The After - End 16

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"I'm not a fighter, I'm a man of god" he replied also in anger.

The figure laughed mockingly. "Does a man of god steal? Does he kill?"

"I have never stolen from you, as for the killing. I had no choice-"

A great force held him off on his throat cutting off his remaining speech, he struggled for his breathe.

"No one steals from me and gets away with it. What is mine, is mine, on one can take it away from me"

"Who are you?" He croaked

The force is released and he drops to the ground.

"It's good how your memory kept depreciating. Soon you won't remember all this. By the way, I am the Grand master"

Rising to his knees "My god is greater than you"

"There is no god here today boy, you are all alone".

The words echoed into his soul, drilling into his mind, driving him insane.

You are all alone.

"No!" He replied forcing his mind to think rightly.

"No!" He repeated with great conviction

"I have a brother, he has tiny freckles on his nose and cheeks, he's red-haired, I'll find him" he concluded, standing on his feet still holding strongly onto the blade.

The shrouded masked man gave a laugh and his voice towered over him. "No, your real brother is dead, he's spending all of the eternity reliving his worst pain and fear but the one you described is mine, he will be my faithful servant. I should thank you for bringing him but I won't it is one of those prices you needed to pay"

"He didn't do anything-" His tone got soft

"But you did and people around you suffered for it. So, why not him,"

"Why are you so cruel, I said I didn't steal from you. If I had it was what belonged to me"

The shrouded masked man gave a laugh and his voice towered over him. "You took my people away ever since you entered that temple, they left with their worship paying obeisance to another but who would have believed your heart was never pure In the first place. You see, you thought you escaped but you never left"

He was confused by what he was saying."Your suffering had already begun, this is just the beginning" The shrouded figure declared.

"No, I won't allow it, you'll never have me"

He held his blade and slit his wrist. The blade dropped into a puddle filled with blood.

"Predictable" The shrouded figure smiled behind his black polished iron mask and then walked away. The dark mist appeared by his feet. It evolved to the black stallion and the shrouded figure climbed on top.

As he watched the shrouded figure leave, he looked at his hands in horror "What have I done?" He sank to the ground, the blood in a puddle splashed on him. His eyes became clouded in tears.

When the shrouded figure in the black stallion was swallowed up in the grey mist, time started again. The fights resumed the battle continued and the hungry stiff-necked vultures that dominated the sky waiting to scavenge the stiffs resumed their quests. He stared at his wrists as blood gushed out to the floor. He started to feel dizzy, he closed his eyes and opened them again.

"I have to keep going, I can't quit now". He repeatedly said.

He crumpled to the ground on his back, he was tired. His eyes were getting heavy, feathered arrows flew past him, swords flashed, blood spilled and bodies fell, some on him others on the ground.

All of a sudden, he was dwelt with a heavy blow to his head. Crumbling to his feet, shaking violently. A body knocked him over. Falling heavily on his belly, his strength was knocked out of him. His head ached and his vision became blurry. More bodies fell on him drowning out his scream of pain and headache.

Murmuring, he said. "I have to get to my family.They need me. I have to find Peace" his fingers quivered as they held on to a broken wooden rod lying on the dirt.

“Who am I looking for? I can't, I cannot remember.”

“Where am I?" He closed his eyes again.

I can't remember a time I had felt peace. With my family? My Family?

He became unconscious.

A rising grey mist began to fill the atmosphere, a deep hooting sound was heard above the dusky horizon; a tiny-eyed crook-headed eagle with a broad head, hairless neck, its trunk covered in grey feathers but with a touch of black hue, and sharpened clawed talons beneath skimmed through the intensely gloaming horizon with its wide grey feathered wings using its ocular vision to see what could not be seen or detected in the hazy mist. It searched, its strong beak curved at the end moved in the air from side to side to convey the outcome of the battle that has already begun. A battle from the dawn of time though everything seemed dusky. Many perceived it as always being out of time, as no daylight has ever evolved other than the reality of the red moon. The eagle flew back and forth with gallant stride. After circling the atmosphere for some countless number of times, it returned to the arm of a shrouded figure whose face is hidden behind the black steel mask he had on. He sat on a dark stallion with red eyes blaring hot air from its nostrils which crept out in a red fuming mist. The eagle stood on his cloaked arm in an upright stance moving its head sideways dancing to a mysterious tone from the bottomless hole. The strange bird all of a sudden, glanced at the shrouded figure in black garb, it ogled into the man's mind through his dark-colored eyes. The man's eyes became dimmed and began to dilate. He raised a coiled shofar in his left hand and opened his lips to take in a deep breath. The crook-headed Eagle discerned his actions, it made a deep screeching sound and an air-dissecting scream. Then, it darted away in haste and eventually disappeared into the rising grey mist.

The coiled shofar made from an animal not yet named or known unto man was blown in full blast, the sound from it rippled its waves into the bitter oceans, red sea, stagnant lakes, deserted plains, stony valleys, and the high mountains. From below the shrouded figure came a terrifying war cry. It broke out and stormed the atmosphere ordering the drowsing birds of the air and the little, creeping, and the huge wandering animals to battle. It raved the waters, inducing turbulent storms and waves. Waking the huge sea lions and sharks, frightening several fishes to death.

Shining winged sharp swords merged with heavy clubs and unpolished axes, soiled javelins collided with flat-shaped spears, two-edged sabers clashed with curved sickle blades, wooden rods broke, metallic ones bent, rapiers pierced, crafted daggers plunged in, fleshy wounds surfaced, foul language rang strong, groaning and moaning intensified on the field. Human blood splashed and spilled, dark contempt filled their tongue from an accumulated bank of vengeful minds and souls, It ripened and clouded their thoughts and imagination. Revenge was their excuse but greed confused them all, they have lost focus.

It was war, it pays no respect. Every man for himself, the slim, the mighty, the strong and the weak, the skilled and unskilled even the young were not spared they did not take flight but fought earnestly alongside their fathers. Severe pain and gnashing of teeth of the fallen ones were not even heard as they crumbled on the bloody battlefield. They made soft whimpers that crept into the shady mist that sailed all over into the sky like a chimney bringing smoke out to the sky. It was fast and they were unaware of the happenings around them. The lustrous moon had turned ruddy. Hungry stiff-necked vultures dominated the sky waiting to scavenge the stiffs, an appetite they have been overseeing right from the dawn of the time.

Many uniformed soldiers fell by the swords, those in black religious habit were hooked on upright spears like bacon hanged on sticks and others on barren trees by their belts. Their garbs were soaked. It dripped with blood in minutes from their feet and formed a red puddle on the ground. The mighty and skilled ones on rust-coated chariots though stained with blood giving it a more reddish hue were killed with poisonous javelins while others fell in heaps upon themselves feathered arrows adorned their bodies. Their pure blood became poisoned, it turned dark gushing from their wounds and spilling from their eyes to their checks. What a devastating sight to behold! More wails as dark mist were lifted to the sky but the battle went on, one man for himself.

After an infinite moment, Dead silence filled the battleground. The incessant crook sound made by the delighted buzzard feasting on their meals sparked a soul into consciousness. His curved fingers quivered, to reveal calloused nails filled withhold dirt as they held on to a broken wooden rod lying on the dirt. His lanky hand moved to reveal different appalling aged cuts turned scars on his wrists. He released his hold. As he moved he felt restricted, his eyes opened but all he saw was darkness. He felt heavy like he was immersed in a pit full of bodies oozing out the stench. He decided to get up. With the little strength he had amassed in a short while, he pushed but the hefty corpse upon him restrained his attempt, he strove and tried again all to no avail.

Help! He screamed in his mind. His tongue tasted dry and he swallowed the humid air continuously.