Even as the torn skies above them bleed and the ground shudders beneath their feet, they remain, eyes burning and dirty faces upturned towards him.
Ihanakael’s seen this time and time again. Though the identities of those who stand against him are constantly changing, there are always mortals here before him at the very end. Always attempting to save their world from him.
Attempting to deny the end that he brings.
“So, then be it! Take us along with our world!” They invite him, standing their ground.
A burst. The threads of their reality fray, the seams opening and shadows flooding in. First goes their wind, their scenery. Trees and mountains warp and stir, swallowed away at a dizzying speed. It’s like nothing they’d anticipated, and they haven’t any idea of how to stop it.
The Warriors of Light cling to what pieces of their world have yet to be engulfed. Sometimes to each other. More than that, they cling to their hope and to their morale— the very things they use to stave off catastrophe and to bring about their miracles. Particle by particle, their world sheds its pain and beauty. Their world sheds its aether in brilliant grains. Ihanakael winds it through his fingers.
Some of the warriors submit. Their hearts plunge from their chests, finding relief in that their fighting has finally come to an end. The strands of their hair are pulled from their scalps, their skin from their bones, and their bones from their spirits.
“Ihanakael!” A man shouts.
The vastness of the Void reminds him that he is small. His voice is seemingly lost to the dead air. In his arms is a frail looking woman, hardly a warrior, with tears in her eyes. Despite that, she matches the man in resilience, the two of them watching Ihanakael until they can no longer.
“Don’t you forget us! Remember who we are!” And with that demand, they’re swept away.
Everything is resigned to stillness.
It’s as if their world had never existed.
Ihanakael’s gaze lingers to the place where the man and woman had once stood.
(( written as response to flashback meme prompt sent by @sorceressofdurendaire ))
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