Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 57
57
Banno could feel again. He could feel all of it; the excitement, the joy, the energy, building up inside. The last time he had felt like this was when he had little Valery in his arms, looking down at her smiling face. Was it because every step was taking him closer to being with her again?
He took a deep, deep breath, not caring about the cold going into his chest anymore. The cold couldn't touch him. In fact, it was crisp and invigorating. Even the snow beneath his foot didn't bog him down anymore, but instead seemed to spur him on to go faster. It was this place, this slit in the mountain, this magical entrance that would lead him into the womb. There, they would finally become one. They would merge into something greater, something whole. And then, when their ecstasy was done, they would finally give birth to their vengeance together. They would find everyone who had ever done them wrong, and they would eat their still-beating hearts right out of their shattered ribcages. And the best part? He would be able to taste it. With Vallah and Valery together, inside of him, a part of him, loving him and loving each other forever and ever, he could feed all he wanted and the taste would stay with him. The world would go from lifeless grey ash to vibrant colour and sunshine. He would save it by saving himself. By making himself whole and complete, so too would the world become whole and complete. It was happening already. He could smell and see and hear and feel and taste everything around him, all at once.
The sky, a jagged cut in the walls of the Cora's flesh, split wide open just to make room for his passage, filled with dying sunset's glow, lingering gold in the west, purple and infected to the east, darkening grey between, birthing flakes of snow.
A thousand Wolves at his back, false spectres pretending to be real, simple tools to satisfy a simple need.
Mother was up ahead, making strange hand gestures and muttering constantly, praying to the mountain, thanking it for letting them pass through.
She should be praying to me, instead... Banno thought. Maybe, once this was all over, he'd give her a chance to pray for mercy before the end. He was quite curious to hear how such a prayer might go.
There was blood dribbling beneath his eyepatch, slowly building up behind the leather, but what was that compared to the excitement building up inside his heart? Everything he had ever wanted, he would gain in the next few hours. Maybe even sooner.
He could actually see Ander up ahead, carrying that Fox bitch on his back. They had come through here after taking his eye and his foot, and the after-image of their passing was still strong. This path he was walking right now was the same path they had walked all those months ago. This very space he was occupying right now once contained their flesh. He could smell it. He could taste it. Every twist and turn inside this birth canal of stone was taking him closer and closer to everything. His happiness. His revenge. The culmination of his life, and by extension, everyone else's. It was waiting for him. Waiting for him to reach out and claim it, waiting for him to bite down and never let go, waiting for him to finally reach the long awaited climax he had been holding back for so, so long...
There was a new smell in the air, one that didn't belong to a sweaty pack of Wolves. Banno stopped and sniffed. The remains of his cheek split open and a fresh gout of blood spilled down his jawline, melting the clots that had frozen into his fur.
There were shadows in the mountain that didn't belong, shadows that moved against the sway of the trees.
The sun, already paled by layers of thick clouds, finally disappeared completely, swallowed by the earth, throwing the pass into complete and total darkness.
It didn't last long, though.
A bright tongue of flame appeared halfway up the mountain, nestled on top of a rocky outcropping. It danced and spluttered in the wind, its orange light reflecting off dozens of icicles, creating hundreds upon hundreds of phantom fires among the stones. Moments later, another one appeared on the opposite side, flaring out of the shadows as if by magic, staring down at them all like a pair of demonic eyes in the dark.
The lumps of meat at his back came to a sudden stop, and without the constant crunch of feet upon snow, the wind became that much louder, screaming through the narrow pass, slapping them all in the face with slivers of ice.
Another torch came to life, followed by another and another. They streaked through the pass like a line of fireflies, jumping ahead a few hundred strides at a time, racing towards the end.
How convenient.
Crunching footsteps and the haggard breathing of a piece of meat that could barely stand. It was Dorin, huffing and wheezing, clinging to some she-wolf whose name he could not remember. They were both grey and frosted with snow. Whole clumps of the stuff were accumulating in their fur. Dorin looked up at him with a big, grumpy frown on his face.
"They know we're coming!" He had to shout to be heard above the wind.
Banno bent down, leaning closer and closer until they were almost close enough to touch noses. Something wet trickled from beneath his eyepatch, flowing down his cheek and across his lips in a warm line. He smiled.
"Good."
'Sup, bitches! I'm baaaaaack! :D
Sorry about the long wait. I never imagined it would take this long, but I'm glad I took the proper amount of time to get things just right. That being said, there are a LOT of characters in this story, and all of them have stuff to say, which means there'll be a lot of rapid POV switches in the future (I usually write from the POV of the character experiencing the strongest emotions at the time). This means that some of the subchapters might be a bit shorter than usual (sorry about that), but there'll be many long subchapters, too, so hopefully they'll balance each other out. I hope you'll enjoy this last leg of my story. :P
It feels good to be back. :)
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