Chapter III

I saw what there was to see, and said no more, no less.

There stood the Rainbow Demon, on its horse of vengeful ire. Black shadows followed it closely, shadowing its every desire. It had ridden through the mists of morning, and on through night and day. No one could hope to stand in its way, acting as if possessed by some distant calling. Nothing could touch it.

 

The demon's grinning helm stared back at me, a black-iron cauldron betraying nothing of face or even eyes, sparing nothing but the painted grin upon its lower jaw, stretching in length and girth as to encompass almost all of its face. From the helm sprouted segmented tendrils, like hair, ending in hollow spikes. Hollow, spiked shaped bell cages, jingling with a wind that did not blow.

 

That smiling visage pierced into me. A sound came from behind; my eyes only barely spared the slightest of glances, desperate to discover its source and yet unwilling to completely tear away from the sight of the Demon. I could see, I think, someone standing in the doorway. My love, she gasped.

The fiend's bells jingled so softly, betraying its shift. It saw, it knew. Her. Did I imagine? Was I so flush with panic that I hallucinated, or did its cruel grin truly widen just then?

I felt its gaze return to me, dismissing of my love and yet all too keen to her existence and life. The Rainbow Demon laughed, its bells jingling in mad discordant harmony. Again those eyes, hidden within the abyss of its helm, demanded of me, tempting, daring, interrogating.

 

I looked past it, at the spires and buildings painted with crimson swirls. At the roads now paved with streaks of yellow and red; at the dots of green and orange infused within the very walls of everything lining the street. At the pink and blue splatters, mixing and producing lovely shades of violet. I looked around it, beholding the shimmering pools glistening in the red-orange flame ridden sky. The pools that glittered with browns, cyans, magentas, and yellows.

 

I looked through it, at dabs of black ingrained along the avenues, dotting them in half. At lights and shadows of darkness I never knew flashed in the setting sun through all the holes and tears. I took in the hue of orange and yellow settling upon everything I saw, taking those colors and saturating them even more.

 

 

It

was

beautiful.

Author's Note

The first paragraph is loosely based off lyrics from the song "Rainbow Demon" by Uriah Heep.

I usually proofread my works, however as always I'm sure there are typos and syntax errors. I appreciate any and all notices of that, and will work to correct those. If I haven't do know that I did acknowledge your notice and try implementing it, but found that it detracted from the effect I wanted and so omitted it.