Arion looked into the campfire and then into the shadowed trees beyond the edges of its light and shivered. He was not cut out for this kind of adventure. He could feel the seconds of his life slipping away. Heād just wanted to have a nice sabbatical, finish some poems, but no, he had to go and get himself chosen by some artifact and then there was the angel and the demonsā¦Ā
Arion glanced over at his traveling companion, the previously mentioned angelā Michael.Ā
No, fuck. That wonāt work. Thereās gotta be a different angle. Too much exposition. Too much of Arion filling in backstory for everybody elseā¦Ā
The adventurers clung huddled close to their fire. In the shadows of the trees beyond it, the demon listened to their quiet conversation:Ā
āShould we keep this pace,ā the angel was saying, āwe can reach the whatever Iāll think of a name later in a matter of weeks.āĀ
The angel was a strange-looking man: statuesque in proportion and unblemished but dressed in rags, with permanently-wide eyes covered in some kind of film that obscured his physical sight. He didnāt seem like much of a threatā but then, angels never did.Ā
His companion looked like even less of a threat. Some scared-looking human with soft hands unused to manual labor and warm brown eyes
Eh, I dunno. Feels too exterior. Different angleās good but whatās gonna happen after the demon jumps out and Michael ganks him in one swoop? Transfer of pov might be weird.
Michael tried smiling pleasantly at the little dupe heād recruited to sacrifice for his god. āIf we keep going at this pace,ā he said, āWeāll reach the ?? in a matter of weeks.āĀ
Arionās voice, when it filtered through the crackling of the fire, sounded reluctant.Ā
UUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHH FUUUCKĀ
I canāt believe I have to do thissss like I know itāll be GOOD but right now I just wanna skip to the part where theyāre FIGHTING and BETRAYING EACH OTHER and thereās DRAMAAAA actually wait I can do that thereās not like any. Laws I can write whatever I want forever
āMichael?ā Arion turned to face his angel companion, horrified. āWhat are you saying?āĀ
āThe artifactās power canāt be unlocked,ā Michael repeated, slowly, like he was speaking to a small child. āItās just here to be sacrificed to the gods,Ā along with its wielder.āĀ
The angel advanced on Arion, his face still unfairly beautiful even now, his expression a soft and pleasant smile. Michael reached out one hand, and Arion tried to take a step back and realized he was already at the edge of the Godfalls FUCK yes finally came up with a name. He glanced over the edge, towards the infinite waterfall, then back at the angel, his face filled with fear.Ā
āYou canāt be seriousāā Michael closed in on Arion, but instead of allowing himself to go over the falls, Arion reached out and took hold of Michaelās hand, held it close to his chest. āMichaelā youāre my friend. Donāt do this to me.āĀ
It was only at that moment that Michaelās expression cracked a little, then a lot. He looked so lost. āIā Arion. I have to. I cannot disobey my god. Iāll go blind.āĀ
āIād rather be blind than murder you,ā Arion snapped. Then his voice softened. āAre you really that selfish?āĀ
Michael hesitated. And then, he said, āYes,ā and shoved Arion. But as Arion fell back, he grabbed onto Michaelās shirt and used his momentum to bring the angel over the edge with him.Ā
UGH I dunno I feel like itās missing something. Longer scuffle? Maybe Michael gets the ability to fly or something? Feels just a little too fast? I guess itāll feel better when the book is finished and thereās all the foreshadowing and tension before this moment.Ā
You know what thatās good enough for today. I think Iām going to go and get some hot chocolate and tell my agent itās going good. I can always write the bulk of it a couple months before the draft is due anyways, itās not like Iām that slow of a typist.