My mind was trapped in an icy fog, my body locked in place as if I had been turned to stone.
I could barely think, barely process what was happening, only that sothing unnatural had taken hold of , of all of us.
And then, I saw him move.
The orc lord, towering and monstrous, walked forward with an eerie calmness.
His heavy steps barely made a sound, his massive fra moving with an unnatural grace.
His deep-set eyes glead with sothing that sent a cold shiver through , not rage, not bloodlust.
Disappointnt.
He stopped in front of , staring down at like I was an insect beneath his foot.
His head tilted slightly, his expression unreadable.
His lips curled just slightly, not quite a snarl, not quite a smirk, just an emotionless observation.
Was this it?
Was he... judging ?
My breath, if I was still breathing, felt trapped in my chest.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t react.
I could only watch.
Then, he turned away from .
His slow, asured steps took him to Edward.
I wanted to scream, to warn him, to tell him to move, but the words died in the frozen void of my mind.
Edward remained motionless, his face still twisted in that fierce battle focus, but he was powerless, just like the rest of us.
The orc lord studied him for a mont, then exhaled sharply through his nose.
Disappointed.
Just like with .
Then, he moved again.
Beth was next.
He stopped before her, his hulking fra casting an overwhelming presence over her still form.
Beth, who had been so relentless, so defiant, now stood frozen in ti, unable to do anything as the monster before her lood closer.
The orc lord leaned in slightly, as if expecting sothing, so reaction, so proof of worth.
But when nothing ca, his head tilted again, a slow, deliberate motion.
Disappointnt.
He let out a low, guttural noise, shaking his head like a teacher unimpressed by his students.
And in that mont, I realized sothing horrifying.
He wasn’t just freezing us.
He was evaluating us.
And none of us asured up.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t even breathe.
The world around had fallen into silence, a frozen nightmare where ti itself had stopped.
My mind scread at to fight, to break free, to do sothing, but my body refused to listen.
The orc lord, his massive form looming over us, took one last look at Edward, at Beth, at .
Then, without a word, he turned his back on us.
And walked away.
It wasn’t retreat.
It wasn’t hesitation.
He had judged us.
We weren’t worth finishing off.
Yet.
My heart pounded in my chest as I watched his hulking fra move toward the city.
Toward them.
The civilians.
The ones who had no chance of fighting back.
No. No, no, no!
A spark of panic surged through , fighting against the unnatural stillness that gripped .
My thoughts were slow, sluggish, like trying to wade through thick tar.
My body still wouldn’t move, no matter how much I scread at it.
The orc lord’s heavy footsteps echoed in the eerie stillness, each one carrying him closer to total slaughter.
I could see it in my mind, the people in the city, the terrified survivors who thought they were safe.
The children.
The elders.
The ones who had already lost everything.
They wouldn’t even see him coming.
He would kill them all.
And we would be forced to watch.
I had to move.
I had to stop him.
But my body was still frozen, trapped in the grip of his terrifying power.
And the monster kept walking.
I tried to move.
Every fiber of my being scread at to break free, to chase after the orc lord before he reached the city.
But my body refused to obey.
My fingers twitched, barely.
My breathing was shallow, each breath feeling like I was dragging air through thick mud.
It was as if an invisible weight pressed down on , locking my limbs in place, suffocating with its sheer force.
Move... I have to move...
But no matter how hard I struggled, my body stayed still.
I could feel the heat of my own desperation, the rush of adrenaline trying to force my muscles into action, but they wouldn’t respond.
My mind was alive, burning with panic, but my body... my body was nothing more than a prisoner to this unnatural stillness.
The orc lord’s footsteps grew fainter.
No... No, I couldn’t let this happen!
I clenched my teeth, forcing every ounce of willpower I had into my legs, my arms, my fingers, anything that would let break free from this cursed paralysis.
My mind was shouting, roaring at my body to move, to fight, to do sothing!
I felt a slight tremor in my fingers.
A whisper of motion.
I latched onto it, pouring every ounce of strength I had into that tiny movent, trying to turn it into sothing more.
But my body wouldn’t listen.
The orc lord was getting further away.
And I was powerless to stop him.
Pain.
That was the first thing I felt when my body finally responded.
A searing, agonizing pain that tore through my muscles like fire licking at dry wood.
It wasn’t just discomfort, it was the kind of pain that told I wasn’t supposed to be moving.
That if I kept pushing, sothing inside would shatter beyond repair.
But I didn’t care.
With an excruciating effort, I forced my foot forward.
It was a pathetic, dragging motion, like a puppet whose strings had been loosened just enough to allow a semblance of movent.
My breath ca out in ragged gasps, each one feeling like knives stabbing into my chest.
Move. Just move.
The orc lord’s massive form was already a good distance away, his slow, deliberate strides carrying him toward the gate, toward the helpless people who had no idea what was coming.
And the awakened mages probably are trying to put the barrier up again.
It would take ti to pull off sothing like that again.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I forced my other foot to follow, and the mont I did, sothing cracked inside .
A sharp, splintering sensation ran through my legs, and my vision blurred from the pain.
It felt like my very bones were fracturing with every movent.
My body wasn’t built to resist whatever hold the orc lord had placed on .
The more I moved, the more it rebelled against , punishing for defying the unnatural force keeping frozen.
But I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t stop.
One step.
Another.
Agony pulsed through every nerve, but I gritted my teeth, refusing to let it win.
My fingers curled slightly, my arms trembled as I tried to lift them.
Every motion was like dragging my body through molten steel, but I was moving.
Slowly.
Painfully.
It was agonizing...
But I was moving.
The orc lord was still ahead, his massive silhouette unwavering.
He hadn’t even looked back.
As if he knew, no, as if he believed that no one could stop him.
I would prove him wrong.
Even if my body broke apart in the process.
Reviews
All reviews (0)