SHOVE
Standing a bit far away from the village with the group. Arsh heaved a breath tiredly, digging into the soil all alone. Even though the group had asked him to help through it, he forcefully declined them all.
It was something he had to do alone.
After burying the last of the remains of the villagers. Arsh stood up from the ground, looking at the graveyard in front of him.
He had no choice but to bury them near the village. Otherwise, the monsters were just going to dig out their remaining corpses, to feast on them.
"...Tell me their names one by one."
Alan with a large stone in his hand asked. His sword aimed at the stone.
Arsh nodded naming every grave one by one while simultaneously adding tombstones to them.
Arsh stood at the last tomb. Which incidentally was empty from the inside. Alan looked at his face from the side, scribbling on the rock by himself. There was no need to tell him the name.
Arsh did not find any remains of his mother throughout the whole village. Except for Samantha, Edward, and some kids, the body of every villager was present in the village.
…For some reason. They had either destroyed her remains or brought it back with them. Leaving her tomb empty until the very end of time.
Arsh stood in front of the empty tomb. Not any particular emotion coming up on his face. The tears had already dried up. The sadness had already died down after this long.
'Did death give her comfort after this torturous life? Was she lonely in her last moments? Was she alone when it happened? Was she afraid? Was it very painful?…'
There were many things he resented himself for. But the thing which tore him the most from the inside was. Not being able to be with her mother in the last moments of her life.
{Samantha Keller}
Arsh planted the last tombstone in its place somberly. For some time, he just sat there for a few minutes in front of it. Looking at the tombstone with a few trembling gazes.
SQUEEZE
Arsh felt a sudden strong hold on his shoulder. Instantly looking back he found Alan looking at him with a serious gaze.
"...It is time to move on now."
Alan voiced silently.
Arsh nodded, standing up from the ground, dusting the sand out of his already torn-out clothes. There was still a place he needed to visit.
"Not yet…There is still a place I want to visit. Also, I want to look for someone.."
Arsh went silent looking at their chiseled expressions, adding in a muffled voice.
"...One last time."
.....
"Are you sure he is alive? After all, it's almost been a full year."
Alan asked. A condescending expression on his face. He was not keen on the idea of anyone surviving that bloodbath.
But, Arsh was quite the opposite on the take. To him, Edward was the only person who could ever survive that. That was the reason he wanted to look for him one last time rather than regret it later on in the future.
"...So? Where are we going?"
Ethan chimed in from the side of the group. Holding the heavy spear in his dominant hand.
Arsh's expression dried up. As the heavy silence fell throughout the group focused on Arsh. Slowly his lips moved, uttering in a grave voice.
"..To the temple of Death."
The whole group stopped abruptly, their eyes going wide in surprise.
"Have you lost your damn mind? Do you even know what you are talking about?"
Alan turned around, shouting in an enraged voice.
"...You are basically telling us to walk into a calamity's den. Though it is much worse than that."
Alan waved his disheveled hair in clear stress. Nowadays he used to do that too often. And the situation now was only adding to his piled-up stress.
"...I know."
Arsh replied with a bit of hesitation.
"...But, I have a feeling it is going to be okay."
Alan looked at him with clear frustration, barking in a raw voice.
"How so?"
Arsh met his frustrated gaze with a determined look. He then goes on to sigh before adding.
"If that thing wanted to kill me. It would have done so pretty easily at the time. But, Instead….. It offered me a peaceful life on his land."
Arsh was silent for a few seconds, collecting his thoughts together.
"I want answers to my questions….. That only a true god can give me."
The whole group was reluctant to the idea. It was stupid. It was madness. More importantly, there was no solid evidence for anything that Arsh was saying. He was asking them to walk to their death.
Alan sighed and the whole group instantly turned toward him for making the last decision. By now... They all had come to terms with Alan being the most sensible one in the group.
Alan knew how absurd Arsh was sounding right now. Going to meet a god while thinking of returning alive? It was sheer insanity. But…..
"...We are going to the temple. Though, if I sense any trace of danger around us. We are going to run away at that very instant."
He wanted to believe in Arsh's gut feeling this time.
To see what his fate actually holds.
After spending so much time with Arsh. Alan was pretty sure, he was not normal in the slightest of aspects. There was something off about him.
And the mystery around him was too thick, to be even penetrated by normal imagination. For now, the only sure way to the answers was unfortunately what Arsh had suggested.
And even if things went bad, he was pretty sure he was at least going to save Arsh somehow. It was a well-calculated risk.
"...We are almost there."
As the group marched out of the last mountain of the northern terrain. A shimmering pure black temple came into their view. A bizarre monument, disrupting the laws of nature just by merely existing.
Even though the sunlight was falling on it from every part, the temple looked cloaked inside some kind of veil of darkness. Making it completely dark and ominous.
The group was surprised by the sight in front of them. But the one who was most surprised was Arsh himself.
"....But how? I am pretty sure it was destroyed last time around."
The previous time he had stepped inside the temple. It was suddenly destroyed for unknown reasons. But now the temple was in the exact same place without even a scratch on it.
Looking at the temple Arsh gulped a mouthful of saliva. Struggling to take control of his trembling body. However strong he was trying to be right now, the past experience with the lord of death had already left a scar deep on his soul.
"Let's go inside."
Sensing nothing dangerous around. Alan commanded the group to move forward. The group was hesitant for a bit. But complied after a few seconds.
Alan went forward and opened the creaking door to the corridor of the dark temple. Silence ensued around the whole quarter. As though the whole world itself had come to a standstill.
Their whole bodies fidgeting uncomfortably in terror of darkness. Even though there was nothing present in sight. They all felt to the very bones walking inside the majestic temple, made up of pure black marble inside.
There was something wrong with the whole place. Something very wrong.
They all stopped at the end of the corridor, their eyes trembling in fear looking at the crest, veiled by darkness at the very end of the wall.
The crest of the 4 eyed God. Possibly the strongest being in existence. Its features were hidden by its long hair with a face almost identical to a human's. Which made it even more horrific.
Arsh stepped on the platform, his eyes only focused on the crest of the divine monstrosity. He was finally back where it all started.
"...I am bac-"
But before Arsh could finish his sentence. Alan slipped a hand over his mouth suddenly, dragging him down the platform.
Though before Arsh could ask him anything. Suddenly! A feeling of inevitable doom fell on him. The approaching death near him.
But it was...A different feeling than before. Not the dark feeling of curating at the end of everything. Instead... a feeling of something overwhelming approaching.
But, the thing that surprised him the most was. The location of that overwhelming presence.
It was not anywhere inside the temple. Rather, It was coming from outside of the black temple.
"RUN!!!"
Alan shouted suddenly, cutting a hole in the wall of the temple with his black blade. His legs trembled and his eyes did not leave the entrance of the temple even for a moment.
"RUN AWAY. NOW!! Whatever is coming from that door…. It is going to annihilate us all."