Chapter 13: Walking in the Gray

Black, white and gray. That's all the colors Calista could see as she navigates the narrow halls and crooked pathways of Sulad. Her vision is closed to being blind as the dim lighting of the massive tree has made it more difficult for her to see. All little now and then, she casually bumps a jagged wall or trips on a protruding root, but most of the tip she is safe. Safe but often lost in the unfamiliar abode of the Death God.

Her so-called "mentor", Tagahatid, seems not to care about her predicament. Every time she stumbles or falls, he only would look at her and say, "Get up." That has been in her mind ever since.

Earlier today, Tagahatid told her to follow him into the throne room where she was asked by him to clean. It was her first time to be there again after she was torn apart by Sidapa some months ago if she counted that right. She felt apprehensive about seeing him again. In her head, Mama Guayan is encouraging her to stay strong and calm but, her psyche was different.

She is terrified of him. So terrified that she might just stand still or pass out when she sees him. But the voice in her head continued to comfort her even in these most trying circumstances and that's why she needed to put on a brave facade to encourage herself to be brave.

Tagahatid left her in the throne room. She looked around and could only see in her monochromatic and blurry vision the things around as eerie monoliths that took shadows from the poorly lit room. With a broom on hand, she started to clean her way around the massive hall. She can tell from the sensations she has on her feet that the floor is wooden with a hint moss covering it.

"The throne room is this dirty?", she let out a sigh as she thought to herself how tiresome this day would be for her. She swept the floor, but before she could finish it half-way, she got distracted by the sound of a woman screaming in agony down the dark hallway. The terrible sound echoing through the walls of the throne room sent shivers down her spine. Her calm composure quickly turned into a chaotic mess as her traumatic memory quickly began flashing in her mind.

Her body felt weak, and she fell to the floor struggling to breathe. She panicked as the memories began to fill in again. Her head throbbed in pain as she hoisted herself up with the broom. She heard the scream again, piercing right through her. Her mind was in disarray that she was unable to hear Mama Guayan's calls to calm down. In her panic fled the room and ran out to the dark hallways of Sulad.

The way was unclear and everything was blurry. Only a fair streak of white accents the black shadows of the hallway. As she always did before, Calista bumped, scratched, and fell to the ground. The fear inside her crept deeper and the hallway has now become a maze of her own misery.

It slowly consumed her from the inside. The scream reminded her of her arms and legs being ripped from her body. It also reminded her of the deep, dark, foul waters she drowned in. She can taste it in her mouth and suddenly she begins to hurl.

Soon enough, she heard footsteps and banging noises echoed in the dark hallway. She ran and tumbled and ran again until she managed to reach the exit. She breathed heavily as she finally got out of the hallway. Tears welled-up, her eyes, and the feeling of coldness tingled her spine. She hurled some more, vomiting her meal earlier.

She was about to break down and cry when she saw someone at the corner of her eye. A silhouette of a person drenched in the pale white rays of light stood at the end of the dock. Calista hurriedly composed herself as if nothing bad had happened earlier. She went closer to the figure as instructed by Tagahatid. She recalled Tagahatid saying that if someone comes in from the dock, she has to greet them properly and escort them in.

She went closer to the figure.

Her eyesight is as bad as they were; she can't properly identify it as a man or a woman. As she took another step in the dock, the wooden board creaked. The figure was disturbed from its contemplation, turned around, and stared at her. She cannot get a clear look at the face, but her gut is telling her to leave there at once. She saw the silhouette's mouth moved as if it unhinged. She froze where she stood, the next thing she knew was the silhouette somewhat spread its wings before it lunged an attack towards her.

The shadow was relentless, after lunging at her, it picked her up and threw her at the end of the dock. Calista screamed in terror at the shadow, but no one could hear her. No one can help her. The creature smelled of burned flesh, the horrible smell made Calista's stomach churn, but she was more focused on surviving the attack rather than that.

She curled herself up to protect her head and body, she tucked her neck and covered it with her arms, but the creature was unrelenting. It tried to force its mouth to her neck. She could hear the jaw unhinging and the sharp talons gripped her so hard it dug into her skin like knives, stabbing her arms.

"Help!!!Anyone!!!Heeelllllpppp!!" she yelled a fruitless call for help. She knew no one was coming to save her. Tagahatid and his new master, Sidapa, is away doing something. She could feel the hot breath coming from the shadow. She slowly closed her eyes and accepted the cruel fate she has. She baited her breath and waited for the shadow to devour her.

Suddenly she felt a powerful yank coming from above. It was done with such force that she felt her body lifted before it thuds to the wooden planks. It got her winded for a while, but she then decided to open her eyes and saw the carnage right in front of her. The upper half of the shadow was gone. What only remained of her assailant was its lower torso that fell limp to the floor and the arms that were still attached to hers. The talons were gripped so hard that she saw it penetrating the other side of her arm.

She quickly stood up and ran away towards her savior, "Master Sidapa, thank you for saving...", she looked around and saw nobody.

It took about another minute before she realized the pain pulsating on her wounded arms. She attempted to remove them, but unfortunately, was not able to. Her arms went limp and her body became too heavy for her to stand. She's losing a lot of blood and all she can do is sit by a post located at the side of the dock.

As her vision fades, she saw a glowing pair of eyes on the surface of the water. It didn't bother her, especially not in the state she's in. Finally, the light starts to dim as it cascades from white, to gray and finally to black, her consciousness finally fades away.

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WRITER'S NOTES

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