Cipher Code {complete}

Chapter Nineteen: An Abyss Of Golden Gazes •EDITED•

October, Year 483
Forest of Lacau
State of Nicia
North

Philip was cold, stiff and hearing strange things, or at least he thought he was.

"Wake, up, wake up," the voices chanted and droned.

At times they called out his name in alluring tones and seductive whispers. Other times his name was replaced with screaming and bawling then anguish and rage.

He had no clue where he was or what the sounds were, he just knew that he was still in pain—and that was good since it meant he wasn't dead, yet.

He was alive for now but a part of him knew things wouldn't stay that way for long.

Maybe it was the dense and undescribable darkness that clung to his soul and pulled it into an abyss of thick black that clued him in to that fact. Or the way it felt like he was swimming through mud, the viscosity poking at his lungs till he fought painfully for air, yet somehow could still breathe.

Philip forced his eyes open, gasping for breath as he scanned the area around him. Shock filled his brain with a sort of drunken euphoria when he realized that it was the darkness.

He just floated there with no sense of up and down, no hint of light to aid his vision as he forced panic out of him mind, giving no time for the crippling emotion to manifest as he stuck to the side of logic.

Maybe this is just a dream. He started paddling up, imagining that he was at the bottom of some lake as he cupped his hands and stroked his arms.

He kicked his legs to propel his weighty body forward only to realize that he was sinking and now upsidedown.

The dark world around him suddenly oriented itself in the wrongest way possible and he was sent tumbling everywhere, spinning out of control as the abyss dragged him every which way. Strangely enough, all he could think about was how he didn't feel like throwing up.

This isn't real.

As the thought floated through his mind Philip stopped rolling around, in fact it seemed like nothing had happened. The sea of black was stable and he was still where he was—at the center of it all. This event only served to cement the fact that he was trapped away from reality, in his thinking.

"Okay then." He decided not to try to move again, opting for the safer option of just floating aimlessly. He wasn't even sure if he was moving. For a dream, the entire scenario seemed strangely complex.

Struck with an idea, he raised his hands to his face then felt his entire body. No body parts appeared to be missing but he didn't know if that fact should make him grateful or worried. His goggles, mask, gun and knife were gone, solidifying the idea that he was stuck in an illusion created by his own morbid mind.

"Oh shit."

It was only now that Philip realized that he couldn't feel his left hand. Suddenly, his head started to pound and throb painfully as he began to remember what had happened.

Issac, the creatures. . . he could hear the voices again, a clear echo in his head and all around him.

"Philip!" They called and he winced, the black ooze around him did nothing to damper the volume of the voices; it seemed to amplify them.

But this time he recognized the voice, as impossible as it was.

"Miss Dawn?"

Philip knew that there was shock visible on his face but he couldn't help it. Why was he hearing her voice? Was this now an hallucination instead of a weird dream?