How to Catch a Fish (ManxMan)

Chapter Twenty-seven: Throne of Shadows

~Chapter Twenty-seven: Throne of Shadows~

Even as I become aware that I am somehow not dead - or maybe this is death - it takes me a moment to actually really comprehend that it is possible to open my eyes. In fact, even after I open them, I am still not sure what I am seeing or if it is real and just end up staring at the weirdly-shadowed stone ceiling above my head. After a moment, I turn my head to get a better look at where I am, and though it takes me a while longer than it should, I eventually figure out that I am still in the throne room.

But there's no one else here.

Where the bodies of the dead guards should be, there is just empty space and puddles of red blood. While that could mean that they were taken away by castle staff, the fact that I am still here while there is no one else around is confusing. Carefully sitting up, my hand goes to my chest, where I was stabbed and shot, seeking out the wounds, but there is nothing there.

Freezing in uncertainty, I gingerly poke the skin where there should be a stab wound right next to my heart, but there is no give or pain. My once-white shirt is still covered in black blood, and there is a hole where the knife sank into my chest, but the actual wound is gone, which does not make sense. Even if I had enough magic left over to heal things in bursts, it would take days to heal from so many severe wounds.

How long have I been here?

Confused but not willing to wait around for someone to find me, I carefully stand up, arms stretched out in case the blood loss hurts my balance, but when the room does not start to spin, I head for the doors. When I try to open them, though, they do not budge. No matter how hard I pull and eventually push, they remain closed. After a minute, I try to kick them down, and failing that, I try to melt the hinges. Unsurprisingly but still worryingly, the doors remain unchanged.

Someone must have sealed it with magic.

After scratching my head in confusion, I turn on my heels and start inspecting the walls for any signs of a hidden entrance, but something in the middle of the room, where I had previously been laying, catches my attention. An uneasy feeling creeps up my spine as I realize what I am seeing is a grey-skinned demon body. My demon body. And it is surrounded by a pool of black blood.

That's...Skuure, that's not good.

Though part of my wants to approach it to make sure it actually is mine, I am not really sure what to do if it is, so, in order to avoid having to deal with it just yet, I lean back against the door and just stare. Even from here, I can see all the injuries I sustained in the fight on the body in all the places they are not on my real body.

My real body?

Something settles like a stone in my stomach as I continue to stare at the abandoned body. My real body must be what I am in right now, but if that is the case, then what is that motionless husk in the middle of the room? Am I...

Am I actually dead?

Sliding down to the floor and rubbing my hands over my face, I start to laugh nervously, not sure what to make of this. If this is the underworld the intruder mentioned, I'm not feeling very well-received.

- - - - - - -

If this is a dream or something, I really hope Nero wakes me up soon, I decide, as I reluctantly walk towards my husk of a body some time later. Without a clock or any other way to tell time, I have no idea how much time is passing, or if time passing in here - in my head, most likely, if this isn't the afterlife - is the same as out there.

This is so confusing.

Kneeling in the puddle of blood that has slowly been building up around the husk, I clench my teeth and try not to throw up. Because I have seen injuries like this, have treated them and had more own, but it is so wrong to see them on my body from outside my body, especially since I look dead. The husk's chest does not move, and when I put my hand next to its nose and mouth, there is no slight breeze. While all of these things would normally lead me to pronounce someone dead, it is hard to do that when I am still conscious and aware.