Even with the music in the club blaring all around them, it felt like a quiet hush had come across both parties. Michael and Nike just sat open mouthed behind their friend as he confessed in the most ridiculous way possible to the girl he likes. While Sara just put her face in her hands as her blush spread to the tops of her ears and down past her neckline.

“... Bullshit.” Allen’s voice was just a whisper his face scrunched up in rage. “BULLSHIT!”

Suddenly, Allen threw himself at Ezekiel as he tried to beat Ezekiel’s face in. He was so angry at having what he thought was his taken away from him, that he didn’t care that he was in a public place. He didn’t care that the bouncers were pushing their way towards their table. All he wanted to do was rip Ezekiel’s face off, and he was failing miserably as he tried to.

Meanwhile, as he was expertly dodging Allen’s drunken attempts to hit him, Ezekiel, who had only had a few drinks, rather than a few barrels like Allen clearly seemed to, noticed that Michael was gesturing for Sara and Nike to get out of the way, as he ushered them towards the exit of the club before turning towards the goons Allen had brought with him.

The brawl that followed was short, and utterly unimpressive, as Ezekiel continued to dodge and dodge until a bouncer came by and grabbed Allen by the scruff of his jacket. Seeing that his antagonist was detained, Ezekiel raised his hands in surrender as another bouncer approached him.

Seeing that he wasn’t going to cause any trouble, the bouncer did not grab Ezekiel and start pulling him towards the exit like what was happening to Allen and his buddies. Instead, he requested that Ezekiel and his friends please leave the premises, as while they hadn’t started it, they were a part of an altercation that had disrupted the atmosphere of the club.

After meeting up outside a few minutes later, stepping out into the light rain that had begun when they were inside, Ezekiel and his friends broke down in laughter outside of the club. Ignoring the looks they got from people coming in and out as they stood in the rain.

“Hehe, did you see his face? Bastard looked like smashed his car through his own house. God, I wish I got a picture of that.” Michael said as he finally stopped chuckling at what had just happened. Seeing Allen get riled up at something, particularly something they did, was always something that brought a smile to him and his friend’s faces.

“Enough about that pig. Ezekiel, I think you were saying something back there before that whole mess got started, weren’t you.” Nike said as she too stopped laughing and looked towards Ezekiel expectantly. Sara didn’t say anything, just looking towards the ground as she continued to blush.

“I mean, I meant what I said, but I guess I should ask properly.” Ezekiel said as she bashfully lowered his head. “That said, do you want to go out with me this weekend; grab some dinner and maybe go mini golfing?”

“Yes. Yes, I’d like to do that very much.” Sara replies as her face split into a wide grin. She quickly jumped forwards and pulled Ezekiel into a great big hug. She had been waiting for him to ask her out for a long time but had always been nervous that he wasn’t interested in her. A simple manner of doubt and miscommunication had turned into a silence that had lasted several years.

“Awesome. That’s awesome. I’m... I’m gonna grab us a cab. I think that we’ve had enough excitement for tonight, right?” Ezekiel said as he let go of Sara, forcing himself to pull away from her hug. A great big grin spread across his face as he nervously backed away. “I’ll be right back, okay.”

Ezekiel then proceeded to turn towards the street as his friends laughed at him from behind.

“Smooth Zeke. Real smooth.” Michael jokingly called out as Ezekiel tried to hail a cab.

“Shut up.” Ezekiel ran across the street as he could see that it was clear. There was a taxi headed towards them on the other side of the road. He figured it would be easier to call it over if he went to that side of the street instead. Just as he was stepping up onto the curb, the loud screeching of car tires echoed out from behind him.

Quickly turning his head, he just managed to see a car cut around the corner and jump the curb. Time seemed to slow down for Ezekiel as he saw that the car was headed straight for his friends. For a moment, Ezekiel’s heart seemed to stop, and the pendant around his neck seemed to burn with a cold fire as the world around him seemed to flicker for a moment. In that moment, the world that had seemed to slow down really did slow down, along with himself.

Ezekiel could make out the details of each and every raindrop falling in front of him. He could see the faces of his friends who were still laughing at his embarrassing blunder as he went to get a cab. He could see Allen’s face behind the wheel of the car. Eyes glazed over with a look of burning rage across his features. But even with all these details, the confusion of what was happening, and the horror at what was about to occur. The most terrifying thing for Ezekiel, was the cloaked figure made of stars that stood between him and his friends. The Ancient from his dreams had come for him.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The figure said nothing as it raised a hand and pointed towards him. The pendant around Ezekiel’s neck suddenly snapped off its chain and began floating in front of him. While this was happening, Ezekiel couldn’t help but notice that the car was getting closer to his friends. He tried to move forwards, but it was like he was moving in slow motion. There was no way he would make it to his friends in time. His friends who had just realized what was happening, and whose smiles were turning into looks of shock and fear.

“So, we meet at last, Ezekiel.” The star cloaked figure said in the same echoing tone of a thousand voices from his dream. It held the now floating pendant in its grasp as it drifted towards Ezekiel.

“I am the Ancient Void, and I have been watching you, and your family, for a very long time. Since your great, great grandfather found me in those ruins. My previous owners, before your family, sought to seal me away for all eternity. Fearful of the powers that I promised them.” The Ancient continued to speak, heedless of Ezekiel’s desperation, circling him as it did.

“I am not a demon, Ezekiel. I am not a monster, nor am I some eldritch abomination here to cause you suffering.” The echoes of the Ancient Void’s voice dimmed. Its tone becoming softer, gentler as it stared at Ezekiel’s desperate attempt to run to his friends. It moved itself into Ezekiel’s line of sight, blocking off his vision of the tragedy that was about to happen.

“The dreams you had were not meant to be nightmares. They were a record, a history, of my past. You’ve seen the creatures that I’ve faced, and the powers that they wield. I am no longer capable of defending my home. Of protecting the balance of Eldramir.” The Ancient said as it raised one of its hands to cup Ezekiel’s face. The galactic eyes of the Ancient Void bored into Ezekiel’s gaze as it looked down on him. It seemed to grow infinitely bigger as Ezekiel was forced to look into the Void that made up this being’s existence.

Ezekiel knew that, in this moment, as he gazed upon this godlike figure, he should be afraid. But he wasn’t. A strange calmness washed over him, and his thoughts were as clear as his vision as he contemplated the Ancient Void’s words. Yet, as quickly as his thoughts had cleared, they became frantic at its next statement.

“I can help you save them.” The Ancient Void spoke these six words with a conviction and a promise that Ezekiel couldn’t deny. This entity could and would help him save his friends. But it would come at a cost. One that would be very expensive.

“However, for this favor, I will need to be repaid in kind. This is a deal I have offered to all who have worn my idol. Those with the potential to wield this power at least. Your grandfather was the last, and he denied me, whilst your father could not hear me. Now choose. Do you want to save your friends?” The Ancient Void’s voice took on a harder, more intense tone as the mood turned dim. Ezekiel couldn’t help but shift his eyes towards the side. Just barely able to make out his friends behind the Ancient’s place in front of him.

“Yes.” The words slipped out of Ezekiel’s mouth as he suddenly found himself rushing forwards and through the starry figure of the Ancient entity. The world was still slowed down, but he was moving as if it hadn’t.

He quickly made his way across the street, running as fast as he could ramming into his friends in order to push all three out of the way. The momentum pushed each of them out of the way of the car, and several feet further into the bouncers guarding the door.

The moment they landed, and Ezekiel managed to steady himself, time sped up once again, and Ezekiel was struck by a sudden blinding pain as he was forcibly shifted sideways and upwards. His bones broke as he went flying through the air. Blood sprayed from his lips as his insides were almost squeezed out of him during brief flight. A loud crash was the last thing he heard before the world began to go dim. Ezekiel found himself on his back in the middle of the street staring up at the night sky. The clouds had begun to fade away and, although the lights of the city should have blocked them out, the stars were shining bright and clear.

Ezekiel couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t feel anything. He could only stare up at the sky and the brilliantly shining stars that shone down on him. Suddenly, a face filled his vision, blocking out the stars. It was Sara; she was crying.

Ezekiel tried to say something, anything, to make the tears stop, but he couldn’t move. His vision was fading now, and the star were coming back. A void was all that he could see. A void with a single humanoid figure made of stars. The Ancient Void spoke to him once again.

“I have helped you save your friends. The cost has been your life, which you must now use to help save me.” The Ancient said, its voice was cold, yet not apathetic. This being knew that he had hurt both Ezekiel and his friends with its actions. “Know this, before you go, Ezekiel, I did not plan this, I did not wish for this to happen. I can only speak with you, and even then, it was you who made this choice. I merely saw an opportunity and took it. You made the choice.”

Ezekiel still couldn’t say anything. But he could tell that the Ancient being was truly sorry for what had happened, but it was desperate as well. Although he felt angry at what had happened, wishing that the Ancient had given him the time to get out of the way of the car as well, he knew that he got what he had wished for. His friends were safe, and the girl he loved would live on for another day.

With those final thoughts going through his head, the starry cloak of the Ancient void faded away. A blank darkness was all that Ezekiel could see. A strange warmth encompassed him. Suddenly, a squeezing sensation from all around him. A light at the end of the tunnel appeared. His vision shifted from total darkness to a blinding white light. He shook his head to clear his eyes of the brightness.

As his vision cleared up, the first thing he saw was the face of a giant. Looking around, he saw other giants all around him, but one in particular caught his eye. A woman lying on a bed with black hair and eyes who was covered in sweat and blanket. Still muddle headed, Ezekiel took a few moments to understand what had happened. But as he was handed over to the woman in the bed by the man who was holding him it all became clear.

Ezekiel had died but was now reborn.