[ the beast ahmi eventually comes across is a disgusting thing once she returns from the sixth layer, and her curiosity to watch the tentacles from afar is cut short when she sees a man kneeling down, an appendage wrapped around him. it’s then that ahmi feels something wrong, and the woman, with brilliant red patches of scales and a slowly disappearing pair of horns, wings and a tail, runs, as fast as her heels can click. oh, no she thinks, coming out in worried whispers. nononono, no. she doesn’t think when she bounds up to the man and crouches herself, her arms coming around to embrace him and a wing fighting to do the same (its flaps are dissipating, and whatever dragon features she had were leaving her as well). she attempts to pull him back up. ]
You can do it, up.
[ she constantly looks over her shoulder to watch the eye, before one second too late, and another tendril touches her ankle.
reality spins in an array of whispers, and she hears it: reality shifting. bouncing balls of children haphazardly jingle around them into the city, their laughs playful and coaxing. come play with us, auntie! the lights turn into flaps of papers in the wind, and fold themselves into planes, making sounds loud enough to rival fighter jets as they ride the winds.
it is very heavy all of a sudden, and ahmi’s legs want to give in as well. she fights, nevertheless. ]
Boy, [ yes, a boy, despite his age, ] boy, you must help me—
vb
You can do it, up.
[ she constantly looks over her shoulder to watch the eye, before one second too late, and another tendril touches her ankle.
reality spins in an array of whispers, and she hears it: reality shifting. bouncing balls of children haphazardly jingle around them into the city, their laughs playful and coaxing. come play with us, auntie! the lights turn into flaps of papers in the wind, and fold themselves into planes, making sounds loud enough to rival fighter jets as they ride the winds.
it is very heavy all of a sudden, and ahmi’s legs want to give in as well. she fights, nevertheless. ]
Boy, [ yes, a boy, despite his age, ] boy, you must help me—
[ she doesn’t know if she can get up alone. ]