Trouvaille | Technoblade x Reader

Chapter 3 - The Temple

Heart pounding, you almost turned in the other direction, but the shadows began to look an awful lot like men as the night began to play tricks on your weary mind. You froze, hand on your sword, as the bullfrogs resumed their croaking beyond the bloody stone pillar.

You weren't a fool. You had heard stories of the Old Gods as a child, and while some were pleasant and merciful, others were less so. Amongst the frightful tales about the Goddess of Death and the God of the Sea, there was another god that was spoken about in hushed whispers: the Blood God.

You had never dreamed of finding an old temple, much less a temple of the Blood God himself, but you had stumbled across a very obvious marker that presumably led to one of his only remaining temples. Only fools and murderers sought out the Blood God, but then again, only fools ran towards their hunters, you supposed.

Either way, you were thoroughly fucked. And not in a good way.

For a moment, you considered running away from the stone pillar, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. If even you were hesitating to follow the path, the Butcher Army may take the time to hesitate as well. Plus, it wasn't like the Blood God was still alive. Without any worshipers to sustain him, you doubted that he would have lived longer than a year in his solitude.

And if he was alive...

Well, you would cross that bridge when you got to it.

You took off in the direction of the stone, hoping that you were miraculously heading away from the temple instead of towards it.

*****

The sun was rising as the Butcher Army caught up to you. Streaks of pale orange light were beginning to filter through the treetops as you raced past another stone pillar. You were wheezing with every breath, and your legs were close to giving out. If you were to turn around, you would see flashes of diamond swords glinting in the forest behind you.

They were close enough that you could hear the heavy footsteps of their boots and the soft growling of the dogs. You knew that if you stopped for just a moment to breathe, they would catch you. Fear nipped at your heels as you sprinted forward.

Just in time, you noticed a creeper approaching from the right. You threw yourself to the left, but the creeper exploded a few seconds after you passed it. The sound of a dog yelping greeted your ears, and a few voices shouted out at the blast.

Your win was short lived, though.

Moments later, a flash of a diamond axe lashed out from your left, and you barely managed to dodge the edge of the blade. A hulking man with a beard stepped out in front of you, his large axe swinging down at your neck.

The woosh of his axe swinging by your head greeted your ears, and you lashed out quickly with your iron sword. As he cried out in pain, you resumed running, blood now dripping down your iron sword.

Silently, you prayed for his death to be slow and painful.

You could practically feel the dogs' gaping maws gnashing at your heels, and your eyes burned with tears as your lungs gasped for air. Your entire body felt like you were seconds from collapse. For a moment, you feared your strength may leave you, and you would die in this forest having given them only a pitiful fight.

You considered turning and facing them, dying with honor and not fear, and that's when you spot the strange structure out of the corner of your eye: a temple. Stone cracking with age and moss creeping across the roof flitted across your vision. Clarity struck through you for a moment, the sound of hurried footsteps and distant yelling greeting your ears. You made a decision then. A decision that you were pretty sure would end in your untimely demise, but what other choice did you have?