Alistair couldn't speak.
His hands trembled and a bead of sweat trailed down his temple.
He needed to scream.
But he couldn't.
He slightly opened his mouth but nothing came out.
It was as though his vocal cords disappeared.
Eventually, his knees gave out, and he fell to the ground.
Staring at the bodies surrounding him.
Alistair's grip on reality blurred, his brain couldn't process the scene around him.
Then his stomach dropped.
Something was wrong.
Suddenly, the sky went red.
The clouds sped up.
Alistair had seen this before.
His mind was consumed with dread.
This was the diety.
It was back.
Alistair looked up to the heavens.
Yearning for an angel.
Though the force that loomed over the land was not gentle.
No.
It was of something hellish.
Something unholy.
He felt his bones shake.
He wanted to close his eyes and bury his face in the ground, but he couldn't.
He was exposed.
Exposed to the deity in the middle of the surrounding carnage.
So he had no choice, but to keep staring up.
Up.
Up where the gods reside.
There are good gods, he thought.
They are just not the ones looking upon him in this moment.
" What…"
Alistair was still speechless.
But then he felt something.
It wasn't fear.
It wasn't sadness.
It wasn't guilt.
It was anger.
No.
Rage.
Uncontrollable fury.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"
Alistair called out to the red sky.
Bellowing with all his heart.
"THIS LAND IS MY PEACE! MY HOME! WHY DO YOU WANT TO TAKE IT FROM ME? THIS IS ALL I HAVE!"
Tears started streaming down Alistair's face for the first time in years.
For the first time since the orphanage.
Something descended from the sky.
It was all too familiar but still incomprehensible.
"You wish to know why I am bestowing chaos upon this land?"
"Yes."
The deity descended further.
Further and further until it was mere inches away from Alistair's.
Then it chuckled darkly.
"power."