Chapter 9: Chapter Nine

Micah stood solitarily amongst the remnants of the deteriorating building.

At his side, a bottle of wine hung from his trembling fingers. He’d been standing there for over an hour, feeling cold, uncertain, and entirely out of his depth. Keeping the fear at bay proved challenging, especially considering the circumstances.

In an attempt to stop obsessing over the imminent confrontation, he fervently derailed his thoughts to anything but.

Unfortunately, that proved impossible.

An elusive memory from several months ago conjured itself from the deepest parts of his subconscious, reappearing with startling clarity and concrete realism. 

He remembered his knees aching back then. Subserviently, he had kneeled before Agni’s elaborate statue, reluctantly, but willingly choosing the Fire God over the Water God. He had remembered his neck bowing that day. He had remembered bending and folding his body to the fierce will of the Fi