The Dawn of the New World

The stars spun around him and all the light vanished from the world along with the safety that came with it.

Hao Xuan saw himself leaving his physical body behind, accompanied only by a superficial cape of chaos that gave some kind of protection.

He flew higher up into the air until he was above the barrier of the city of Argham that had been erected some time ago.

He reached out and touched it with his ethereal body only to feel a strong repulsive force smack it away.

'It...pushed me out. The moment my soul's connection was weakened to my body it was forcibly pushed out,' he quickly concluded. There was no basis for that statement other than a gut feeling that was telling him it was so.

'But...where am I?'

He pulled back his hand as his soul slowly rose higher into the air, following the sound of whispers coming in on the north wind.

He could see and hear things, things that should not be possible. There were strange creatures all over the place.

They looked and felt much different than the physical beings of his world, these were...incomplete?

Their forms were not solid and changed slightly every so often. The number of limbs, eyes and even the shape varied over time.

It also looked like they could easily move in and out of the barrier without much trouble which was surprising.

He peered down into Argham and saw the battle raging on at the city gates. He saw the strange demonic forms of viper and his compatriots that slithered within the shadows and numerous other things.

But the more he looked the louder the whispers became. A flood of nondescript voices constantly pestering him.

"Arura! Can you hear mommy? Where are you darling?? Please come home!"

"My wife, has anyone seen my wife?!"

"Water...someone...please..."

"We are close, Argham is in sight! Just a little bit more!"

"I can't feel my legs, someone help! Please don't leave me here! The monsters are coming! PLEASE"

There were too many to even tell apart and they were all coming in at once, so loud and needy.

Hao Xuan tried to close off his ears but to no avail, the voices could not be stopped. He tried to fly higher up to get away from them, towards the gaping black hole in the sky that was also pulling him in.

And it worked. The higher he went the quieter the voices became but the hole had other effects. It was emitting a low hum that left Hao Xuan in a daze. It was calling him in, like the song of a siren and even more deadly.

As he neared numerous limbs both human and beast reached out from within its inky depths trying to grab a hold of him.

He tried to struggle but a hushed whisper reached his ears.

'Do not resist...all that you desire resides within...'

'Yes...don't resist...' he repeated without thought or consideration.

Hao Xuan reached out to meet one of the humanoid limbs but just before he could another voice called out to him. This one was much louder and clearer than any of the others before and it was coming from the city.

"Please...someone save Eva..."

It was akin to a hammer crashing down on the glass walls that had trapped his mind. It broke the illusion Hao Xuan was put under and came to, quickly pulling back his hand that was just a few inches away.

'Not today,' he muttered.

'Soon,' the abyss replied.

He began his descent towards the source of the voice. It was calling for him, pulling him in with a kind of energy that he had never felt before, it was empowering his very soul with a newfound strength.

His speed increased with every yearning word of prayer until the lights around him dulled into nothing more than a flash.

At the same time his body stood up. Its eyes were closed and it was moving of its own accord. The churning ball of lights hovering overhead shook once before flying into his body along with the ocean of chaos around him.

All of it, however much it was sucked into his body all at once, leaving only the numerous figures behind.

They moved side and opened a path for his body as it moved of its own volition. With one large stride it was at the closed door and with another it had passed through it as if it didn't even exist.

No one saw it, no one could because of the layer of chaos surrounding it. As his soul was falling from the sky the body was moving through space and matter unhindered to meet it at the appointed destination.

And they did just before he woke up.

"Too god damn loud..."

😉