercing scream continued, its face locked in a rictus of all-encompassing rage. Seth stared back, panic and fear rushing through his veins.

Thunder rumbled above, and the cold earth burned at his back. Violet light licked at the edges of his vision as the garbled scream faded to a staticky hum. Its gangly arms hung limply at its sides. The world appeared to distort around it and a numbness began to fill Seth's body.

Beyond the piercing violet and the dark skin, Seth could feel it: an eternal nothingness leaking between the gaps of reality and calling him forward. Electricity thrummed through his body and the violet glow became almost blinding. Even so, he couldn’t help but to continue to stare, muddy and bruised and huddled on the ground as he was. The creature let out a wavering chirp. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Locked in the nightman's deathly gaze, something dripped against Seth's nose. Cold trickled along his skin, breaking through the numbness. More drops fell against his face. Another crack of thunder, and the rain resumed in a torrent of cold white. In that instant, something unknowable flashed in the nightman's eyes. Then, with a rush of air and a soft rumble, it was gone.

Rain falling upon his face, and his chest rising with agitated breaths, Seth closed his eyes and reconsidered everything he'd ever known.

~ ~ ~

"Nebris, we need to talk."

Nebris greeted Seth with a wolfish grin. "Correction. You need to talk. I on the other hand am under no such obligation."

"I-"

"But please, do try and tell me something I don't already know."

Panting softly and dripping with rain and sweat, Seth stared at the shadow-cloaked Nebris with a look of bewilderment. "Pardon?"

Nebris bit back a laugh as thunder echoed beyond the compound. The purple-eyed man radiated pure, unadulterated confidence. Even sitting, he looked tall and ominous: two violet points cast against a background of lanky shadow. Seth shivered.

"You're here about the endermen," Nebris stated, leaning forward.

Seth immediately wished he hadn't left his sword back at the armoury. It was stupid coming here. Guude didn't even know that he had taken the key. Complete and utter stupidity. But there was no backing out now. He had questions—ones Nebris undoubtedly knew the answer to—and he wouldn't be leaving until he got what he came for.

"The nightmen, yes," said Seth, schooling his face into a mask of composure to hide his unease.

Nebris' eyes darkened and a chill swept through the room. Seth cast a glance back at the door then down at the chain securing Nebris to the floor. He felt the urge to take a step back. A gut instinct screamed at him to run. Nebris quirked an eyebrow and threw him a knowing smile.

"They showed me everything, you know. You were meant for something too, unlike the others, but Guude and friends have already tamed you well and good. Taught you to fight, taught you to fear, haven't they." Nebris chuckled to himself, as if telling a joke no-one else understood. His voice then dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "But the end is the beginning. It's inevitable."

In a mirror image of before, Seth stared, dumbfounded and bewildered. "I'm sorry, but what?"

Nebris only laughed again. "Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough. But if you're really that curious, a three days walk north, two days east, there's a large cobble pillar: ten blocks high and a torch on top. Dig straight down and bring arrows. You'll need them."

"And why should I trust you?" Seth asked. He folded his arms and chewed at his lip.

"It's simple: don't. Bring Guude, bring the others, bring the whole damn camp. It's what Guude's been looking for, after all."

"What is?! Why do have to be so damn cryptic?"

Nebris tilted his head and gave Seth an apologetic smile. "I think I'm done here. Sorry that it had to be you."

With that, the single bulb fizzled and popped into darkness among a shower of sparks. Seth's breath hitched in his throat as panic began to rise within him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He cursed himself for not bringing a sword. It must have been Nebris. He was locked up here for a reason. The sound of clanking metal echoed from the floor and Seth searched frantically for the source. Nothing but darkness.

He blinked and a shadow moved in the corner of his eye. Seth did the only thing he could: with a loud yell, Seth hurled himself blindly across the room at the source of the movement. He crashed against something warm and alive and they both crashed to the floor in a heap.

"Nebris," he warned, as the man in question struggled beneath him. He held him down as best he could, still unable to make out more than the faint silhouette of the purple-eyed man.

"I'm not staying here," Nebris protested.

A knee jerked hard against his ribs and Seth grunted. He stayed his grip. "I don't think you have much choice in the matter," he growled. "Not anymore."

"And you think this is right?"

Another knee to the ribs, this one harder, desperate.

"You're dangerous."

"So?"

Seth stilled at the question. No response came quick to his lips. Nebris took the opportunity to give him a hard shove, tipping his balance. He rolled, back slamming hard against the concrete, and Nebris scrambled to escape. Body aching, Seth reached out and grasped at Nebris leg. He tripped and Seth was upon him again, pinning him to the floor.

"You're a danger to the compound," Seth breathed, panting hard.

Nebris stared him down, eyes casting a violet glow across his features. "Am I?"

Seth's response came delayed and ragged. "Y-yes." He tightened his hold. "You are."

Cold and calculating, Nebris' eyes glinted. "Trust me," he said, words falling as a plea.

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"I'm sorry."

A painfully bright purple light filled the room and once again Seth was blinded. The light burned hot like fire and Seth cried out in pain. He reached to cover his eyes and felt himself be thrown back and away from Nebris. Seth lay incapacitated as hinges squeaked in protest behind him. The door slammed shut with a clang, and the room was filled with an eerie silence in the wake of Nebris’ exit.

Slowly, darkness replaced the swirl of colour behind his eyes. He blinked tentatively and sat up, pressing his back to the cold door. New bruises ached alongside his injuries from his encounter with the nightman. He gave them exploratory touches and hissed as they stung.

In an aftershock of violet, images passed across his vision: ones pressed into his mind when he was at the mercy of the nightman. A void of static—an oxymoron of nothingness and limitless energy swirling together in a seemingly infinite mass; a structure, stone walls cracked and moss-ridden with disuse; a swirling portal in the form of a pool, dark as night and speckled with pinpricks of white—if it weren't for the cold stone above and below, he would thing it a reflection of the stars themselves; and two thoughts lingering across each image like an icy mist: End. Rebirth.

Something thumped hard against the door and Seth jumped, pulled from the visions. The sound was muffled, but Seth could hear it clearly enough.

The voice was soft and calm. The words came as neither an accusation nor a plea, "I trusted you."

The reply that came was gravelly and defeated, the words rasped out from between harsh breaths. "I know."

"I should kill you. Guude told me to if you ever tried."

"But you won't."

"I know."

A sigh, then the rattle of a door handle.

Seth scooted away from the door and it opened with a protesting groan of hinges. Soft light flooded the room, forcing him to blink against the contrast. Two figures made their way into the room: Etho dragging Nebris through the doorway, the former holding a diamond sword to the latter’s throat. Etho's eyes were cold and unrevealing: a better poker face than Seth could ever hope to muster.

Unlike before, Nebris didn't fight. He made no witty remarks and his lips were set in a thin line, no longer smirking so proudly. He looked disappointed, defeated almost. Seth thought back to the man's earlier comment. 'And you think this is right?'

The thought didn't linger as Etho's voice broke through the silence. "Get Guude."

He picked himself up and ran.

~ ~ ~
 
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