There are moments when time ceases to have any real meaning. What, in reality, only lasts minutes seems to last for hours, instead. In the moments leading up to the birth of a child, not matter if it's your first, second, or third. When you've found your companion and your hearts and souls entertwine and you become one being. But most notably is when death is on your doorstep, knocking relentlessly, and beckoning you forward, welcoming you into its icy embrace.
We stood frozen in place, watching the horror as it unfolded before us. It took no time at all. Bodies disentergrated into nothing, families were destroyed, and it all took place in a matter of minutes. But it felt like so much longer. Maybe it's the terror and the sense of absolute hopelessness that makes everything seem like it lasts so much longer than it really does.
There were many things that I didn't understand. Why would our gods take lands that didn't belong to them? Why would they not make sure that the gods that came with the lands were completely destroyed? How could they be fooled so completely by a thing that claimed to be a god that none of them knew? Why would Kaos give us a way to escape? I questioned that the most in the short time that we stood watching him destroy our friends and families. A part of me suspected that it was a trap, the moment we stepped through the portal we'd all be dead ... but hope was what drove me to push my children through it. Hope that they would live. Hope that they would have a future. Hope that they would grow and love and have their own families to nurture.
...
Hope that I would see them again.
Darkness enveloped me as I stepped through the portal and then I was falling. I tumbled through the darkness, head over heels, wings flailing, eyes squeezed shut, mouth open as I tried to scream. My lungs were burning and my throat was raw, but no matter how much I screamed there was no sound. I was trapped in a void, falling, and the terrifying thought that I would be stuck there forever cemented itself in my brain.
Then, suddenly, I could feel wind in my hair. I could hear a blood curdling, terrified scream. And I realized that I was still falling, but I was no longer surrounded by darkness. That it was my scream that I was hearing.
And then I hit the water.
I was below the surface before I could even take a breath. Water filled my open mouth, blurred my vision, pulled me deeper and deeper beneath the surface. My wings flailed and I kicked my legs as I fought my way back to the surface. I needed a breath and the minute I broke through the surface of the water I greedily sucked in as much oxygen as I could. I coughed and spluttered as I made my way to the shore, desperate for the feel of something solid beneath my hooves.
When I finally did make it to the shore I stood there, my legs trembling and my sides heaving as I tried to catch my breath. I looked up at the sky and watched the swirling portal, waiting for the rest of my family to come tumbling through into the water. They didn't. The portal began to close and dread settled in my stomach like a lead weight. Where were they? Letha, Requiem, Gabriel, Geronimo, Dragomir, Mara ....
Where were they?
"No..." I whispered as the portal closed and none of them came through. "No, no, no..." My knees buckled and I sank to the ground, wondering what I was going to do.
"."
We stood frozen in place, watching the horror as it unfolded before us. It took no time at all. Bodies disentergrated into nothing, families were destroyed, and it all took place in a matter of minutes. But it felt like so much longer. Maybe it's the terror and the sense of absolute hopelessness that makes everything seem like it lasts so much longer than it really does.
There were many things that I didn't understand. Why would our gods take lands that didn't belong to them? Why would they not make sure that the gods that came with the lands were completely destroyed? How could they be fooled so completely by a thing that claimed to be a god that none of them knew? Why would Kaos give us a way to escape? I questioned that the most in the short time that we stood watching him destroy our friends and families. A part of me suspected that it was a trap, the moment we stepped through the portal we'd all be dead ... but hope was what drove me to push my children through it. Hope that they would live. Hope that they would have a future. Hope that they would grow and love and have their own families to nurture.
...
Hope that I would see them again.
Darkness enveloped me as I stepped through the portal and then I was falling. I tumbled through the darkness, head over heels, wings flailing, eyes squeezed shut, mouth open as I tried to scream. My lungs were burning and my throat was raw, but no matter how much I screamed there was no sound. I was trapped in a void, falling, and the terrifying thought that I would be stuck there forever cemented itself in my brain.
Then, suddenly, I could feel wind in my hair. I could hear a blood curdling, terrified scream. And I realized that I was still falling, but I was no longer surrounded by darkness. That it was my scream that I was hearing.
And then I hit the water.
I was below the surface before I could even take a breath. Water filled my open mouth, blurred my vision, pulled me deeper and deeper beneath the surface. My wings flailed and I kicked my legs as I fought my way back to the surface. I needed a breath and the minute I broke through the surface of the water I greedily sucked in as much oxygen as I could. I coughed and spluttered as I made my way to the shore, desperate for the feel of something solid beneath my hooves.
When I finally did make it to the shore I stood there, my legs trembling and my sides heaving as I tried to catch my breath. I looked up at the sky and watched the swirling portal, waiting for the rest of my family to come tumbling through into the water. They didn't. The portal began to close and dread settled in my stomach like a lead weight. Where were they? Letha, Requiem, Gabriel, Geronimo, Dragomir, Mara ....
Where were they?
"No..." I whispered as the portal closed and none of them came through. "No, no, no..." My knees buckled and I sank to the ground, wondering what I was going to do.
"."
stood at the coal face, stood with our backs to the sun
i can remember being nothing but fearless and young
i can remember being nothing but fearless and young
