Ryan woke up to pained sounds and saw Virgil grip his arm in pain. His face was covered in sweat and he greatly shivered. Ryan moved to him, nervously asking, "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"
"Ah, my wrist," Virgil gritted his teeth. "It's burning."
They pulled down his sleeve to see a bandaged arm and underneath was an old scratch mark completely a flamed. It was slashed at Virgil in a weird, unorthodox way and Ryan questioned, "Where did you get this?"
"When all those Jacks attacked us," Virgil groaned. "He carved it into me, but I clean and bandaged it." He was shaking. "God, it hurts so much."
"Okay, okay," Ryan went to grab the health kit and did everything in his knowledge to help Virgil out. He cleaned it again, giving him painkillers, and put a thick layer of gauze over it. But no matter what he did, Virgil still shivered in pain. "Is it making you feel sick? Like a fever?"
"No," Virgil panted. "It just really hurts." Ryan didn't know what to do, but Virgil urged him, "It's okay, it'll subside."
"Okay," Ryan nodded, pulling away to step outside and give Virgil room.
He went out and took his binoculars to analyze the area. Nothing was particularly out there. They weren't even bothered by shadow figures the night before. It was very quiet.
He looked up to see a sun, definitely farther away than their sun, sitting in the sky. They really were in a different world.
Ryan saw something small and dark move against the hills. Ryan held the Sargent's rifle close to him as he kept thinking he was seeing things.
They just stayed there, not attempting to move until Virgil's pain subsided. The cold was getting rather bitter and was relentlessly annoying Ryan, but he didn't say much about it.
He lazily peered out into the rolling snow and saw something move out there again. He took his binoculars, but before he could adjust to see it, it vanished behind some hills. He was steady but soon heard talking far to their left. The wind carried the noise of a conversation and it wasn't too far away. Ryan peeked in the tent to tell Virgil, but he was passed out.
The whispering was getting a bit more distinct, and Ryan saw smoke in the distance. He was startled by that, but then curiously went to venture over a hill to see what that was.
He immediately regretted it.
Behind the hill, away from the camp, was a giant pyre of what Ryan could only assume were bodies, being burned. Around the pyre were black-cloaked figures that walked around it, mumbling and whispering to each other.
He began to retreat when someone kicked his back. He crashed to the ground and frantically turned to see one of the figures stepping on top of him. His wore a giant bird's skull and its cloak was like shadows. Ryan twisted around and fired at it. The gun blasted the things skull off and underneath was a face without eyes and a mouth filled with darkness, its skin was completely covered in frostbite. The figure fell back, and Ryan took this opportunity to run out of there. He knew the others heard him and would be coming. Virgil better be feeling better, because he needed to fire at these guys with him taking care of their supplies.
He ran down to their camp and yelled, "Virgil! Virgil, wake up! Hurry!"
He suddenly felt something hit him between the shoulders and saw that one of them threw a rock at him. It made him stumble and fall, becoming sore, but he turned around and started firing at them. There were dozens of them in their various skull-like masks, encroaching on him. He shot a few, but the gun's bullets only made them seem to stagger a bit. Even when he fired at their legs, they still crawled towards him.
"Virgil!" Ryan shouted, but one of those things was upon him and then more and more as they all grabbed hold of the man. They roughly subdued him to the ground, their hands bony but strong.
That's when they saw Virgil emerge from his tent, seeing the scene before him. His face grew in pale and he was about to go to one of the sleds to get the shotgun when Ryan called, "No! Just run away! Hurry!" Virgil hesitated and one of them reached for him. The monster slapped him hard with the back of its hands. Ryan shouted as Virgil was pushed onto the sled, falling onto the supplies. It grabbed him by the hair, bringing him up and Virgil groaned.
Before it could make a further move, Virgil's eyes snapped wide open and he cried in pain. He grasped his injured arm, it started being completely consumed by that burning sensation. He gasped and screamed from the affliction and the monster quizzically stared at him. It dropped the man as he curled on the ground, holding his arm. Virgil couldn't focus on anything else around him as the pain seared into his skin. The creature bent down and took his arm, making Virgil yelp.
"Stop! Leave him alone!" Ryan barked, but the others just shoved his face into the snow.
The being pulled away the sleeve and bandages to see the markings on his wrist. It abnormally and sharply inhaled, gripping tightly on Virgil's arm as it stared at the carving. He lifted him up higher, displaying the markings to all the other creatures. They all gasped and released Ryan who quickly dashed to Virgil. The being let him down, giving him to Ryan as they moved away from the monsters.
But then the hooded figures suddenly surrounded the two, intently staring at them. They whispered amongst each other, saying things that Ryan couldn't understand. Virgil slowly regained consciousness as the pain subsided, but he was still suffering. He weakly gazed at the creatures then back at Ryan who shared a face of uncertainty.
The one who grasped Virgil spoke, a voice archaic and cold, "A Branded. A Branded has come."
"...What?" Virgil grunted.
"You have been Branded," the creature spoke. "You... a disciple, a messenger of the tortured."
Virgil's brow furrowed, "What are you talking about?"
"A Jack has written onto you the symbol," the creature said. "He must have seen that you are worthy of being Branded." Virgil and Ryan turned to the marking. Ryan just thought it was random slices, but there did seem to be something intricate about it. "You are a person who is aware. Your pain makes you enlightened. You are one sculpted for suffering. Few are given the opportunity to know such despair such as yourself."
Virgil glared at the creature and spouted, "Bullshit! I am someone who was made to suffer?! Fuck you." Ryan watched as Virgil grew this strange rage. "I may not have a perfect life, but there are many people who have suffered far worst than I ever could." He gripped Ryan's arm as he shouted, "What 'chosen' garbage! My pain doesn't make me special! Whatever crap you believe means nothing to me!"
"You have been Branded," the creature countered. "You are a symbol of suffrage and for that symbol, you ascend to the ultimate being." It approached forward, clawed hands reaching.
"Stay back!" Virgil yelled. "If you touch us, I swear to god!"
"Ascend Virgil Hailey," the creature stated. "Ascend and join ultimatum."
"Your cult vocab is irritating," Virgil hissed.
"You have felt the pull," the creature replied. "Heard their calls. They are beckoning you. To become something greater." The creature stepped forward and the two stepped back. They were looming over the two men.
Virgil reached behind him and whipped out a flare gun, pointing it at the beasts. They stopped their movements and he fired. The blinding light shot at them and they screeched at the magnesium that scorched their inky black cloaks. Virgil and Ryan took no time to lose, Ryan running to grab the sleds, quickly attaching the dogs to them. Virgil ran into the tent, getting the shotgun, and anything else he could carry, ditching the tent. The creatures screamed at the light, but some bypassed it and went straight to Ryan. Virgil shot one more flare at it, the light startling the monster again. He jumped it, hitting it on its back with the butt of the flare gun. Before the creature could react, he dropped the flare gun and used all his might to smack the creature over the head with the shotgun. As the creature fell, he leaped over it and went to join Ryan.
When Virgil reached the sled, another came up from behind him. Ryan went to fire at it, but the thing pulled a long sharp needle, pointing it at Virgil's throat. Ryan froze as the creature hissed, "The Branded will no longer suffer. He will join us in ultimatum!"
Virgil barked at Ryan, "Go, get out of here!"
"No!" Ryan snapped back, going to raise the rifle when a loud boom resonated the entire landscape. It vibrated the ground and rattled loose metal. At that sound, the creatures immediately panicked. They quickly whispered to one and another with dread filling their voices, "NO! The Old One! The Almighty! Flee! We are but dirt under thee! We must flee! Cannot let the Old One see us!"
They scurried away in fright, letting Virgil go and escape over hills. They completely vanished, their black cloaks fading away over the snow. And the two were left in a dazed shock with the loud booming approaching them. Ryan snapped out of it and was the first to move, pulling Virgil to him as they couldn't see where the noise was coming from their angle, but it was coming, and it sounded close.
The two hopped onto their sleds and made a break for it, out of there. They sled up the hill, their voices scattered with exhausted pants. The booming was coming from behind them and they glanced back to see a gigantic shape. It reached up above the sky, its body slowly stepping forward. Its features were blurred from shadows, but they could tell by its shape that it was most likely female.
The giant had two long legs with hooves that when landed, created craters in the snow. The hooves were as long as a bus and every inch of the colossal creature was covered in thick fur. Her legs had bent backward like a goat, but her posture was straight as it showed no signs of hunching. She towered above them; her face hidden in the clouds. Her immense shadow loomed over the landscape, completely blocking out the small sun and sky. She had some exposed skin but most of her was covered by the dark fur that grew like a fitted coat.
This godly figure moved forward, head upright, looking at what lay in front of her. Her gigantic weight had reverberated all the noise in the area. The snow splashed like water under her hooves, the vibration with each step made avalanches off the mountains.
This magnificent creature had a magnitude like nothing they could ever hope to comprehend. She was more startling than the moons, more testifying than any monster of existence that they had faced. Her very being made the two men's minds empty, their mouths fell slack-jawed as they stared at a creature beyond their understanding.
This giant freely walked to wherever she liked, she moved in the knowledge that there was not a single thing in this world or the next that could oppose her. She did not look down once, and the men knew that they were beneath her. They were but dirt to her brilliance. Specks of gravel to her multitude, for this creature, had reached ultimatum.
They sled far out of her way, seeing every feature, every god-like detail that was this being. The pride of this creature amazed them, the freedom she must have felt, astounded them. There was nothing in the universe even remotely like her. They stared up at the awe-inspiring being that stepped without worry or care. Gazing up at her face, seeing much of it was immersed in the sky. The clouds darkened her features, it shielding her from their intrusive stares.
They could tell with the shape of her head, that her hair was flying. It was captured on the clouds, floating and twirling with each trace of the overcast. It poured upwards, like it was flowing down into a pond, swirling with each movement. Her locks were almost like the clouds themselves, deeply bleeding into them. The men weren't sure where her hair began or how where the sky ended. Her strands faded into the stratosphere, surely becoming one with the sky.
The clouds around her face part. They revealed features of a human woman. Shadows were cast, but that could not hide who she was or what she looked like. Her face held a semblance of age, small wrinkles, and indents in her skin here or there. She was absolutely expressionless, or it would be better to say that she appeared peaceful. Not a single emotion needed to cross her mind. Not a flash of anger, sadness, or happiness appeared in her eyes. Her thin lips remained closed as she gazed across a land that was below her in every sense of the word. She did not need to speak, did not need to emote, she was just there with a towering everything.
She had all these details, all these features, and that's when Virgil's voice cracked. Ryan turned to see the largest tears he had ever seen on him, fall down his face. Everything that Virgil had ever thought or wanted, was being broken beforehis very eyes. His voice shattering as he lost his mind. He called, sounding like smashed glass, "...Kathlyne!"
He moved faster than Ryan could respond. Virgil pushed his sled in her direction as he howled under her, "KATHLYNE! KATHLYNE! KATHLYNE!"
"VIRGIL!" Ryan shouted. He went after the man who was calling for his wife.
Virgil screamed as loud as he could, yelling until his throat tore apart to get her attention. He begged, "KATHLYNE! PLEASE, I'M HERE! IT'S ME, VIRGIL! LOOK AT ME! PLEASE!"
She kept going forward, most likely not evening hearing him, nor did she acknowledge him. She didn't look down once, just ahead, not sparing a single glance towards him.
Virgil was hanging onto the rail of his sled, struggling to breathe as he pleaded to her. To talk to him, to listen to him. He wanted it so badly that his mind was fragmenting. But Kathlyne did not look, she did not see. He was thousands of feet below her and not an ounce of yelling could miraculously get her to hear him.
Ryan called to Virgil, who wailed to his wife. Ryan shouted but then peered down to see that her giant hooves were making large cracks in the ground. So large, they split like canyons dividing. Ryan shrieked, "VIRGIL, LOOK OUT!"
Virgil turned back behind him to hear Ryan's call, he saw him try and warn him, but a deep chasm formed underneath him. His dogs slipped in, taking his sled and him with it.
Kathlyne had walked far ahead, she didn't stop. Ryan stopped his sled by the ravine in the snow and looked in. It was a giant dark slit that seemed to endlessly go on. He acted quickly, hammering a nail into the ice as he threw a rope over the side to go down as fast as possible. He stabled himself as he hoisted inside, looking behind him the whole time, calling Virgil's name. He climbed as far as he could until he reached the end of the rope. He flashed a light in there and only saw pitch-black darkness. He yelled, "Virgil! Virgil! Can you hear me?!"
There was no answer, no matter how long Ryan called to him, he couldn't hear anyone answering back. His feet were beginning to slip on the ice and his grip was getting loose, so with a heavy soul, he pulled himself back up. He climbed up, sat on that ledge and gazed down into the hole. His body had become completely exhausted as he sat there, not thinking of much at all.