𝕴𝖓 𝕳𝖎𝖘 𝕯𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖒𝖘 | Xiao x Reader Sequel

10

You continued fighting, throwing icicles at the figures whenever they got too close. Slowly but surely, you were making your way towards the edge of the mountain. It would be easier if you could get rid of a few souls before proceeding with your plan. Or at least, that was what you hoped.

Luckily, you were able to lure some of them off the edge as they attacked you, decreasing the number you would need to deal with. Hopefully, that meant your odds of succeeding would be higher. You refused to give up hope just yet, but you also knew it was unlikely you'd be able to get out of this alive.

By now, you were exhausted, still not having gotten the chance to catch your breath. On top of that, the beings that made up Xiao's Karmic Debt had absorbed so much of your energy earlier that you were surprised you could still keep going. You were running out of time now, you could feel it. Wasn't it ironic how the beings that had plagued your lover for so many years may now be the ones to end you?

Despite being in the dreamworld, you knew your body was dying. You could feel the burning on your skin, sense yourself becoming weaker as time passed. If you were going to try to make it back to reality, you needed to act now.

You glanced around at the snarling souls, wishing you'd been able to get rid of a few more. Nevertheless, you took a deep breath and drew all your focus towards the ground beneath your feet.

A second later, a circle of ice formed beneath you, and then it rose up, creating a strong pillar and bringing you towards the sky.

You were barely out of their reach by the time the souls got to it. They were hot on your trail though, digging their claws in the icy surface and climbing towards you. Your plan hadn't exactly accounted for them being able to do that and, frowning, you rose the pillar higher.

You had to get out of here without them following, and the only way to do that was through the sky. You remembered how, back when Xiao first saved you from your dreams, he'd brought you through the sky. This time, it would have to be up to you to save yourself.

The closer you got to the cloudless glowing white abyss, the less steady you could feel the pillar becoming. It swayed with the gentle breezes of the space, but you tried to assure yourself it wouldn't fall, even though you weren't so confident that was true.

You averted your gaze from the dark void below, knowing now wasn't the time to be afraid of heights, not with the monsters climbing after you.

You would have continued raising the pillar forever, trying to reach the sky, if an invisible barrier hadn't stopped you. You hit your head on it, stopping in your tracks and barely managing to save yourself from losing your balance and falling right off. For a moment your vision blurred, as if your many wounds were finally beginning to catch up with you. You forced yourself to keep going anyway. At this point, you were too close to give up.

You tried to focus on creating a door, like you'd done to enter Xiao's dream before. You wished to be able to escape, to wake up again and not be followed by the horrible remnants of those vengeful gods.

They were getting closer now, and you started panicking when nothing happened. Why wasn't it working? One of the souls had reached you now, and you quickly shot it with an icicle, knocking it off the edge. More were on the way.

Finally, the familiar sound of materializing stone brought your attention to the area just above your head, where a door had appeared. Not sparing a moment to look back at the creatures that were following, you reached up for the handle.

But just as your fingers made contact with the metal, you were met with a familiar and horrifying sight. The black strings that had bound you earlier reappeared, grabbing your ankles and wrists. Everything around you was starting to turn a tint of red, and the ice pillar cracked.