"Do not wait for the last judgment. It comes every day."
― Albert Camus
"What's wrong?" Kalina prodded Ven with her toe. The pair of them sat in the sand at the edge of Avalon's territories.
"I don't know…" Ven rolled his shoulders. "There's a pressure, a current under my skin.
The sky above was oblivious to his sense of dread. The clear blue waters of cosmic force swelled and flowed, as it always did.
"Maybe you're finally guilty about ignoring me," She tossed a foot full of sand in his direction. "I die for you, and you never visit."
"I know," Ven sighed as his hands rubbed at his shoulders. "But you have to admit, you were an insane child…Aangor probably still has vivid dreams about your shenanigans."
Kalina snorted and rolled on her back. They lay together, under Cain's bizarre sky, the smell of rain on the wind. Dan closed his eyes.
"This reminds me of when we first met, you were a lot scarier back then…"
"That's because I was a literal god," A wave of sand buried Ven's head. "And you were still a little fish…"
"I'm still little enough," Ven wiped his face as his feet kicked a tide of sand over Kalina's body. "But we're safe enough here that I can relax as I grow."
"That's tr…"
"KALINA," Syy crashed into the sand, eyes wide with terror. "We have to hide, something bad is happening!"
"What do you mean?" Ven stood, the itch under his skin amplified to ten.
"I don't know," Syy's head darted back and forth, as if she couldn't decide where to run. "All I know is this is the safest place, and it's not safe enough!"
"Should we warn Mara…"
"NO TIME!" Frantic, Syy dug heaps of sand until she disappeared from sight. As the last hair from her head vanished, a shrill tone cut the air. The sky above them distorted, as if the ocean lay behind a tide of spots.
"What is that…"
A blood red aura rose to cover the world. It wrapped like a shield, a layer of crimson between them and the stars.
"Cain's aura," Kalina stood in a cascade of sand.
The man in question thumped into the desert beside them, gaze locked on the sky. Clouds rolled in and shaded their view, but Cain's muscles remained visibly taught.
"The Minder's have found us," His voice grated on the ear, a man about to die of thirst. "I can't hold them for long…"
"The Minders…" Ven squinted at the clouds. "I thought you said they only looked for things that entered their territory?"
"Where do you think we are?" Cain snorted. "To build this place I had to poke a hole in the side of the multiverse, it's as close to their home as it is to anywhere else… and we're definitely not supposed to be here!"
The skies constricted, pressed down from above. Cain drew his dagger and plunged it into the earth. The sand below burbled, a release of air that heralded an eruption of blood. Thick, blackened to tar, it flowed from the entire world. Avalon transformed in an instant, ground replaced by the gore of countless murders. Towers of ink rose to merge with the clouds, an effort that slowed their advance.
"What should we do…" Kalina supported Cain as blood rushed from his pores to join the tide. "He'll die like this!"
"I don't know…" Ven's mind raced, plan after plan rejected. He was too weak, always the little fish in the ocean of his new life.
"We have to separate this realm from the multiverse…" Cain coughed, a river of blood that fell upward. "The Minder's shouldn't follow us once we're outside…"
The skies creaked, pushed another kilometre closer. Cain's dagger slashed at his wrists, yet more blood to feed the barrier.
"How…"
"We call on the runes, the rune of separation," The skin on Cain's face cracked, moisture converted to continue the defence. "You'll need six, arrayed in every direction…"
"I can help with that, Master," The shout came from above, a large turtle, perched on an array of runes. He floated down, face lit with a bright smile. "It has been a long time, since I made a rune for your inspection!"
"Ooulin?" Kalina's eyes widened as her longtime companion lowered to the ground. "Where have you been, you stupid turtle!"
"Adventuring!" Ooulin smiled. "It's good to see you to, Mother."
"Yeah-yeah," Kalina blushed. "Just get to work!"
Ooulin nodded, hands pressed together. A cascade of runic script flowed from his shell and highlighted an area to the north. Ven extended his stylus and copied the turtle's actions, focused on the east. Cain's eyes shrivelled in his sockets, his frame carved down to wired muscles and bone.
"You're not going to die, are you," Ven switched his target to the west. "You still owe me like… twenty thousand hours of anime time."
"You're not lucky enough for me to die," Cain barked out a laugh, alongside a small bubble of blood. "As long as I'm within this world, death will only ever serve me!"
His dagger warped into a scythe, his robe shifted from black, to red. A second blade circled him, a sinister moon around a true reaper. Nothing remained of his face, bone exposed to the air. A skeletal hand slid its fingers across his sickle.
"Those Minders will pay a price, before they rip my life from the bones of this world!"
Cain pressed his blades together, a sharp screech of sparks in the darkness. The clouds above rippled, spun into a continuous wave that circled the realm. Thousands of faces pressed to the surface of the jet-black waters, locked in eternal curses, directed at their killer.
"And, if it's life they want, they can have it," Cain's bones creaked as he rose into the air. "I only have use for death…"
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She pushed ahead with her siblings, driven from behind by the power of the many. The dark mass ahead hid a world, a secreted place, forbidden by the laws. She resonated with her sisters and brothers, a gentle tone that flaked away the layer of bloody shadow.
I'm going to get such a big reward!
Her circular body spun as she continued her work. The destruction of this infestation would be another gold star for her record. One more and she would advance, maybe even to a command position!
Best day ever…
The cloud below shifted, a rapid spin that pushed her and her siblings away. The orb of blood expanded, pressed into the shape of a man. He was perfect, down to the pores. A face of arrogance that sneered at them all.
"Mindless, broken things," The figure shook his head. "You need to learn better ways to kill!"