Ayden looked around as his small body shivered.

The endless horde of creatures before him blared out what felt like praise as they seemingly offered themselves to the one above.

Ayden looked around and saw a certain house surrounded by foggy marshes.

He took several deep breaths before dragging Ayanna and Àlainn towards the house.

He eventually reached the point where the beach ended and the marsh began.

The house was only a few meters in front of him, but no matter how hard he kicked his legs, the cabin refused to get closer.

Ayden coughed painfully before gently placing Ayanna and Àlainn on the sand.

He tried walking towards the house, but it was almost as though an invisible wall stopped him from walking any further.

Ayden’s mind then trembled as flashes of mass sacrifice appeared in his mind.

“Purge the unnatural!” A voice yelled as the blood of the unwilling ran along the pre-carved paths of a certain floor in a dark and cruel place.

“Purge the false god, the idol and the heretic!” The voice yelled as more visions popped into Ayden’s mind.

He saw several people, clad in grey clothing, descend into the heart of a certain mountain.

Those people then raised their spears and swords and stabbed a certain large creature, whose body was a mass of slimy tentacles and blubbery flesh.

The creature let out disgusting gurgles and cries as it kicked its muscular limbs and frantically swung its tentacles.

Aydnen then saw a vast plane covered in strange white flowers and he spotted what looked like a woman far off in the distance.

Above him was a white sky, although streaks of color could be seen coming in and out of existence.

The visions rapidly vanished and Ayden found himself kneeling on the cold, damp sand.

Ayden touched the invisible wall and smacked it lightly.

“Let me pass.” He said before punching it with all his strength, hurting his hand in the process.

“Let me pass-!”

Ayden quickly turned around as the world trembled.

A mind-numbingly low sound filled the air as the colossus lowered its hand towards Ayden.

Ayden’s face twisted into a scowl as he rushed to Ayanna’s side.

“No! Leave us alone!” Ayden yelled, straining his voice as he used his body to shield Ayanna and Àlainn.

The colossus slowly lowered its humongous index finger, which had a texture reminiscent of dark oceanic coral.

“Leave us alone!” Ayden cried as he closed his eyes.

He then felt something wet touch his head, but his fear kept his eyes closed.

Ayden bit his teeth as the sound of shattering glass filled the air.

The chorus of praise hadn’t stopped, but Ayden could hear something else.

Wind.

He opened his eyes as the colossus slowly walked towards the ocean.

Its body slowly faded as it moved away.

This, unfortunately, lead to the increase in the screams from the many creatures that lined the beach.

Ayden ignored them as he turned around to see that not much had changed-

A breeze hit Ayden’s face and unlike the cold, cruel wind of the beach, this one felt familiar.

Ayden grabbed Ayanna and Àlainn before dragging them across the boundary.

The mosaic of screams then instantly vanished.

Ayden turned around to see that he was surrounded by marshland.

He shook his head before carrying Ayanna and Àlainn towards the house in front of him.

He gently placed them down before unlocking the door.

Ayden carried the two to the bed before dropping them there.

He then inspected Ayanna’s condition to find that she had calmed down and blood had stopped pouring out from everywhere.

Ayden’s concern then shifted to Àlainn, whose body trembled slightly.

He quickly undressed both of them before covering them in several blankets.

He then lit what few candles he could find before throwing several pieces of wood into the stove.

Ayden grabbed a bucket before running down to the river where he filled it up before returning to the kitchen.

He then filled a medium-sized pot and sat on one of the chairs surrounding the kitchen table.

Ayden’s heart then slowly calmed and the pain he had accumulated revealed itself.

It started with his legs.

All of the joints, from his ankles to his waist ached tremendously.

His arms were next, they became increasingly numb as he sat in the darkness of the kitchen.

His eyes then burnt furiously as tears ran down his face.

Ayden’s chest pained so incredibly, that he hunched over and wept uncontrollably as the light from the red moon invaded the kitchen.

His silent cries were lost in the darkness of the night.

.

..

Ayden was awoken by a loud crash.

He stood up and grabbed a kitchen knife before slowly walking towards the door.

“Oi! It is absolutely freezing out here, open the door please!” A certain voice yelled.

Ayden quickly opened the door to find a large crow-like creature, wielding two daggers and carrying a claymore in a backpack in its mouth.

It had two sets of eyes and its extra arms were muscular as well as its legs.

“Well? Can I enter or not?” Fea asked.

“Umm...” Ayden droned as he made way for Fea, who was a few centimetres taller than him now.

Fea dropped all of the weapons he had before walking into the bedroom.

Ayden joined him and the two watched as Àlainn and Ayanna slept.

“Are you ok?” Ayden asked, but Fea wrapped his large wing around the boy, who noticed that some of Fea’s feathers were grey.

“Daft child. I should be the one asking you that.” Fea said, his voice, a gentle rumble.

“I…” Ayden asked as his legs trembled.

Fea slowly applied pressure onto Ayden, forcing him to sit down.

“There, there,” Fea said as fresh tears ran down Ayden’s face.

Ayden cried and cried as Fea held onto him tightly.

Fea didn’t let go. Not until Ayden had completely finished weeping.

“How are you feeling? Yar’ Ley told me that you managed to get Ayanna and Àlainn to safely. Care to tell me how you did it?”

Ayden looked into Fea’s big brown eyes.

Well, the two bottom ones.

“I was trapped on a beach with countless monsters. They were all screaming strange things. Then… I saw the biggest monster imaginable. I tried running away with mom and Àlainn, but an invisible wall stopped us from moving further. The giant monster then reached out towards us and I think it broke the invisible wall and so I grabbed mom and Àlainn before coming here.” Ayden said as he wiped his face.

Fea nodded before standing up and walking towards the bed.

“What about you?” Ayden asked as he stood up.

“Mmm… I went on a little adventure while you were gone, let us leave it at that for now.” Fea said as Ayden walked up to him.

“What I will say is that I awakened in a way previously demonstrated by our beloved. Our minds and bodies are capable of so much… so much potential sealed away. I understand that the risk of madness and possible transcendence is there, but still…” Fea said as he looked at Ayanna and Àlainn.

“Make them some tea,” Fea instructed.

The boy walked out of the room.

Fea sighed deeply before looking out of the window.

The faint redness of the moon made his heart ache so painfully, but he accepted the pain wholeheartedly.

Ayden eventually returned with two cups of tea.

Fea then gently shook Àlainn.

“Ayden!” Àlainn screamed as she shot herself into an upright sitting position.

She stared at Fea before looking at Ayden, who wore a faint smile.

Àlainn sighed before clasping her hands together.

“Thank goodness you’re safe.” She said as tears rolled down her eyes.

Ayden hugged her tightly as Fea approached.

“Boy, come here,” Fea instructed.

Ayden reluctantly let Àlainn go before facing Fea, who offered him one of the two cups.

Àlainn noticed the concerned look on Ayden’s face as she accepted the cup from Ayden.

"Worry not, sweeting. Be sure to rest. I'm sure you're beyond exhausted.” Àlainn said as she raised the cup to her bruised lips.

“The night grows harsh and I don’t think we can keep running anymore,” Fea said with a low pur.

Ayden nodded as Àlainn finished the last of her tea.

“That was delicious.” Àlainn with a smile.

A tear then ran down her face, but Fea raised his hand.

“Sleep now, Àlainn. Ayden, let us check on Ayanna.” Fea said as he walked over to the other side of the bed where Ayanna slept.

Her body was covered in a layer of her own dried blood.

Fea squeezed his fists.

“Where do we even begin?"

.

...

Ayanna held onto whatever thoughts brought her comfort as her mind was bombarded with all manner of flashes and visions.

She witnessed the births and deaths of entire worlds.

She saw the construction and subsequent destruction of great cities belonging to all manner of civilizations.

Some things she saw were beyond comprehension.

Like the vision of a being overlooking all of creation with cold, uncaring eyes and the meeting of a council bound not by space nor time.

Ayanna bit her teeth as her mind was stretched to its thinnest, but no matter how extreme the pain became and no matter what she saw, her thoughts remained focused on that oh so dark and gentle place in the middle of a certain marsh.

Actually, the more she thought about it, the clearer her mind became.

So much so, that she could actually smell freshly brewed tea.

Two voices could be heard within the ocean of information that swarmed Ayanna’s mind.

“Ayden?” She tried calling out, but she found herself unable.

She needed to focus a little harder and so she did.

The voices became clearer and Ayanna could feel a strange sensation welling up within her.

It got to the point that a big smile formed on her face, even as she witnessed the end of time.

Ayanna thought back to the infinite paths.

One of those would lead her back to her family.

Well, that’s what she hoped.

She needed to find that path that was linked to her home.

Ayanna blinked to find an infinite amount of ethereal paths and they were all connected to a central point deep within the darkness.

A bright flash revealed that the darkness wasn’t as empty as it seemed.

Ayanna’s eyes widened as she watched gargantuan beings and structures floating about in the infinite.

Large masses of flesh and other kinds of matter seemingly willed their way across the vastness of the darkness and enormous cities hung, their structures without conventional foundations.

Ayanna shook her head before returning her focus to those sweet thoughts.

A certain path revealed itself in the darkness as the terrible flashes died down.

Ayanna willed herself towards the thin ethereal strings and he held it gently only for her mind to be filled with a vague sense of belonging.

Yes. Ayanna concluded.

This would be her path home and the more she thought about that which she held most dear, the brighter the string became.

Ayanna then felt a strange force pulling her along with the string.

She smiled as she left the terrors in the darkness behind and she let out a relieved laugh as she came across a countless amount of floating gardens.

Far beneath them was the head of what looked like a gigantic woman and it seemed as though all of the gardens were connected to her by some unseen force.

Ayanna didn’t care.

All she wanted was to return home and that’s exactly what she did.