Chapter 136: The old man and the child
There stood a man, a old man, a very old man that exuded a great deal of power with that very step, a step that resounded throughout not just this one island, but throughout this whole realm, a step, a sound that woke up those ancient ones that resided under the islands, gnawing away at their roots, that slithered through nothingness, squirming to survive, that terrified the few that had found cities, that turned the few that ventured across the endless chains into warriors looking around all over, but more than anything, it was an announcement of arrival, an announcement that the being that now stood before the unconscious Cades, his back on the gravel and all fours stretched apart.
He was mantled in a medieval garment made of linen, his pants reminded one of relaxed legwear for days off of work, dark green and filled with a great amount of power, that was clear, and yet, nothing oozed out from him, nothing affected his surroundings and even the power he had been exuding slowly vanished once more, seemingly turning into nothing as if it had always been nothing.
His upper body was covered in the same kind of garment, this one black, with long sleeves and various strings attached, their purpose not entirely clear, if they even had a purpose.
The hair of the mysterious being was unkempt, greyish white, messy and so long it reached the chin of the being, with some of the slightly oily strands even reaching his neck, something that would've disgusted most barbers, but to this being it seemed almost as if it didn't care about such things anymore, it seemed as if it was too powerful, too great, too much.
Then another appeared, this one constantly changing form, but it was clear of what this being was, it was the same as the statue that Cades had been looking at for such a long time, the statue of the child.
At this point Cades might've remembered the painting on the door of the old man and the child and realized that it might very well be about this man and this child whose form was constantly changing, as if to almost average out between all children, or rather, as if to pick what child he wanted to be, what child would end up being the best and most likely choice.
As the two stood there the old man suddenly looked at the child and arched his back over, causing a weird sound to resound from the stones that seemed to be about to burst from the pressure of the old man standing atop them despite not even having been dented by the weight of both Cades running around and the monster's rampage.
But as soon as he did they were somewhere else, somewhere that Cades would've known far too well, everything had changed, he would've had no idea where he was right now, but he would've known that he was on one of the many chains in this endless, accursed realm, and then, he would've screamed aloud, cursing the beings if he wouldn't have been so absolutely terrified by the two beings that now both looked like wingless ehetrians.
The old man looked at him with his eyes glowing in a silver light.