Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Your heroes for ghosts?
Sam slid right under the beast, successfully grabbing his cube - yet he saw the rocks falling and thought for a second it would be the last thing he saw; then he was surrounded by a crackling electricity, saw it hurt the monster. He barely even noticed his pain for a moment when he made it to the other side, confused and thrilled by what had happened.
The pain did make it's way to him eventually, though. He yelled out a cry and curled in on himself, squeezed his eyes shut as the intensity of it shook through him. It was more than the few paper cuts or tea burns he'd had since the upgrade, it was all consuming and burning.
But there were things to do and he could not revel in it forever. Shakily he stood up, looked to Ashetta and Zariah (and briefly, to the crumpled thing that had once been Aedion) then continued upwards.
When they opened the door, Sam only recognised one of the crowd. He had not lost many he had loved (or at least, that he remembered) and had had very few close acquaintances. But immediately he saw one face among the group that made his eyes widen, instant choking emotion in his throat.
Upon being kicked out of his home after the Ascension didn't work to 'fix' him, he had been taken in as a scared teenager by a kindly old man with a book stall in the market. Cornelius had not expected him to speak, had not asked anything of him at all other than that he watched how the books were made. And one day, Sam had asked to make his own. It had been the start of the rest of his life.
The sunny, wrinkled face smiled at him and he couldn't help the fond look back, but...he had always been a cautious man. Something was wrong here. People didn't just die then show up at the top of the Spire. Sam kept his eyes on his old friend but stayed by the door, watching as Ashetta approached her loved ones nervously.
---
Sam goes upwards, sees Cornelius but does not approach, wary of the 'ghosts'.
Samuel
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
