An End of Gods & Dust: ACT IV

“Because the world is so full of death and horror, I try again and again to console my heart and pick the flowers that grow in the midst of hell.”

- Herman Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund

“Karra!”

After Kokuo talked with Ourania about the mysterious thing that attacked Selene, he had left to go hunt down Karra, but he’d forgotten the storm outside was still raging.

“Karra!”

Kokuo had only experienced the dust storm in full swing a total of two times.

The first time was when the dust first arrived, when the storm choked out the blue horizon and smothered the sun, turning their lush, magical world to one of darkness and dust - a wasteland.

The second time was when he first left his home after his family succumbed to the dust, and was caught out in the open.

That was when he met Karra.

He could still remember the way she had emerged from the swirling black dust like a spectre of death, wrapped head to toe in protective layers that only left her bright blue eyes exposed. No words were spoken, only the kind and gentle gesture of her wrapping her cloak around his exposed skin, turning her from a bringer of his demise to a savior.

Since then, they’d never been apart.

Wrapping that same cloak tighter around his face, he pushed through the whipping black wind. He knew to stay by the cliff sides so that he wouldn’t get lost in the dust, but he had no idea if Karra had done the same. He hoped that his shouts would reach her through the howling wind and that it would be enough to locate her.

Time meant nothing inside the storm, not when it blocked out any light from above. So when he finally spotted her, it felt like a miracle.

Karra slowly walked toward him through the black dust storm, her shoulders weighed down by the weight of several water jugs hanging from leather straps strung over her arms, and from the two larger jugs she balanced on either shoulder. Determination was a shadow over her features as she struggled through the quickly deepening piles of dust with her load.

“Karra!”

She looked up, her blue eyes widening and then quickly narrowing angrily at him. “What are you doing out here?” She shouted, not stopping her march back to the cave.

He rushed to her side and took the heavier jugs off her shoulders, transferring them to his own and taking a moment to find balance with the new burden. Only then did he answer. “I came out here to make sure you were safe!”

Now that Kokuo was closer to Karra, he could see that she had been cut up very similarly to how Tryfon had been. They were like tiny scratches in sharp angles on the top layer of skin. Some bled like deep paper cuts, others were shallow, pale marks.

Karra’s blue eyes softened at his words, but the hard edge to her voice did not. “It’s too dangerous out here. That thing could be anywhere.”

They rounded a smooth sand blasted corner, a layer of purple rock rising up next to them and folding back on itself in a partial cliff overhang. “Exactly, which is why I am here,” Kokuo said.

“Idiot,” Karra hissed. “I’m fine out here on my own.”

Kokuo was silent, his eyes moving from the path ahead to Karra beside him who walked with such confidence and ease that a part of him believed that she could indeed survive out in the open on her own. Her blue eyes never seemed to waver from whatever purpose or goal she set herself upon, and anytime she had been on a mission in the past, it had always succeeded.

In fact, the only time she had ever seemed weak or vulnerable to Kokuo had been when it came to protecting him.

“Let’s stop,” Kokuo said, lowering the jugs from his shoulders. “You’re bleeding.”

Karra sniffs. “So are you.” Karra dropped her own burden, then flicked her fingers over his exposed arms.

He looked down on where she had touched him and he was shocked to see similar scratches on his skin that had collected on hers.

“How? I haven’t been out here very long. ”

Karra sighed, dragging the water jugs to the side of the cliff overhang and then sitting down unceremoniously in the sand. “It’s the dust. It’s become more dangerous over time. There are tiny bits of sharp rock among it all now thanks to its erosive properties, that’s how we get cut.”

Kokuo joined her on the ground. “I didn’t even feel it.”

“You were probably too focused on finding me to notice.”

“Makes sense.”

For a while they sat partially sheltered against the cliffside, watching the world be eaten alive by the dark wind. They didn’t speak, but in the silence a tension grew that Kokuo could barely stand.

“How much longer do you think this will last?”

Karra’s chapped lips twitched. “I was expecting you to ask why I cared more for the water than Selena.”

Kokuo turned to look at Karra, but she was still staring out into the rolling black storm.

“I understand why you asked,” he started, shuffling his sandal-covered feet into the sand. “And having Ourania and Hallas there was all Selene needed. But…”

“But?”

“It was...insensitive.”

Karra looked at him and laughed, her blue eyes twinkling in the dim, bleak light. “I think you are being too easy on me.”

“Maybe. Tensions were high on both sides, and everyone was rightfully freaked out,” Kokuo said, trying to explain to Karra how he felt about the heated exchange. “Hallas yelling and attacking you didn’t help either.”

Karra nodded, her smile remaining, though at the mention of Hallas’ powers her shoulders visibly stiffened. “Apostles...protectors of humankind.” She said the title ‘apostle’ like a curse, disgust painted brightly on her face despite the smile she still wore. “Maybe, one day, if this hell ever ends, we will be able to properly apologize for all of our argumentative tendencies…and abuses of power.”

“If this hell ends?”

Karra sighed, her forced smile vanishing, shoulders falling. “This storm has lasted for two years - its intensity is constantly shifting but never receding,” she said, her voice hollow. “If there was a way to fix it, or for it to stop on its own, I think it would have been done already.”

“What if there is a way, but no one has found it yet?” Kokuo asked, knowing how naive and desperate he must sound, but refusing to give up that last sliver of hope like a weed born in his heart.

“Most of everyone has become dust. I’d say our chances are slim.”

Kokuo closed his eyes, memories flashing in his mind of that first day, of the days and weeks that followed, and of his family at the end. “It bothered me for a long time…knowing what the dust was at first, and why there was more of it every day.”

Karra looked at him, her brow soft. She remained silent, giving him the space to continue.

Kokuo sighed and lifted up his chin, opening his eyes to look at the overhang of the cliff. “Do you think about it as dust…or bodies?”

Karra’s throat and jaw tightened as she swallowed and turned away from him, standing up and preparing the jugs to be transported. If it wasn’t for Kokuo’s attention being solely on her, he would have lost her next words to the storm.

“If I didn’t think of it as dust, I wouldn’t want to live with myself anymore.”

_____ . . . _____

Author's Note:

After a two month hiatus, we are back! : D I have decided in the spirit of this being my first big multi-chapter project that I won't be putting the final half of 'AEoGaD' into exclusive stories. It will be free for all who wish to dive into this world.

I have five more acts planned, so even if you don't end up reading this act or any before it and happen to be scrolling by, I would really appreciate you sharing this story with others, or giving it a like to help it become more visible on the platform! Anything and everything is appreciated. <3

See you in ACT V! :)

p.s. - psst, Vocal, you should add a post-apocalypse or apocalypse tag! Trust me, it'd be cool. :'o

ACT V

New here? Check out ACT I below!