The line towards morning

Here I stand, moments before the break of what might just be the final day, a part of a long stretched line, bodies marking every 1,2Km milestone. Me and My convictions, My motivations, My very will. And all standing between me and my devices and the waking powers of this ancient titan is this device, Scurgere Viata, I wonder what it does, you're supposed to put your faith in it and rest will be automatic, I'm not sure, but whatever faith I may hold, I must confine it to this, even if its just a comforting lie or not, all I can do in the end is to believe, believe that I one day might see the clear truth of it all.

What time is it? It is closing onto the cusp of morning, and all I can know for certain is the time, the time I saw within the Ripple, Wednesday, the 17th of July, and in mere moments the ground of this black spot will open and the deep sea dweller will rise, and I will stand here as a fencepost of a line that might just delay it based on our faiths, is this the initial part of A5? A make-believe wall of cannon fodder, just strengthened by something abstract as belief, no, maybe it isn't just belief, maybe it all comes down to willpower in the end, the will for a potentially stable continuation.

Shaking, wild shocks assaulting the pathways of my ears, sounds of ice splitting and crumbling, giving way for something ancient and massive for the first time stretching out in a morning haze, splitting and crumbling its long-stagnant surroundings. So this is it huh? It now begins, and I will be tested on the side of this currently existing world. This feeling, is it fear? Awe? Or is it perhaps some twisted form of excitement crawling up my trembling spine? I cannot tell, it is a strong reaction for sure, I will have to keep myself together...

"Lend your strength to us" Who's talking? !!! Hands! Grabbing a hold of my body from behind, what is this? Elongated talon-like fingers locking a hold around my waist and neck, fingers engulfed within... a red membrane, oh fuck.

"Just go with the flow" It's a live fucking creature, with a voice clinging even within my head, no, I don't like this I must... Rupturing ground, leveling the dark spot as far as the eye can reach, and from its depths, the ground gives way to fleshy mountains, darkening the sunrise with its mass, mountains polarised by a side of lumpy yet slick flesh and another riddled with circular bone structures bending like thousand hard talons circling hundreds of beaks, I can't let this rise, I can't be here, I must stay, No, No, No!

The fingers, latching, locking on an iron grip, sapping me of strength, a red vapor rises around me, what's this? The flesh-covered mountains... They're slowing down? Or am I just losing it? No, I must get these off, of me, so I can see, asses, stand my ground, or flee on my own terms.

"Stand still, you will be safe with us, just give up resistance and let us guide you" No, I must get them off me, the Scurgere Viata seems to be sapping my strength, blurring my senses and intruding on my mind, I must find it, the strength,

"Cease this resistance at once, give us our share and you will live" enough,

" Nothing of me is a share for you, get, off, me!" Those talon-like fingers, their slick to the touch from the membrane, but they seem to be quite bendable, their persistent but without much core strength, my fingers, clutching their wet surface, this is it now il just need to pull...

What? The Viata is here in front of me on the ground, this sensation, scent, no I must. The world-shaking, am I flying through the air? What am I seeing? Moving mountain ranges of pink writhing flesh partly collapsing the permafrost beneath with its callus underside. Cold torrents of pain shattering my left shoulder blade, my body, I'm still, it is all so foggy, blurred out by the screaming of my scars and shattered bones, it is all so heavy, no, dark? Didn't the sun rise? I must get up, no, I can't move, move dang it move, I must move, get up on my legs and move, and follow through my... my, my object, objective? What was it, no, Straid just get Up!

Roof, ceiling, parts of morning shining through the blinders left of this room, my body, it is so heavy, this place so familiar, these bookshelves, the window, this door, am I home? Geez, it feels like I've just pulled through a hardcore flu attack, why do I feel like I'm missing something important? What is this chill crawling up my spine and assaulting my senses? Time must have passed, I might have been delirious before I got home, it all seems so foggy and with a sense that I should not be here yet, what day is it? *Creak*

"How are you feeling today big bro? Whoa, what's wrong?" This salt taste, am I crying? Jonas, it feels so long, but it hasn't, hasn't it?

"I don't know, I just feel like there have been weeks since last time I saw you" That look,

"You called us last week remember? You were feeling sick so we ended up taking you home, I hear from mother that you can have really strange dreams when you're sick like that, could that be it?"

"Yeah, that must be it, I think that I feel a bit better but I must still be sorta out of it, anyway, what day is it?" He seems a bit put off, he always has that look when he ponders something,

"It is Tuesday, why?"

"No, not just the weekday, sorry, the date"

"Ah, it is the 25th of June, why?" god it has to be today,

"I need to get up, I must see June today"

"I'll let you get dressed then, mom said that June called earlier today, she would swing by today", Why would she prioritize me today of all days, well I guess that's the type of person that she is in the end,

"Did she mention when she would arrive?",

"Around four, she wanted me to check in on you and to give you the message before she arrives",

"Thank's bro, what's the clock right now?"

"It is 15:55",

"Thanks, now get out and let me change" Jeezus, only five more minutes, I better be quick, socks, pants, T-shirt, a comfy hoodie, I need a face wash, bathroom was left across the hall right, god, the sensation of the water splashing against my face is so refreshing, *Ring* that's the doorbell, she's here, the door, I got to greet, wait, what.

"Thought we would swing by to check on you, hows the shape?"

"Seems it's better than last week, don't you think?"

June and...Jannet?