Old Gods

Continued from here

Darla awoke in a somewhat familiar place, yet she didn’t recognize any of the faces of those around her. There was a giant painting on the wall across from her, and she recognized it as one of the Old Gods. But besides the picture and part of the room, everything else seemed foreign. Confused and a bit afraid, she tried to sit up. She knew she’d made a big mistake when immense pain shot through the right side of her body. “Ugh,” she cried as everyone rushed to her side. She fell back onto the hard mattress and tried to assess her situation. Many people spoke all at once, and the language was foreign to Darla. She tried to remember what had happened to her, but her head felt fuzzy every time she tried. She did remember part of a dream she was having before she woke. Abbefore was there, leaning over his orb, mumbling something to himself, when he suddenly spun around on his pedestal and looked straight at Darla. He tried to communicate with her, but like a television with lousy reception, she couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. It seemed he was trying to show her something very important, and he kept repeating the words, “Don’t forget to…” but that was all she could remember of the dream. With a heavyhearted sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the commotion of those around her. She took a long, deep breath and tried to relax. Abbefore’s image was still so vivid in her mind. “If only I could remember,” she kept whispering to herself. But with an exhausted mind and an acutely injured body, she fell asleep once more.

Photo credit: https://afterwards.blog/

Writing challenge: https://afterwards.blog/2024/02/05/afterwards-writing-prompt-5-monday-5th-of-february-connexion/

Continued from here

Scouring the corridors for any sign of a way out, Darla walked briskly, knowing exactly what the Detainers would do if they found her. She’d already scurried through at least a dozen different passageways, and each adjoining area she found led to even more open-aired hangars. The hangars were full of battle-ready fighter jets and monstrous-sized cargo ships. Each silvery gleaming monstrosity seemed to be floating in unified anticipation of what was soon to come. Flashbacks of the Old Gods kept filling Darla’s mind. How had the world she’d left just a few years ago gone from pleasant rolling hills blanketed in emerald green clover to the current devastation, which was spreading more each day? It was difficult to understand how greed could be the cause of so much despair. And where was Abbefore she wondered, had he escaped and gone back into hiding, or was he now captured along with the others? And with that last thought, a sudden searing pain shot through her arm, and then another nipped at her upper thigh. That’s when the lights went out, the flashbacks disappeared, and with the onset of darkness, the dreams began.

Continued here

Photo credit: https://afterwards.blog/

Writing challenge: https://afterwards.blog/2024/01/22/afterwards-writing-prompt-3-monday-22nd-of-january-old-gods/