“What is this I feel?” Ray said as his opened and he found himself somewhere else. It was like he was trapped in a body he didn’t control. Just an observer.
The vast snowy landscape stretches as far as the eye can see, an ethereal canvas of pristine white. The tree troves stand stoically, their branches draped in a thick layer of snow. Every step I take is a challenge, like trudging through a tundra, the snow crunching underfoot, and resisting my every move. The air is cold and crisp, stinging my cheeks and sending shivers down my spine. It carries with it the faint scent of pine and an unmistakable aura of silence, enveloping the surroundings in a hushed and serene wintry spell. As I venture further into this icy wonderland, my body starts to feel the unforgiving chill. My hands tremble, despite being tucked into my thick gloves, and my body shivers beneath the layers of clothing.
I struggle to keep my balance, my breath forming wisps of vapor in the frigid air. But my discomfort fades to insignificance as I stumble upon a sight that sends a chill far deeper than the biting cold. Before me stands a horrifying amalgamation of parts, an aberration that defies the natural order. It's composed of grotesque limbs and appendages, each seemingly pulled from different beings. The limbs writhe and twist in unnatural ways as if they were forcibly joined together. Several eyes, each one different in size and shape, peer at me from the creature's ghastly form. The ground around the abomination is stained with crimson, and I soon realize the source of its gruesome sustenance. A woman lies there, her lifeless body spread on the snow, being devoured by this abhorrent creation. Her clothes are torn, and her limbs hang limply as the creature feasts on her flesh.
My heart pounds loudly in my ears, and my breath becomes erratic as terror seizes my very soul. The grotesque sounds of tearing flesh and crunching bones blend with the howling wind. I can't look away, even as my mind screams for me to flee. Time seems to stand still in this nightmarish scene, the stark white snow contrasting with the horror before me. I feel frozen, not just by the cold, but by fear and disbelief. Its lifeless corpse is just being eaten mercilessly ripping it apart. The lifeless eyes were looking in my direction. I was away several feet away from the monster. I wanted to run but the absolute fear made me freeze in place.
The biting cold seemed inconsequential now, overshadowed by an overwhelming sense of dread that choked the air out of my lungs. Fear, an emotion I had never experienced with such intensity before, paralyzed me in place. My instincts screamed at me to run, to flee from the abomination before me, but my feet remained rooted to the spot as if locked in place by an unseen force. The abomination completed devouring the woman who had been lying helplessly on the ground. Anguish washed over me like an icy wave, making me feel powerless against this nightmarish terror unfolding before my eyes.
The creature's unsettling appearance seemed to sear itself into my mind and try as I might, I couldn't tear my gaze away. As the creature stood up. Its body began to deform, the various parts that had been forcibly together coming apart and reshaping themselves. The abomination morphed into the very image of the woman it had just devoured. It wore her likeness like a macabre mask, and the sound of its roars as it changed from a monstrous being to one so familiar made my heart ache with sorrow and disbelief. This defied the natural order, and I struggled to comprehend the horror of it all. In the grip of this terror, my mind raced, trying to find words to describe the overwhelming mix of emotions flooding through me. “How do I describe this feeling? Helplessness, sorrow, regret, madness? I can’t put it in words. Make it stop, please. I can’t take it anymore.” Ray thought yet his body didn’t listen he was experiencing something
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
The thing stood up and its body started to deform as all the different parts of it fell apart and reformed. What made my heart ache was that it was something I never expected. It formed the appearance of the women it had just eaten. Its roars as it transformed from inhuman to something he was familiar with.
“How do I describe this feeling? My heart aches. I can’t put it in words. Make it stop, please. I can’t take it anymore.” Ray thought yet his body didn’t listen. It was like he was an observer detached from the body. Yet he felt everything from the coldness of his body felt. Down the last minute detail.
The abomination looks at me as it notices me and approaches. Talking about the torn clothes left on the bloody surface of snow where it feasted and barely covered its naked figure. The smile on its face as it approached the snow blizzard that started. She approached my little figure which was a child's body. I didn’t move nor did I could move. The gaze the monster in human form gave was enough to understand the consequences.
Shhhh," it whispered as it drew nearer making a gesture, its twisted laughter barely contained. It brushed away the snow covering my child's body before finally embracing me. But beneath the facade of the hug, I sensed the insurmountable malice lingering in its touch.
“You are my son, right? I never had fed on a high human before. You are a good boy right?” The twisted face of smiles as it was said that. It declared, the smile on its face contorting with perverse satisfaction.
“Lead me to your tribe. You will be quiet right? My dear son Rayhein” She said as she caressed my face and head.
“No. Don’t listen to it. This is just a lie… You can’t. It will kill everything. ” Ray screamed but his voice was not heard. It was like talking to the void. No response. Nothing.
“I will spare your brother. You little brother that means the world to you right? You are a child. You all are weak. You saw what happened right?” The twisted smile and gaze felt like it was seeing the depth of my being. I felt I could not even hide my thoughts.
“But I’m kind. I will spare your brother that’s in your hands” The monster with the appearance of the woman looked at
“What?” Ray thought as felt his arms tremble. Both hands were trembling as he held something. He didn’t know anything that was happening. He only was experiencing things from an observer and first-person perspective alike.
My eyes shift to my little brother. All fear faded. He was sick. He needed help. He needed the root of ice grace. A plant that only was found in this tundra. That was a thing that could cure him and restore his health. A little child no more than 3 years was tucked in my hands with clothes wrapped around It was sleeping, sick and feeble. An overwhelming emotion surged within me. My mother's last wish? The abomination also knew that as it looked with a sinister gaze.
“Wasn’t that your mother’s last wish? To run away? So what will you do child.” The abomination said
I felt my world crumble to pieces. I couldn’t do anything. My body was on the verge of collapse, exhausted and hungry. It was the 5 day without food. Yet all I have left is my little brother. I can save him. I can do that. I can at least do that. The frozen eyelids cracked as his tears flowed from the cracks.
“The root. Ice grace. Help me find it for my brother and I will help” piercing gaze into my dead eyes as she nodded and got up.
“I’m sorry. Everyone” Those were the words being mumbled as he dragged his body to search for the cure abomination. I could feel these emotions but no words could describe what I felt. I want it to stop. What kind of cruel fate was this? What kind of god creates a world like this?
I could only watch this. These memories of the past as an observer.
“rayhein how were you sane after this ordeal?” that was the one thing I thought. How could one person be normal after this? And this was just the start and I could only watch these memories unfold.