13 Home
"Old man," Kyran said as he looked at the god.
Ryu's spiked bushy white hair was similar to the pure ash falling from his territorial volcano. It was combed to the back, showing his pumpkin-shaped head with a rugged white beard.
His thick and untrimmed eyebrows were naturally slanted, making him look angry all the time. His eyes were gold with black irises—an uncharacteristically beautiful feature on his face.
He had a big-boned body, with chiseled muscles clinging onto his open-collared red robe. He was not as old as Kyran thought he would be. There were hardly any wrinkles nor impurities on his face
"Fauna," Kyran said as he looked at the child-like figure next to Ryu.
Fauna twirled his slightly curled brown hair while smiling at Kyran. His eyes were round, in complete contrast to the mental image Kyran had of him.
He would have thought that Fauna had thin, calculating eyes, more in line with his sly, snake-like attitude of scheming all the time.
He wore a dark green shirt underneath his brown utility jacket full of pockets. His brown shorts were only down to his knees, showing his white hairless leg to his brown leather shoes.
"Miss Flora," Kyran uttered as he looked at the ethereal woman next to Ryu.
Flora had a white cotton jacket over her night blue dress that was down to her ankles. It had gold leaf-shaped objects imprinted all over her dress, forming an abstract image of a garden.
She was beautiful. Pixie's beauty was that of a sunflower facing the sun and dancing alone in a field full of grass.
However, Flora's beauty was similar to a primordial tree, standing above a field of flowers, giving it shade and protection.
Her thick roots were devoid of any moss nor flowers. Her beauty cannot be touched, even by the most resilient grass.
Kyran's eyes watered, his nose red and running with snot, and his red cheeks lifted. He raised his hands, wanting to touch them, but he stopped himself.
They were gods, and he was a mere human. He does not deserve a spot in the paradise of deities—at least not yet.
"Don't hurt yourself too bad," Flora said.
"You better not forget me!" Pixie said.
"Brat! If you lose…," Ryu said, flexing his biceps and tapping it.
"Goodbye, little Ky," Fauna said with a wink. He raised his hand and pushed Kyran away with his godly power.
He looked up at the fifty human figures that caused his forceful removal before he was thrown away. They all looked down, focused on the gods below.
However, there was a single figure in the sky looking at him. They were the smallest person in the group, similar to Kyran's physique.
He imprinted their black triangular mask and red robes into his memory. He gripped his wooden cane and pointed it at the figure looking at him.
Kyran saw his surroundings stretch as Fauna's divine force threw him away. He did not feel any air resistance like he was skipping through space.
*BOOM*
Kyran looked up and saw the paradise of gods in the distance. It was floating in space, with no land underneath and no limit above it.
He was drifting further away from it, but he could see the volcano spewing out red boiling lava into the atmosphere.
*ROAR*
A beast's bellow reached Kyran and rang in his ears. He saw a giant monster covered with brown fur, reaching to the figures above with its black paws with sharp claws.
A battle ensued in the previous utopia of the gods. Tornadoes blew the place apart, walls of water crashed down, and fires exploded out in the heavens.
A bright white light blinded Kyran's eyes, forcing him to close the third eye in his forehead. The shockwave was powerful enough to send Kyran into unconsciousness.
——————
Kyran's blue yukata had tattered holes lined with burns, his long sleeves had cuts along the forearm, and his pants were tainted with mud stains.
His third eye opened, and he looked up. He was looking at the crowns of trees barely touching each other, with dead leaves dancing in the wind. A leaf fell on his cheeks.
"It's not a dream," Kyran said as he touched the dry, crunchy leaf on his face.
He sat up and took a deep breath. Those five years in paradise felt like a blurry dream, yet it was the best years he ever had.
The wooden cane made of dried vines was the only physical evidence Kyran had about the gods. He gripped it tight and pointed it up.
"HAHAHAHA! Fine. I'll make myself a god!" Kyran laughed, extending his arm as far as he could, yet the heavens were beyond reach.
His voice echoed into the empty forest of dense oak trees as the sound vibrated the bushes full of red berries.
He perked up his nose as the familiar bucolic scent of the village entered his olfactory senses. It smelled like newly cut oak trees, freshly washed clothes, and skinned animal furs.
It was familiar, tickling his brain for connections. His third eye scanned the area until he found clay houses with dried leaves as roofs lined along a bald spot in the forest.
He followed the houses, trekking barefoot in the slightly wet soil with flabby dead leaves crushed into the mix. His foot recognized it, walking step by step without his sight.
He used his wooden cane to tap the surroundings, scanning for obstacles. His cane hit an oak tree's thick root, and he stopped in place.
He raised his cane and waved it to the right until it hit a thin tree devoid of leaves. He felt the tree with his fingertips, feeling the crevices and bumps of the bark.
His finger stopped when he felt a sharp cut in the tree, not made by anything in nature. It had a large X carved into the middle of the tree.
Kyran smiled as he touched the carving. He made this mark when he was eight years old to commemorate his first adventure without his grandparents.
He was back home.
