Heavy footsteps sounds bounce against the tunnel walls, convoyed with the strong metallic scent of blood, and everywhere I look, the shadows around sway despite the absence of any source of light. Even with my Spiritual senses shut off, being in such proximity to the Nephilim makes it impossible not to feel his oppressive aura smothering me. The Nephilim holds me firmly—yet unbelievably carefully—in his fist, and I can only catch glimpses of Ike, who is callously being swung about in the monster's other hand like a toy. He has gone completely limp ever since we were captured. I am not sure, but I fear that a number of his bones have been broken. He has an amazing healing factor, but in the state he currently is…
I bite the inside of my cheek. If only I had studied more of the healing arts…
After several seconds of swallowing back my words, I finally muster up the courage to speak. "W-what will do with u-us?"
I feel its pace slow, then it lifts me higher. I immediately regret ever voicing a word.
The Nephilim has reverted to its stony expression, watching me with the same interest one would with a common item. I shrink beneath its gaze, wanting to disappear, even as I cannot go anywhere. I feel its hold on me firming, and its thumb and forefinger are pressing closer on my face. Squishing my cheeks.
"Cook you," it whispers, and my stomach lurches. "I haven't decided how to savour your flesh best… roast you, maybe, or simmer you in a broth… or devour you raw?"
Seconds later, an unruly laugh explodes; the giant laughs so hard that it is shaking and my heartbeat quickens the longer it goes.
"You look so frightened… why, do you really believe those tales about my kind feeding off of yours, girl? Ah, how distasteful." Then its expression twists with scorn. "We were once hailed as heroes and demi-gods by your people. Your nation became great thanks to my people paving the way for you, but then you started fearing us and decided you didn't need us anymore. You hunted us down and erased us from history, reducing us to the vile monstrosities of your bedtime stories."
I stare, at a loss for words.
But you are monsters, vile monstrosities whose spiritual essence is no different from a blight to the world. You are no different from the junjus infesting the night. And what does it mean by them paving the way to my people's greatness?
"I-I won't believe such blatant lies," I sputter. "Not when you don't even try to hide your nature. A-and… I may not understand how or why your kind still exists, but whatever evil you are brewing here, what you have done to my brethren… You will be stopped!"
Its grip suddenly tightens to the point of constricting my lungs until my vision blurs at the edges, a strangled rasp escapes me. "By whom… you?" The question slithers from its mouth, venomous and mocking. It glances down at its other hand. "Him? Or perhaps one of your other… friends?"
The shadows coil tighter around us, thickening like smoke, swallowing the light, drowning us under a suffocating tide. I want to scream, but only a noise like a choking sound breaks out.
Only for the pressure to dissolve in an instant. The crushing weight on my chest, the suffocating aura pressing down on me—it is all gone. And I am left gasping and shaking in the aftermath.
"It would be wise to keep your mouth shut from now on." I don't dare lift my head, yet I feel its impossibly oppressive gaze searing into me.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I did not know that I had fallen into a sort of trance after what happened with the Nephilim. That was until we entered a cavern—the one we were supposed to meet the others, I suspect.
"W-what… what have you done?" My eyes open wide, my gaze riveted to the jagged tear, a black void suspended in space like an unblinking eye. There is a Ritual Array below the inverted temple, an array the likes of which I have never seen before, with two tall stone monuments on each side of the circles—wait… that's a dimensional waypoint. This set-up…
Don't tell me — "A portal to another world? B-but how? W-what are you—"
My voice collapses into silence as the rift suddenly ripples; a surge of corrupted essence washes over me—and before I can fully register what has happened, I am throwing up everything within me. The nausea coils deep, dragging me down into a pit of disorientation. My vision swims, the world seems to tilt, I would have collapsed on the ground were I not being held in place by the Nephilim—N-no, I'm now dangling midair like laundry on a line. I think I am convulsing. And I don't know whether it is from sickness or utter terror.
Oh God. Whatever realm they opened up an entry to, if it can even be called that, it is something immeasurably vast, and also something profoundly profane. It feels like… like I am in the presence of death itself.
Ah… why is this happening?
"Ugh, hold on to your bowels." I feel myself being lifted higher, and I am facing, yet again, the giant. A corner of my mind notes quite ironically that its maddened glare does not intimidate me as much as it did before. "Do that again, and you will suffer a fate worse than death."
It steps farther down, where the air's potency becomes all the more unbearable.
I barely catch on when we start drifting upward, then the Nephilim goes through an open archway of the temple. It then navigates through a series of corridors to enter a dome-shaped hall—there are already other people there—and my stomach drops when my gaze falls on a set of familiar figures. Ewa, Kayin, N'jobu, Sazayi, Gamba, and Azikiwe… they are all here, surrounded by a congregation of cloaked individuals. But they don't seem to realize that—in fact, their expressions are off-putting. They are limp on the ground, their mouths hanging open, and their eyes appearing glassy and unfocused.
What… what did they do to them?
"V-Vyswe'eyaga!"
I whip my head at the sound of the familiar voice… It's Sazayi. He is pinned against the wall by a force unseen as he is straining to move his head toward me. His eyes are terrified. I don't know what to do.
"Ah, here you are…" There is the clatter of hooves, followed by a laugh. Then a creature that makes my blood run cold steps before me, a perverse amalgam of man and animal.
The twisted creature cocks its head from side to side, a crooked smile dancing on its lipless mouth. I draw back as far away as I can when it gets uncomfortably close, my skin prickling when I feel it sniffing me. Then that deceptively feminine voice streams into my ears again.
"A child of the People of Old, not dead or slumbering like her kin, but awake and healthy." Its head then turns at an angle too steep to be humanly possible, its smile broadening disturbingly. "And from what I have seen, she has not been dilly-dallying now, has she?"
"I assume, then, that you have found out the reason why these intruders and the girl are here," the giant says, and the creature chuckles.
"Oh yes, that I did indeed. The things that I have discovered… For example, look at the marvellous specimen that I have stumbled upon," the creature gestures to Sazayi with its wing. "He can wrench control from my thralls with a swiftness the like I have never seen before; not only that, but he is curiously immune to any form of mind invasion, no matter how hard I try. How very interesting. I cannot wait to study him more—"
"Lamassu. Get to the point."
"Ah, I got sidetracked. Yes, I learned of a particularly amusing bit of information from these trespassers, and wouldn't you know it, they are not here by accident; the little sorceress has been sent here… to neutralize us."
There is a beat of silence. "Is that so?"
Then, as if on cue, the giant and the creature erupt into a thunderous fit of laughter—sharp and cruel, echoing across the domed space. Each cackle feels like a slap, and my face burns hot with shame, as though their scorn has stripped me bare before them.
"By the way, what about that man you caught? He is not another child of the People of Old. Moreover, he is half-dead."
"I am thinking of keeping him. His skills are somewhat decent for a mere human… he will be a nice addition." Then he unceremoniously tosses him into a wet splatter that makes my stomach twist. Ike writhes faintly upon the ground, only to fall still. "He'll need to be well domesticated first, of course."
"Fuck!" It is interrupted by a long string of colourful curses, and everyone's focus is diverted to the newcomer. My breath catches in my throat. Why is this happening?
"Oh my!" the creature laughs. "Hamas, what happened to you?"
"Go to hell, Lamassu," it spits venomously. The Nephilim, the one who fought against Mami Wata and Ike, hobbles into the room, its frame broken. Deep lacerations mar its body, so severe that I am left wondering where he musters the strength to walk. Yet, here it stands, at the threshold of death, but not dying.
I feel like something is breaking inside of me…
"Haven't we all already been there? To tell me such a thing… how unkind."
"Why are you in such a state?"
That one question sucked the air from the room, leaving a silence so heavy it felt perilous to breathe too loudly. And I am not even the focus of the full pressure…
The Nephilim, Hamas, seem to shrink before his fellow, like an admonished child before its parent. Yet the imagery is nothing but its twisted version, because there is no warmth here, no sheltering security, and certainly no concern. It stands unsteadily at attention, its head hung low; its posture is such a stark contrast to the haughty confidence with which it carried itself in our first encounter—I cannot help but pity it, despite myself.
"T-the Water Genie, she—"
"—She's the one that did that to you?!" the creature exclaims, "that one has always been particularly vicious… and unruly."
"Let him talk, Lamassu." And the creature's cackles fall to an abrupt silence. I look back at the maimed giant, and my heart almost leaps into my throat; this is because it is now staring at me with unnerving intent and an expression I cannot describe, but that raises all the hairs on my body.
"That woman…" it starts, "she was with the Genie, along with these other humans. When I found them, she had done something to the Genie, she somehow cleansed her back to her original state." There is silence, and I am certain that I feel the giant's grip on me tighten ever so slightly. I don't dare make eye contact with anyone.
"There is another thing… the Genie said something, she called the girl the prophesied Champion… the one who will cause our ruin."
"My oh my, now is that true, sweetheart?" The creature leans its face close to mine, and I shiver. "Is a meek little thing like you going to ruin us?"
"I see… Even if the Lady of the Sea has been cleansed, she must have still been in a weakened state," the giant says. The air itself seems to become heavier, there is a loud bang, and the next thing I see is the wounded one collapsed on the floor. "You were thrashed a hair to your life when she wasn't even at her best—and where is she right now? You let her escape didn't you?"
"G-Goliath," it grits out, and my eyes go wide. D-did he just say Goliath. The Goliath from the stories?!
"—Or is it that you ran away." The pressure exerted on it amplifies, it groans louder as its face is driven into the floor. The ground itself splinters beneath the strain, unable to withstand the crushing force. "Weakling. You disgust me."
"As for you…" I am raised to eye level once again, and my body goes taut, tears welling up in my eyes. It could easily kill me with an afterthought, and I wouldn't be able to do anything. "Look at yourself, trembling like a small animal." It sneers, and I am flung to the ground. I scramble to my knees, my trembling gaze meets the contemptuous one of Goliath.
"Lamassu, extract whatever useful information you will find out of the girl."
"Sure, and after that?"
"Kill them, torture them, I do not care. I only want the man."
I only have enough time to glimpse at Goliath kicking the other Nephilim on the ground, commanding it to stand before my view is obstructed. I raise my head to find the creature smiling down at me, an amused, cruel smile.
"This will be fun."