Choke

Whatever time is in Oblivion passes slow, low energy from the tens of people muttering to each other and themselves flutters through the cave, she tries to make out Ellana’s voice as she talks with a pair of men who had just rode in on their equally disturbing meat wads to no avail. Looked important, though. She tugs at the scratchy, matted furs and “skins” Ellana gave her that hung from her shoulders to the floor, their unflattering nature not upsetting her as she looked around at what everyone else has to work with.

Light green slop lands from a whittled bone spoon to an empty beast skull, and to her surprise, is handed to her.

“Eat.”

“I’m not hungry… t-thank you-“ she starts as she turns.

“No, eat. I know it looks putrid but you’re going to be thankful you did when you could.” Their eyes meet, his inviting, honest, familiar, but very tired stare startles her.

“Erik, is that you?” She squints at him.

He only smiles and turns to the next, unbothered either way at seeing her here, offering a meal from a big pot straddling a pole above another hole behind him to the next.

Hurt, she takes the bowl and a pair of twigs passed to her from a third who’d been sitting next to her around the warm hole in front them, she inadvertently plays with the food and tries to smile at the man who handed it to her with no response. So many questions…

As moments swell, her eyes eventually fade in and out as glimpses of her family, farm, and friends pass through the shine of the hot slop. “Why…” A few of the others look at her sadly, clearly understanding exactly how she felt, but didn’t say a word. Why? This was no Valhalla, nor was it Fólkvangr, Hell? What had she done to deserve this… was it really because of how she died? No, though there was no axe in her hand, she fought against each breath as her life was stolen from-

“It’s not you… It’s because of what was done TOO you.” The recent arrival had finished talking with Ellana and was making his way over to the group. “Don’t mind the others, they have all told their stories so many times that no one seems to remember who’s is who’s, some don’t even care to remember, some have it made up in their mind that this is it, this is all there is, now they’re no better than a skin. Even the new ones get clammed up.” His accent so different that some of his words jumble as he struggles to get his point across. He doesn’t look at her directly, just to the dust on the floor being lightly whipped up by waves of warmth, crouching to stretch his seemingly recently mangled hand against it.

A few stand and wonder off, echoing bits of what he had said.

“You were drugged, weren’t you? Or…?” He finally looks her over from the other side of his outstretched, leather-clad shoulder- at not seeing whatever he was looking for, his deep brown eyes drenched in overgrown, wet, sand colored hair connect with hers, encouraging her to speak.

Her chest caves as another bout of anger clenches her teeth as she pictures Karls dry, stretched lips curling at a screaming Ebbe before… “Drugged.”

“Figures, you don’t look like shit.” He ponders, peeling his eyes off of her and back to his hand. “I’ve never done anything against my God, either, yet I’ve ended up here with people who have done both great and awful things in his eyes, seems like none of it ever mattered now that were all here, like it was all a waste of time...” He huffs. “Sorry for rambling, trying to get better about that, I was drugged too.”

“How long since…?” She says softly on the exhale, though long winded for the moment, yes, his words had found their way into her.

“3, maybe 4 years, It’s hard to be sure though down here… Got a name?”

“Frigg.”

“Northern?

She nods… “You?”

“Londt, it’s good to meet you.” He says somewhat awkwardly, not knowing if he’s embarrassed himself or not for being so casual. “France… err… south a bit.”

—

As mud cakes from below, heated seams make their way to the surface with an abrupt crackle as they meet the still air above. Small things float from sparse, dry bush to the fresh openings hoping to filter rich, mineral laced particulates through their gills and into their soft, gelatinous sacks to bring home to their nests. The minute air fluctuations of which draws those higher on the food chain in on their fingers, plucking the crunchy little parasites from the air between sharp gnashing jaws- the sound of which excites a hungry shadow, which bats at and plays gently with it’s newfound snack… twitching, a grumbling twists the shadow’s head to what it seems to have thought was nothing more than another dead human body.

The wild eyed shadow smells the air and draws up next to the lump, brushes it’s cool soft belly on the lump’s back side before it’s head whips back towards the sounds of it’s play things.

Ebbe groans through dry lips, rolls over, caked mud crumbles from his joints as he stretches openly to let the heat below take him- eyes clutched tight, till suddenly, they arent.

It is dark all but an uncomfortable hue that seems to originate from the air itself illuminates the area, more dense in some places than others as the wind picks up here and there- smells… rancid. His eyes attempt to focus as his head rolls from one side to the other, expecting to see… at least something familiar? Small, simple bunches of spores and dried vines littler the area in clumps, a few out-of-place boulders poke up from dimples as if they were dropped there, the shape of low hills fade into blackness far off… A shadow catches the corner of his eye, draws him up to his feet.

It runs.

“Wait!”

His feet chug against the ground, each step induces a break in the surface, releasing scorching hot air. He’s full nude, chasing a shadow to who knows where. What is this place…? It all looks the same for miles around-

“Shit!” Free falling into a hole, all senses full blast now as reality pulls him from what he thought might be a dream, a solid slap as a deep, coagulated pool of mush breaks his fall. Gasping for air through the hot sludge while clawing at floating masses, he quickly wrangles his way to shore… puking up bile and slime that had jutted up his nose as he rolls to his back and tries to breathe, “Uggggh…”

“How’s goes it humon… tha’ biggin’ abit ago, that you?”