Chapter 4
The Unseen Shield
The cloaked figure explains his inability to reach Kenneth is due to a radiant 'flashlight' beside him. He refuses to reveal his face, citing the blinding light. He shows Kenneth a vision of all humanity's bodies, claimed by him.
The air in Kenneth’s dream was thick, not with the comforting scent of his usual evening tea, but with the acrid stench of decay and despair. It clung to him like a shroud, a palpable entity that seemed to press in from all sides. He could still feel the phantom sting of heat, the imagined scrape of dry bones beneath his bare feet, the distant, echoing screams that had pierced the suffocating darkness. He shivered, pulling the thin covers tighter around himself, a futile attempt to ward off the chill that had settled deep within his bones.
The man in the off-white garment. His presence was a cold, unwavering certainty in the midst of the infer