Page 112 of The Darkest Hour

I knew what was about to happen.

The realization hit me like a thundering physical blow.

“Worship. . .worship. . .worship. . .”

The masked man raised the bone knife high above his head, and that deadly blade was poised to strike.

To plunge deep into Havoc’s chest.

No. Please, no.

The ritualistic movements of the masked man were slow, deliberate, as if he relished every second leading up to the moment of violence.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

“No!” The scream tore from my throat. I rose from the ground.

All the figures looked up at me, yet still chanted, “Worship. . .worship. . .worship.”

I broke free from the crowd and even the frozen grip of terror that had held me in place, and surged forward. “Don’t kill him!!”

“Worship. . .worship. . .” Many of the figures reached out with skeletal hands. Some of their fingers clawed at my clothes as they tried to pull me back. “Worship. . .worship. . .”

I couldn’t stop.

I wouldn’t stop.

Havoc’s life hung in the balance.

The knife began to descend towards Havoc’s chest in slow motion.

“No!” My scream echoed through the cave. “Please, no!”

“Worship. . .worship. . .”

I sprinted up to the stone pallet with my hands outstretched.

I was so damn close, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to be fast enough.

But, right as the bone knife was about to pierce Havoc’s flesh, my hand connected with the masked man’s arm, and the world shattered into chaos.

The knife clattered to the ground.

And this ancient, otherworldly horrific scream tore from the masked man’s throat.

The chanting stopped abruptly.

The cave plunged into an eerie silence, broken only by the ragged sound of my own breathing.

Then, the masked man crumbled into bits of black and red sand and then into nothingness. His headdress fell to the ground. The black feathers scattered like dead leaves in a storm.

I turned back to the crowd to see their reaction.

All the hooded figures began to disintegrate one by one, their bodies collapsing into piles of ash that swirled over and over in place and then seeped into the cave floor.

I turned to look at Havoc, but the world was shifting, collapsing in on itself.

The cave’s darkness began swallowing everything in its path.

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