Death by Death
this was written in April of 2021, so it's old, but I thought I should upload it anyways. This was one of the first drafts of Galena's death, and it's interesting to see how this differentiated from the final draft.
It’s been a month since the kidnapping. The party found out, they hunted the cult down, killed nearly everyone inside, just for Galena. You have never seen so much blood spill onto cobblestone floors before. It’s almost hypnotizing how it flows through the cracks, shining in the dim light, a deadly distraction. The halls wreaked with the scent of iron and flesh, the slightest hint of gunpowder and ash from the aftermath of a magical battle. That high elf had messed with forces for centuries. You could almost see the glimmer of the strings he had around his murder of puppets, their vision blurred with a false reality, cleverly crafted by a shifty devil of a man. It mattered not how many puppets the man had collected, for nothing could stop the wrath of an adventuring party seeking their friend.
Present day, she walks silently along side her teammates, recollecting the torture she endured, the twists in her mind, the never-ending labyrinth formed of her memories. She drags her fingers over her god symbol. Her faith swayed during the trials of death, the silence from her supposed saviors would’ve been enough to shatter anyone’s hope of rescue. Galena would know, for she saw it herself. She shutters as it rushes back into her mind. The sound of the thousands of screams, thumps of bodies, carving of flesh, the patter of blood against the already soaked floor, the singe of hot metal against skin. She’s brought back to reality by a hand on her shoulder. Looking over, she sees her best friend, Maxi, looking at her with an expression that only speaks of concern. Sighing, she shrugs off his hand, continuing to walk.
The party had been nothing else but concerned after her rescue. She would shake in the night, unable to rest for more than ten minutes before jolting back, curling away from anyone and everything. She wouldn’t look anyone in the eyes for a week, and was cautious of any movement or spell. The party knew false memories had invaded her mind, but Galena was hesitant to share the complete details of the contents of said memories. They knew not of the memories depicting the complete and utter betrayal of their friend, the bitter words spilled, the sabotage of found family, the ones that swore to protect her. She tried her best to weed out the false memories, but she could never be completely certain what was right and wrong.
Staring at the ground, Galena stops as she notices the pebbles jump and shake on the ground. The party also takes notice, as the shaking of the ground grows more and more violent. Galena feels the burn of boiling blood as it makes its way up and out of her throat. Collapsing to the ground, she chokes out a scream as her flesh sizzles over the branding that haunts her soul. A shock wave ripples through the surrounding land as a large chunk of the floor is thrust upward. The rumble dies down for only a second before the disturbance erupts from the ground, successfully breaking the surface. Galena feels the scorching tears of black blood stream down her face as her vision darkens, the ringing in her ears becoming deafening. The party, surrounding their dying friend, looks up, straight into the glowing eyes of the god of Death himself.
The party catches their balance as the tiger god slams his claws into the dirt and gravel, flashing his fangs as he glares down at Galena.
“You.”
The party starts preparing spells, shouting curses at the fuming god. Caedes pays no mind to the mortals.
“The girl that cheated death himself. You take down my followers, destroy my buildings, murder that useless piece of shit Zalveth. You alert the gods of my return, all because your friends wanted to be heroes and save your pathetic little life.”
The attacks fly through the air, arrows, guiding bolts, fireballs, they all hit the beast in front of them. Caedes shifts his line of sight to the group, ears laid flat against his head, he lifts a paw and the entire party collapses, clutching their chests as their souls shake, starting to break away from their vessels. Caedes reaches down, stabbing a claw through her shoulder and lifting her up as her gargled screams grow louder. She is forced to glance down at her fallen friends as they struggle on the ground. Caedes turns her around, snarling. Galena can feel the warm breath against her blood coated skin. She weakly grips the claw protruding through her shoulder, whispering silent pleas, words she knows won’t save her now.
“You took EVERYTHING from me!”
The god's cold claw prods at her side, hard enough to hurt without breaking the skin.
“Your ‘friends’ won’t be able to save you now, Kauffman.”
The claw digs in and drags across her abdomen. Galena’s screams echoing throughout every party member's ears, accompanied by the sound of ripping flesh and organs. Caedes drops her corpse, You could hear her skull crack open as her guts splat onto the ground, splattering everyone with black blood. Caedes’ laugh bellows through the grounds as the bright figures of Natus and Statera descend quickly from the heavens to apprehend the forbidden figure. As the party tries their best to recover fast from the soul grasp, only one member manages to choke out a word at the sight of his best friend’s body spread across the ground;
“.....Galena?”