The air was quiet. Neither of them made a sound. They just stared at each other intently, waiting for each other to make a move. Until one of them finally did. The beast watched as this foreign man unsheathed his sword from its scabbard, and pointed it towards him. The beast smiled at this, dropping his metal pipe and unsheathing his long dagger hidden by his waist. They both stared at each other intently, trying to find the perfect opportunity to strike first. Then the beast took the opportunity, he slashed first, but the man blocked it. However, that attack was just a distraction. The beast dropped a hidden dagger from his sleeve and tried to stab the man through the eye. But luckily for the man, he responded quickly by moving his head out of the way and kicking the beast back. It quickly recovered and swiftly launched a fury of quick slashes, all to overwhelm the man. But the man was not fazed at all, he evaded and blocked the slashes and as soon as he saw an opening he slashed forward. But the beast evaded. This left the man wide open for an attack. The beast did not waste this opportunity. He readjusted his hold on one of his daggers and thrust it forward, trying to stab the man through the base of his neck. The beast had thought he had won, the man was wide open, having no way to block or counter. In the end he will just end up like all the others, dead. But the beast was wrong. The man let one hand off of his sword and struck the beast with a punch to the face, sending the beast flying backwards. Seizing the opportunity the man slashed forward again, hoping to split the beast in 2. Though the beast was stunned, it managed to block with his dagger. However this left its blade badly chipped, but it still slashed forward relentlessly, until its chipped blade finally broke, presenting a fraction of a second opening. But then the beast used his other dagger to stab forward, hoping to kill the man before he kills him. Before the blade could reach his neck, the man swung his sword in a curve, cutting the beast arm off. Its dagger hand flew to the wall, blood spraying everywhere. And before the beast could have processed what had just happened the man thrust his sword into the beast's abdomen. Blood leaked profusely from the wound as the beast's only hand had gone limp. Eventually his whole body had gone limp, as he fell to the ground, vomiting his own blood. The man stood over him, the expression on his face non existent. However the same could not be said for the beast. He grinned at the man, as he clenched his wound with his remaining hand. Then he began to laugh, but his laughing was distorted by blood coming out of his mouth, creating an unpleasant sound of a man drowning in his own blood.
"If you think you have killed me you are mistaken." The beast said, coughing up blood profusely.
"I will never die. …I will never die. …As long as this burning fire still burns in my soul, I shall never meet death. I will live on in all of my brothers and sisters, just as they lived in me, until the day finally comes. …Oh I can see it. I can see our god Lual Arok Dengor climbing, he is climbing, vanquishing every obstacle, defeating every enemy who has hindered our ascension. I see his brilliant golden light as he stands at the edge of existence. I, …I can see it all." The beast said, blood flowing from its nose like a raging river.
As he continued to bleed out, creating an ocean of blood around him, he stared up into the sky, but he wasn't looking at the sky. He was seeing something else. Golden light burst through clouds, blessing the environment with its radiance. And at the very center where the light was strongest, there was a magnificent castle, magnificent in both size and structure, there were no words in the human language that could possibly describe its beauty. The castle acted as a sort of mirror, reflecting the light that descended upon it to one particular person. A man, with long golden hair that flowed down his back. His hair radiated the same golden light from the sky, and combined with his brown skin and his above average height, the light made him seem god-like, above all things that can be described as beautiful and heavenly. The beast could not see the man's face because it was obscured in the light, but by the man's naked body he could tell he bore the resemblance to a young man, but the beast knew that was not true, there can't possibly be anything young about this god like man. Then suddenly, the man turned to the beast, the light radiating from its face was immense, it was so bright that it completely obscured the beast's vision in golden light. And at the very center of that light was the head of the man, highlighted by the golden light that mapped the structure of his head. As the beast stared longer in the light, he felt a sense of peace and comfort wash over him, believing one day the dream that he and his brothers and sisters all share will finally be birthed into existence. And as he lay in a pool of his own blood, he raised his hand, trying to reach the light he so desperately wants to be embraced by, but before he could reach it, the remaining light faded from his eyes. His hand dropped, splashing in the pool of blood. His body laid in it, dead, not moving, as a single tear slid down from his eyes and dripped down in the pool of blood. A single tear signifying his peace and utmost belief that one day his dream and so many other's dreams would one day become a reality.
The man stared down at the dead man lying on the ground. His face was absent of emotion as he knelt down and closed the man's eyes. Suddenly a face flashed in his mind, it was a face he had not seen since that day. Then he recognised the man that lay dead before him.
"Is this what your dream led you to become?" He said, taking a second to mourn the dead man before getting up and walking out of the alleyway. He didn't even look back, he had no right to.That man and so many others died because of what he failed to do all those years back. But now, he will do what he could not all those years ago. He will carry the burden of all those screaming souls and die with them. But first he needs to make sure no one else dies because of him. He had finally made up his mind. He will do it, as long as it can bring them all salvation.
Hours later
Her eyes blinked open slowly as she gained consciousness, staring up at the ceiling in a daze, unsure of what had happened before and where she was. Then the memories all rushed back to her, from corpses to the man chasing her and Akeer. It all came back to her so fast her mind had trouble processing it all. Nyangdeng shot up, desperately trying to regain the air that had escaped her lungs. It was as if with each intake of air it immediately dissipates, leaving her gasping for more. She tried to get out of bed, but immediately as she stood up on the cold floor, the pain from her bandaged knee resurfaced, causing her to fall to the ground. With each second that went by, the pain in her knee pulsed with more ferocity, same as her creeping headache. She managed to ignore the pain and stand up, using only a single leg, but not without the support of a wall. And gathering every strength in her body she began to side step against the wall and out the door, trying her best not to rely too much on her other leg. As she entered the hallway, she began to hear faint voices, distorted by the walls. Where am I, Nyangdeng wondered. For a split second she thought of the possibility that the people who rescued her were no better than that man who caused her pain. Her heart skipped a beat at this thought. However she quickly dismissed it, if their intentions were not pure she would be tied to the bed, and besides, she wouldn't get far with that knee of hers. As she got closer to the origin of the voices, she began to recognise one of them. Is that…uncle Micheal, she thought. Nyangdeng never actually saw her uncle before. She was told by her mother that he was a very busy military man and only saw them from a time she does not remember. But on every Sunday, despite the time of day, he always manages to call, and ask how they were doing. He also made great effort in trying to make them laugh, despite him not being a funny person, whether it be silly jokes or a silly story from his childhood, that Nyangdeng suspects to be mostly made up or exaggerated. But still Nyangdeng always enjoyed his stories. Eventually she found herself longing to meet this uncle of hers. She wondered how tall is he, how old does he look, is he a bald man, or a man kissed by youth. All of these wonders contributed to her excitement. Was he one of the men who saved me, she thought as she increased the speed of her side stepping. The pain from her knee grew louder by the seconds, but she ignored the blaring pain. In her mind, the pain will immediately fade away as soon as she puts her arms around her uncle and hug him as tight as she possibly can. Now at the door, Nyangdeng was about to turn the handle when she suddenly stopped.
"Micheal, you should know that this is all our fault."
"What are you talking about? There was no way we would have known that any of this would happen."
There was a brief pause, before the unknown voice continued.
"Today I saw Issac. For the first time in over 10 years. …The same kind Issac that we both knew. …Now turned into a monster. …I didn't even recognise him at first." The unknown voice said, chuckling before continuing.
"He should have died long ago. But yet he was alive."
"So what if he should have died all those years ago. Lual saved him. And how are you even sure that it's really him? They're plenty of people with the same."
"When will you stop lying to yourself? Wake up Micheal? I know you still remember what he said to us all those years back. Stop pretending you don't."
Micheal went quiet. He did not want to believe it. He didn't want to believe that the same Lual that he loved as an older brother was the one who burned and killed so many people, even his sister. All for the sake of a foolish dream he spat out during a moment of hysteria. There is no way, he told himself.
"I am not denying that he saved people. But I am denying the belief that those people should have been saved."
"What?"
"Those people and our comrades were destined to all die that day. …And in a way, they did die. But Lual brought them all back from hell. With each broken soldier he cared and prayed for, a soul was resurrected. However, they did not crawl out of that abyss the same as in life. They were all corrupted by his dreams and beliefs, and because of that corruption they became the world. …And to free them from the chains that bind them so tightly, I must, ….I must, ….I must take their lives."
Chills ran down Nyangdeng's back as she heard those few last words, I must take their lives. The man said it with a sternness that erase all illusions of deceit or uncertainty. Nyangdeng knew this man was serious. He really was going to kill people.
"Let's say that you are right, and killing them would indeed bring them salvation, are you prepared for that? I know you are not so foolish, that you have forgotten what your cost of taking a life is. And in this case multiple lives. And you have already reaped your fair share of human lives already. Are you sure that adding more weight to your soul would be a wise choice. "
"I am fine. I."
"No, you are not fine Alek. Who are you trying to fool? I can see the hundreds of souls eating away at your soul."
"It doesn't matter. I don't care if it's hundreds or thousands of souls or even millions. I will carry them all. I will live the rest of my life being tormented by their rage, their hatred, and their cries of suffering, and I will live the rest of my life knowing that I have ended thousands if not millions of dreams that would never be birthed into reality. I will carry them all. ….As long as no one else."
As Nyangdeng was listening to the 2 worn out men's conversation, she noticed her leg had gone numb. As she looked down, Nyangdeng noticed blood flowing down her leg and onto the floor. As she stepped back in panic, she slipped and fell on the hard floor. Immediately, she heard the 2 men rushing to investigate. But by the time her uncle swung open the door, she was already unconscious on the cold floor.