It was eerie, cold, the cries of goats and human laughter still lingered in the air and they had been maintaining the same intensity.
The lantern burned, illuminating the room and I'm thankful for it.
It seemed unending.
I'm grateful for that.
I don't know what I will do if I lost my only source of light inside this vision or whatever it is.
I don't know how much time passed, maybe hours or even a day might've passed by now.
And yet the darkness of the night remained.
The door had no abnormalities, it seemed like they wouldn't come through it.
It 'seemed'.
Not confirmed.
I didn't take my eyes of the door for too long, sometimes I would spare a glance at the windows and the shadowy corners.
I want to go back.
Did something happen while I'm in this state?
Did any danger occur while I'm unconscious?
Is Callon safe?
Am I safe?
Is my physical body safe?
I don't know.
I can't rely on the regeneration right now.
Why can't I?
It was a blessing given to me by the horned god.
And if my assumption is correct then the horned god is the reason why I'm in this state.
Just because I thought back to his past, a vision of his ascension.
It wasn't grand, it wasn't powerful, it wasn't necessary.
It was bloody, it was a feeble struggle, it was necessary for his survival.
But that's not what I'm focused on.
What I'm focused on is...
Hecate.
Hecate and Lylla.
And that goddess's last words.
Escape from divinity?
Why?
Isn't godhood free of suffering and aren't they the most powerful entities in existence?
Then why escape from it?
And judging by her words...
The ascension of the horned god was already planned.
He was manipulated.
Manipulated into the divine.
Why?
And who is Lylla?
Another goddess?
Or Hecate's henchman?
I don't know..
I don't understand.
It's ridiculous to think that a god would want to escape godhood.
'Escape'.
She could have used any words.
She could have said something like stepping down.
But she used the word 'escape'.
Escape from what?
Why?
And how?
And why am I having these vision?
What's my purpose in it?
Is it to simply remember the triumph over god or is it something else entirely?
What if..
What if I'm part of this escape from godhood?
That can't be.
Why does a god need a mortal?
A mortal like me?
My eyes widened, the sound of splintering wood alongside the goat laughter reached my ears.
I glanced at the door, previously it was a door but now all it remained was broken wood.
And there I saw...
I saw a figure.
A silhouette.
A normal humanoid silhouette.
Except for its head.
The silhouette's head was abnormal, too long,
too uncanny.
Unnerving.
Just like last time, I thought of something I wasn't supposed to do and now I have face the consequences.
Why?
I jumped from my bed, I clutched the lantern in my hand.
The figure didn't move nor did it respond.
And neither did I want it to do so.
I ran.
I ran towards the wooden window and smashed into it.
Wooden splinters pierced my skin but I could care less.
The window alongside the wall surrounding it broke as I fell.
As I fell from a two story house.
Towards the ground.
I landed with a thud, rolling over to break my fall as I immersion stood up.
I raised my lantern, it's faint light seemed even more feeble when the darkness itself seemed tangible.
As if trying to devour the light.
But still I saw my surroundings.
And it caused me to freeze.
I saw my surroundings due to lantern light.
Lantern lights.
They didn't come from mine.
Instead.
Goats.
Goats with human head stared at me, their closed mouth laughed with mocked as they looked at me with indifference.
A human hand emerging from their back held their lanterns.
I was terrified.
They didn't have a frightening form, they seemed weird but not frightening.
But something...
Something about them made the hair around my body stand up in fear.
They didn't move, they didn't attack nor did they stop their cries.
They just observed.
Waiting for my next move with indifference.
Is it truly indifference.
Or is it mockery? The mockery that can be heard from their laughter?
Mocking me?
My helplessness?
Infuriating.
And terrifying.
I didn't move nor did they.
I observed as did they.
My hand tightened around the lantern, should I run or not?
They seemed weak, powerless, I could kill them without much resistance.
But I didn't.
I felt scared.
Scared of the unknown.
What if they aren't weak?
What if they were mocking me as appearing weak?
What if they're a wolf in a sheep's skin.
A goat's skin.
I don't have much choice, do I?
I turned around and ran with all my might,
That figure is still inside the house and the goats served no other purpose than intimidation.
The dark felt suffocating, my bare feet scraped and stubbed on pebbles and rocks but I couldn't stop.
The pain was way less.
Way less than my other experiences.
But it's still pain.
My lantern seemed useless in this darkness, abandoning it would've been better but I didn't.
I clinged to it, the only source of light.
Hooves soon followed, they were following me.
Laughter followed.
I glanced back and there I saw.
The faint lantern light illuminated their indifferent faces as the followed.
They weren't fast nor were they slow.
They were just following me at a suitable pace.
They were in no hurry.
They were laid back, almost as if they knew..
As if they knew there's no escape.
Escape..
How can I escape?
These are the consequences.
The consequences I'm facing because I did something I wasn't supposed to do.
I did something the gods didn't like.
It's my fault, it's my fate.
To be punished.
However.
Who are they to punish me?
Who are they to judge me?
No one.
They are no one.
I'm inferior to them, they're superior to me.
So what?
They have no rights to judge me.
They have no rights to punish me.
I don't love them.
I don't revere them nor do I worship them.
I don't pray to them for miracles.
Why?
Because I feel inferior.
That's all there is to it.
That's why I hate them.
I cannot accept such a fate.
A fate of being inferior.
I ran, my pace increased as did the goats.
I glanced back once again, their numbers have increased.
There was no notice, nothing out of the ordinary, the sound of hooves remained the same as it did in the start and yet more hooves were added.
I focused on their faces, there were woman, men, children and they all looked at me with indifference.
Their faces seemed similar and yet foreign.
As I was focused on them, something collided..
Something collided into me.
I fell, my foot scraped across the surface as it drew blood.
Instinctively, my hands reached for the ground to break my fall, however it made it worse.
The lantern broke as it clashed against the ground and its broken glass shard stabbed into my palms.
It hurts.
The coldness of the night stung against my wounds.
Painful.
The momentary confusion was unreal.
Fur.
I felt fur when I crashed into it.
Coarse rough fur.
I raised my head and stared at the thing that caused me to fall.
A goat.
A human-headed goat.
The faint light illuminated its face.
The following hooves drew closer as they gradually slowed down.
Despite my instincts screaming at me to escape, I couldn't.
I couldn't take my eyes of the creature infront of me.
I stared at it as I saw myself.
A Cassian-headed deer.
Not a goat.
A deer.
Its twisted pointy antlers pointed towards the sky, piercing through the darkness.
Its face, a reflection of mine, looked at me with nothing but hatred.
Not indifference.
Hatred.
I couldn't take my eyes off of it.
I couldn't take my eyes off of him.
I couldn't take my eyes off of myself.