Nuah's body laid still on the ground for a few moments anf then his body started burning with white flames, then he twitched and convulsed...
It kept burning for a few seconds until the the body suddenly stopped moving, then the burning body stood up !!
What I saw in front of me is a skeleton covered with white flames, his clothes turned pitch-black.
His hand that now from nowhere is somehow holding a rifle!?
'OH SHIT, H?ll noO'
The second he moved his hands aiming to shoot at me, I already dodged the upcoming bullet.
The shot hit a tree and destroyed a hole in it, the tree started falling immediately with a creaking sound.
I was already on my feet running to safety, the problem is that dodging bullets while running away is near impossible, thus I always kept a tree between me and him.
I moved from a tree to another, the bullet destroyed one tree after another...
But all he does as he stood his grounds, was aim shoot and reload, he slowly takes a step forward and after a while takes another step forward.
Every shot he aimed always smashed the tree I hid behind.
If this damn thing is really a shroud then I really have no hope...
As I stood behind another tree the flaming shroud did not shoot this time, instead took a few steps forward then he started running.
'Crap!'
I was about to jump out to another tree but then I realized his trick, that is exactly what he wants, the second I jump out I'll be dead.
I waited as he got closer and closer, then I jumped upwards and saw it, the shot inhalated my previous hiding spot like it was nothing, black flames burned the crispy wood.
I stood over a branch looking down, the shroud stared at me as he reloaded the rifle, his white skeleton turned black and the white flames turned ever so slightly red-ish.
Then I jumped to another tree the second he lifted the gun to aim...
The shot burned the skin of the tree like butter, I watched the white flames destroy the tree in awe.
Another shot, another shot then another shot, tree after tree each one fell easily to the devastating destruction of the shroud's rifle.
The rifle was also black with white flames covering it.
My breathing kept getting heavier and heavier, but one thing was un-understandable is why don't I feel fear?
I do feel the desire to preserve my life, I do feel the adrenaline rush and I feel irritatation and sorrow, but none of those feelings are fear.
I am sure in a way my body does feel fear, my mind on the other hand, my mind seems to not register fear at all, yet I feel every emotion close to fear...
Running from one tree to another, the hateful shroud kept following me through the dense forest...
As I jumped from one tree to another I thought of possible ways to deal with the bastard, like taking his rifle or throwing a big rock at him or using the bird's spirit that still resides somewhere in the gem keeping it functioning.
I realized that now I could use the bird spirit to strengthen any part of my body not just my right hand.
In any case grabbing his rifle is just dumb since it's burning with flames, so I'll try rocks.
As I noticed a polished rock quite far away, I took notice of where the shroud is at the moment, then I jumped to another tree.
The tree I jumped to immediately got shot as I was a finger away from reaching it.
Before I give the shroud any time, I jumped to another tree and immediately jumped to another tree.
Then I reached the rock.
I put all the power I had to lift the heavy object then with my powerful feet I jumped to a not so high branch, then stood on it.
The second the shroud shot the lower spot on the tree aiming to shoot my previous hiding spot, he was close enough for me to throw the rock at him.
Straining my muscles I through the rock and it flew for not so far, which I expected.
The rock fell fast on the shroud, and before the shroud could lift his rifle the rock already crushed his skull...
The body fell to the ground... but only for mere seconds because a second later his skull started reforming with it's bright flames surrounding it.
Holding his rifle, the shroud was coming for blood now.
His skull turned to my direction then his rifle was pointed at me, his skull was still slowly reforming so not yet completed.
I was already away from the tree as I jumped to another, I glanced backwards at the tree and saw that his shot wasn't so precise.
... Unfortunately his skull is now completely reformed.
Ignoring that, I saw something in front of me !?
How many times have I saw it ?
A massive locust stood motionless in front of me, indifferent to the destruction that was happening to the trees, and even ignored my presence...
The locust turned it's head towards me in a sudden motion, then disappeared as it flew away.
Another shot hit the tree I was on, and I was already behind another tree.
Then I saw something horrible...
There in the distance of the vast horizon, a cloud of thousands of black flying things... which I bet is locusts was slowly drowning the sky with darkness like a thunder storm.
Those things were moving faster than an explosion, that I bet they'll be here in mere seconds covering the forest whole...
________
V-4_C-2
Before I could digest the terrible scene a sound of shattering wood alarmed me, the sound rang deep in my ear making me almost deaf.
After I was already behind another tree I glanced at the swarm of locust... the swarms.
They are slowly devouring the sky, the scene seems to be so disastrous that even the shroud took a long pause before shooting his next shot.
Behind another tree I glanced again at the swarms of locust, in there direction between the darkness of the dense woods, covered in shadows I saw sparks!!!
Or more accurately I saw tens of flying white stuff, each one jumped dashed and lunged from one tree to another, as they land on a tree trunk they immediately jumped to the other.
Their movements seemed more like thunder arcs than anything else, their line of movements full of sharp angles.
In a matter of seconds they reached me and I could see them, winged and armored humanoid figures, with sharp blades.
As they jumped from one tree to another, they went past me going into the distance as if running away from the swarms of locusts.
As the last one went by, he glanced at me with confusion but didn't stop.
A second later there was silence again covering the world...
Even the shroud was somewhat stunned, I couldn't see his face which he didn't have anyway.
Slowly but surely a dominant sound of what seems like a flood or an earthquake slowly echoed through the world, even the trees seemed a little pale, and the sky slowly darkened.
As the the front rows of swarms shot through the sky like fireworks, the last beams of light were cut one by one.
With all this unreasonable silence from the shroud I turned around the tree to see him, my eyes widened as I saw the fearless shroud sitting between a massive rock and a tree trunk.
Crouching with fear he even held his rifle with extreme carefulness.
What I saw made me jump off the tree and run to find the closest possible hide out.
It was a stunning scene to see the shroud hiding, was those harmless locust this fearsome?
None of that matters.
A few moments later of running aimlessly between the trees, I found something, underneath an empty lake that probably used to have water, stood a small opening...
At first I was reluctant to go in but then I heard gun shots, one after the other, they never stopped.
The sound of locust didn't stay in the sky, slowly it was drowning the woods going deeper down into it.
I had to go in, that's when I crawled into the small cave...
.
.
.
In this darkness surrounded from all directions with solid rocks, I couldn't move and even breathing was hard to do, I couldn't even see either.
I was mostly waiting for the flood to go away but it was taking a long time, I couldn't even roll around to get in a comfortable position.
Slowly the heat was rising as well as the humidity.
What's worse, on top of me is probably a ton weight of rocks ready to fall for any reason.
I wasn't afraid... but that's only because my soul is damaged, I feel many emotions that try to resemble fear in some ways.
I bet my broken mind is trying to reconstruct fear back into my head, from whatever other emotions similar to fear there it in my head, or the broken pieces of what used to be fear.
Slowly but surely I'll feel fear again, for now I will feel just adrenaline rush and the desire to protect my life as well as fake pain.
*sigh* it really is taking so long, wait! is the cave smaller or am I seeing things?
After a while a very faint light came from the depth of the cave, with it a weirdly calming sound came.
A singing of a young lady was illuminating the faintly lit cave, it was a calm voice that was weirdly attractive.
For some reason my thoughts slowly faded away as well as my worries, and I was being pulled by an invisible force to go deeper into the cave...
After crawling through the very tight cave I started seeing roots coming out of the walls of the cave, while other roots stayed attached to the stone surrounding of the cave with it's growths.
The faint light made the horrible scene seems magical for no apparent reason.
The singing fades sometimes making my head aches then a second later comes back, pulling me with more force to go deeper into the cave.
As I went even deeper I started seeing bugs!? In these strange woods I've never seen an animal let alone seeing any bug, the only bugs I saw were ants.
But now I see spiders moving fast from a crack to another, their numbers were quite high.
A second later the melodical singing made me forget about the spiders and now I'm crawling deeper.
A few moments later I saw worms nesting around roots, while a few centipedes were trying to eat them, some fall to the ground and then crawl into a crack in the stones.
Yet I ignored them following the magical singing...
A few moments later I found myself in a tighter spot at least in terms of hight, the place was very spacious horizontally but made me feel a little crushed under the tight stone ceiling.
And yet again the singing made me go deeper and deeper...
'Why was I in this cave? It is r?ally tight in there, I think I swallowed a spider... did I? Doesn't matter'
After following the faint light I found myself in another cave, this one leading downward.
As I went through it the singing sounded louder and louder, then I saw a big opening to a massive room-like cave to my side, In it were a small lake, illuminating the room is a very bright and beautiful sight of a lady, her mere singing made me forget 'why was I h?re'
________
V-4_C-3
As I was finally on a horizontal ground I peaked through the wide opening...
A ghost was walking in circles on the calm waters of a small lake, in a white room-like cave.
The walls were decorated with skeletons, each one was hanging off of a chain that scenes was strangely familiar...
On the waters, in the middle of the lake stood a strange stone pillar that reached a human hight, on top of it a skull with two eye that for some cursed reason are still moving and looking around.
The eyes had only pupils with no irises, only a small black dot on a white sphere.
The ghost that was singing a hypnotic melody suddenly stopped, then tuned it's head towards me with a weird angle.
Instinctively I tuned around to run away, obviously turning around inside a cave will take a time, enough for two ghostly chains to wrap around my feet.
Ignoring the chains, I crawled through the cave then I started climbing in an upward angle, to where I came from.
The chains didn't pull on my legs for some reason, I didn't care I just kept going forward...
After a few seconds I heard a... melody, my head slowly got dizzy and then second by second, my vision slowly faded and before I lose consciousness I felt the pull of the chains...
The song echoed through the vast empty caves.
As I opened my eyes, I was already shackled with the ghostly chains wrapped around me.
Standing in front of me was.. a ghost, it looked like a beautiful woman with no eyes, and she was covered with multiple pieces of white fabrics.
Looking down I saw no feet, only four protruding bones uncovered by flesh, two from each leg with sharp ends.
Her hands were the same, her forearms were there but at the end of the forearm there is only two bones with sharp tips.
Flesh only covered three quarters of the bones in her forearm, the part with flesh was pierced by ghostly chains, as well as her legs, thus she also was just like me shackled in a sense.
Her ghostly body was mostly transparent, thus I could see what's behind her... the walls.
Her teeth were quite sharp.
She spoke with a charming voice-
"It's been a long time since the last mortal visitor... I got a little lonely.. you know"
I couldn't speak for a few seconds, her voice was too hypnotic.. yet I pulled myself back and spoke-
"Why am I chained, I didn't int?nd to come here"
A second later she replied with a smile-
"Well... you see, I have a job here, I must deal with mortals like you who desire my two treasures"
I was shocked for a few seconds, not just because of her melodic hypnotizings... after a few seconds I replied-
"You.. what are you talking about??"
She stood motionless for a while as if stunned then said-
"Oh... hmm, in that case I am not obligated to kill you... thats good, oh I have an idea then"
My eyes widened as I stared at her, she continued-
"Hey, what about a deal, a trade? What do you think?"
I stood silent for a while then I spoke-
"What type of d?al??"
- "well, I have an example.
I get your eyes, which I want, in exchange for... ten days of suffering, hmm, yeah that's a great deal" then she smiled at the last word.
I was shook, unable to speak but then I said with a louder voice-
"What kind of shitty deal is this?? What am even gaining here?"
- "oh but it's a fair trade, I get your eyes, and you get to become stronger after pain"
She grinned.
'Fuck'
I then replied-
"I am gaining nothing here, what about another offer?"
She replied-
"Hmm... ok, I get your eyes, and you get twenty days of torture, that's my best deal, I'll have to work hard you know"
I wad stunned completely shook, after a few seconds I replied-
*sigh* "I could do that myself by myself, you know? What about something I would want, like powers or weapons? Or at least food..."
After a few seconds of pondering she replied-
"Well, torturing makes you stronger, am I wrong? Whatever, you mortals want only those two treasures anyways...
Hmm, I had enough of those two junks anyway, so I'll give you this offer, free me and I'll give you the 'Eyes of God', or was it the 'Eyes of divinity'? I forgot really"
I kept staring with absolute shock, for a while I couldn't speak... then after I calmed down I spoke-
"Eyes of God?! What is that? And why would you give it so easily? And-"
She interrupted me- "I don't know much either, the lord of the underworld just forced me to protect it since... a very long time, if you let me free I'll give them to you"
- "Wait wait wait, you'll take my eyes anyways, am I wrong?"
- "I mean.. you wouldn't need the old tools..."
*sigh* alright makes sense, after a second I said-
"How can I even free you in the first place?"
She replied-
"Well.. just break my chains"
- "another thing, who is the lord of the underworld?"
She lingered for a second then said-
"Nobody knows his name, not even the other lords know his name, but they call him Hakk"
- "In any case, free me so I could free you"
A second later the chains loosened up and I was now free to move, I started at her then said-
"How can I break your chains?"
She turned her head towards me then spoke-
"Do whatever you can"
I stared for a second then turned my head towards her chains... 'how can I break that shit?'
I stared at the chains for a few seconds then I said'
"One more question"
- ".. Yes?"
- "It seems you have killed so many creatures, mostly humans... and you have protected those treasures for so long, so why would you change your mind now.
Is it really just because you stopped caring about those treasures?"
- "Well... you are not wrong, there is another reason...
You are the only mortal I met that has the ability to break those chains"
*sigh* - "Okay then"
________
V-4_C-4
I looked at the ghostly chains, even though those were made of soul metal it was capable of interacting with everything normally.
Her four chains were long enough to coil like a snake on the ground, but those chains didn't end at the four anchors which pinned the chains, instead those chains extended beyond the anchors for a long distances.
One of the chains was long enough that it was used to hang all the skeletons around the cave.
She could control the part of the chains beyond the anchors.
Her voice spoke-
"What are you doing? You are supposed to free my hands and legs from the chains, not the chains off of their anchors"
I turned my head towards her with a little bit of shock then walked towards her, I think I was just trying to avoid her unconsciously.
In any case, to break the seal I think I'll just use physical force, with the bird spirit I am sure I could do it.
Before my second death the spirit was free inside my hand, as well as strong, but now the spirit is busy keeping the gem functioning, thus using the spirit's power will actually be dangerous...
But now I could force the spirit to possess any part of my body, so fair trade I guess...
I grabbed the end of the chain which was connected to her forearm, then I said-
"Should I tear the chain off of your flesh, or should I break the chain?"
She stared at me for a while then spoke-
"Meh"
I stared at her with confusion then chose to just rip it off.
As I grabbed her forearm with one hand and the chain with the other, I forced the spirit to possess as many muscles as possible, with enough strength I somehow managed to tear off the chain which fell to the ground with a loud noise.
*sigh*
I had to take some time to rest before doing another one, it was just too dangerous on the spirit.
I looked at her and said-
"Can I ask more questions?"
She nodded in response, I then spoke-
"I'll start from the beginning, what is this place? And I don't mean the cave, I mean this world"
She stayed silent for a few seconds then answer-
"I don't want to disappoint you but I don't know much either"
- "Okay... that's a problem.
Well, you said 'lords' how many are there? What's their name? And what are they?"
She didn't take long to answer-
"Eh... ehm. I don't know much, but there are three, you know Hakk, there is also Ciphr who is surprisingly not secretive at all, and Coda.
I don't really know much about them other than their domains"
Wait!! Ciphr is a lord?! That bastard.
In any case I must ask the important questions-
"What is their domains?"
She replied immediately-
"The underworld belongs to Hakk, every living thing belongs to Ciphr, and every thing else belongs to Coda, mostly meaning special objects like that gem"
From the second she mentioned Cighr's domain, a shocked expression never left my face.
I spoke-
"What the hell do you mean by 'every living thing belongs to Ciphr' huh?"
She looked at me with confusion then said-
"Well... isn't it straight forward? There is not much of a hidden meaning to it.
Also, don't trust the trees"
Ugh shit, I never talked to that bastard in a long time and I'm getting even more reasons not to.
By now I was sure that the bird spirit is ready for the next chain.
As I was doing that I spoke to her-
"Anyway, next question... what exactly are you?"
She responded with no hesitation-
"A ghost, unlike souls and spirits, we are born or formed in the underworld"
I replied-
"Okay... A more important question, if a limpo shroud poss?ssed a human body and is following me, how can I kill it?"
She looked at me with shock for the first time since I met her, then spoke with a little bit of shake in her tone-
"Eee- well... I think you could try burning him, or crushing the body completely, just force his ethereal body to be exposed, that will take it down"
The second chain fell to the ground, I sat down to rest again.
And took my chance to ask my last question-
"What exactly is the eye of divinity? If I had it what ?xactly would I gain?"
She looked at me with hesitation then spoke-
"I donno..."
*sigh*
.
.
.
After a few minutes of tearing the chains off of her flesh I took a step back, as the last chain fell with a loud sound.
Her form started changing and her arms elongated, and now she regained her fists.
Her body looked inhuman with a convex spine, her eyeless face now lost all it's flesh and became just a skull.
She didn't just regain her hands but also her feet, and neither looked human.
Even the fabric that covered her now looked like just thousands of torn strings, which only added to the terrible scene.
Then the abomination spoke with it's unhuman voice-
"Time for your eye replacement, are you ready?"
________
V-4_C-5
She moved towards the skull with the Devine eyes then grabbed it with her long hand from a far, placing it on the ground she then turned to me.
Then she said-
"Keep your eyes open for a second"
Then without warning me, she immediately pierced my eyes and pulled them out with one move, I screamed in pain and convulsed on the ground as I tried to cover my wounded face with my hands with no results.
The pain was beyond comprehension, it was far too torturous.
Then I heard the sound of bones breaking with the collision with stones.
She then grabbed my hands to reveal the blood sockets where my eyes used to be, and without giving me time to resist, she put two foreign objects into the bloody socket in my head.
The pain rose to tenfold, even worse then breaking a bone or tearing the flesh.
I felt so much pain that my nails engraved into my skin and tore into my face.
I screamed even louder but nothing changed, it wasn't because of the injury that I screamed but because the Devine eyes were burning through my brain, and recreating my memories from the first one.
What those eyes are doing to my memories is to recreate them as if I've always had those eyes, as if I was born with the Devine eyes.
Somehow this was much much more painful than burning alive, I rolled around over the solid ground, until the pain slowly faded.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Through all of that the terrible ghost just kept laughing out loud and repeating "I'm free!! Finally I'm free! Fuck those pieces of garbage and fuck the lord of the underworld!!!"
I was breathing heavily as the pain was slowly fading bit by bit, but it didn't disappear yet...
On the other hand I couldn't close my eyes, they are always open.
The good thing is that those eyes don't seem to get irritated by dust and they don't need to be blinking all the time like normal eyes.
I slowly lifting myself then sat down, I looked around with those eyes, none of what I saw surprised me because those damn eyes changed my memories as if I always had them eyes.
The devine eyes can see energy which is a weird concept, I can see trees bright but it's hard to see stones, I can also see the waves in the air, and I can see spirits and living things much brighter.
But I can't see my reflection in mirrors nor on the water, which means that those eyes can see through false images and through solid walls, I also am not effected by optical illusions as well as mirage.
All in all it's a trade, I'll never get my eyes deceived but I can't see my reflection.
And I can see energy through all things, a weird type of energy that is, one that exists in ghosts as well as humans and also magical objects like the gem.
After a while of cooling down as well as adjusting to those new eyes...
And after a few seconds, she said-
"How is your new eyes? Are they really Devine??"
I was about to say something but then hesitated, after a few seconds I said-
"Nah not ev?n close, I just can see through delusions now... that's all"
She stared at me with an irritated expression then said-
"Fuuuuck, fuck that bastard of the underworld"
I replied-
"Isn't he a lord, Aren't you scared?"
She replied-
"I mean, he can torture me, or just kill me, but guarding these junks is torturous enough"
- "I guess so.
What's your name anyways, you terrifying chain ghost?"
- "Nice nickname.
Call me avatha, whatever that name means.
What about your name weirdo?"
I hesitate then replied-
"I ee~ , you could call me Odd"
She stared for a few seconds then turned her head away, then said-
"I'll call you Ode then"
I stared at her with confusion.
She lingered then said-
"Can I ask you for a favor... e- before the faver, your friend is coming here, the shroud I mean"
My eyes widened-
"Shit, here is the worst place for a fight, I can't burn him or crush him"
She turned her head towards me then said-
"Since I took your tasty eyes, I guess I might as well help you"
- "Can you harm a shroud?"
- "Probably not, but I can possess chains, and also I'm a very strong ghost, I can tie him up easily"
- "And what should I do? Punch a shroud?"
She lingered for several minutes then said-
"We can do a contract... it might help you a lot"
I turned my head towards her then said-
"Let me guess, contracts with great beings can make me similar to them in power?"
- "Not a bad guess.
Contracts are just a connection between the souls, but the connection is dictated by the contractor... so, you might just get scammed or devoured"
- "Well... what is your contract?"
- "... I just wanna leave this cave"
I thought for a second then replied-
"I just wanna survive"
- "I guess that's a good enough contract, I could possess your tools or weapons and give them life and powers... sort of"
- "Wait can't you just leave the cave by yourself?"
- "Yes, but the ruler of the underworld will hunt me down in seconds, but with a contract I'm practically invisible... sort of"
I thought for several seconds as sweat slowly dripped down my face, I then said-
"I exc?pt the contract then, possess one of these chains so we could deal with this damn shroud.
Also I have a dumb plan to try..."
________
V-4_C-6
A humanoid skeleton burning with white flames and covered with lusterless black clothes, his bones turned completely black.
The shroud held a black rifle which also were burning with white flames.
The shroud was slowly crawling through a cave which was tilted downward, this was the last section of the cave before the small room-like cave chamber.
A second later the shroud saw light and as he entered the stone chamber, in a fraction of a second the shroud got tied by a chain multiple loops around his body.
The shroud tried to resist and fight back but the cursed chains were too powerful.
Strained and unable to move, the shroud stopped moving and stood silent, as he was covered with chains.
A human stood up then started walking towards the shroud, he stopped right in front of him.
The man had ragged cloths with a lot of tears and dirt, his physique is athletic with inhuman legs that worked just fine, and a weird gem in the center of his chest.
He was probably taller because of those weird legs, his body shows many marks of injuries but all of them are healed.
His face had a pale skin with an Indian nose shape and a wide smile, his hair was black curly and long, which is why he was always forced to tie it up but unfortunately he couldn't tie his hair now, ever since he entered this unnatural forest.
His eyes were weird and they emanated an oppressive feeling to whoever gaze at them, his absolute white eyes were stained by a black dot that was similar to a pupil which sometimes widen a lot, and the most disturbing thing about those eyes is that they never blink.
***
I stared at the restrained shroud with a wide smile, I was happy to put him down but will I be able to?
I got even closer to the dangerous shroud, then I swiftly snatched the burning rifle... which immediately started burning me, NO it was burning my soul.
I looked at the skin of my hand which wasn't burning then at the shroud, with a frown I turned the rifle to aim at the shroud...
I could see where exactly is the core of the shroud is, with one glance I saw that the core was exactly in the head, burning with a black fire.
I just had to endure the burning until the shroud is dead, with a swift motion I aimed the rifle towards the shroud and pulled the trigger immediately.
An explosion happened right in front of me, the head of the shroud was covered from my vision but a second later I saw it...
His skull only got a few cracks, which is good but the pain from the soul burning rifle already started to make my hand numb to any kind of sensation... except for pain.
With a frown I suppressed the pain and then I aimed the rifle at the shroud again and pulled the trigger...
This time the frontal lobe of the shroud was completely destroyed but the core was still fine as expected.
I glanced at the core which looked unreal... exactly like shrouds of limpo, but this time I wasn't blinded by it...
Staring directly at the ever changing patterns and fractals of the shroud, I hoped to keep looking but the pain in my hand kept burning me with more pain not giving me the chance to even think, forcing me to pull the trigger again...
This time the head completely disappeared, with it the white flames also disappeared.
The body is now just a skeleton, but the rifle didn't disappear even though I expected the rifle to disappeared with the shroud, now the rifle is not a special anymore and with no ammo as well.
The chains loosened up and fell to the ground lifeless, from it a ghost emerged which looked as vile as ever.
I turned my head towards her then said-
"Isn't that too... easy?"
She turned her head towards me then said-
"Contracts aren't as cozy as you might think, also you won't be able to use your right hand for a while, you and your crazy ideas"
I looked at my hand and as she said, I couldn't move a finger.
I looked at her then at the skeleton I then looked at the rifle and then back at her, and said-
"We should go now"
- "OK, tie the chains around your body first, to carry it, that way I could possess it anywhere"
I looked at her with confusion then said-
"But you can possess any weapons? Do you seriously expect me to carry a damn metal chain!?"
She didn't reply for a few seconds then said-
"Then which weapon do you want me to possess, mortal.
Switching between weapons isn't exactly possible, I can only curse one weapon"
With a heavy sigh I looked around and then at what's at my disposal, after thought I said-
"If... if you possess the rifle can you give it infinite ammo?"
She stared at me with shock then said-
"I... I.. well, I guess yes, but I can't make it as powerful as much as the shroud did"
- "that's good enough"
.
.
.
Through the woods walking slowly, a man with ragged cloths and a black lusterless rifle in his left hand, on the rifle is a new mark, white chains now almost engraved into the rifle and wrapped around it.
The man was talking none stop almost arguing, but around him were nobody.
After a while the man stood silent with a shocked expression, his face paled a little.
He wasn't sure of what to do next, but after multiple seconds of standing motionless the man suddenly started running away...
A second later tens of white armored winged humanoid figures were jumping from a tree to a tree with sharp angles in their movements, their movements forward looked like the movements of lightning, because of their speed and the line of movements they followed which was full of sharp edges.
________
V-4_C-7
I ran and ran and ran but they kept following me none stop, as fast as I am they are still faster, that's with them jumping from a tree to another instead of going in a straight line.
I could use the rifle but I suspect that I'll not be able to kill them before they kill me and more over right now the rifle disappeared and took the form of a glove.
Since a rifle is problematic and not always useful, avatha could turn it into something else... like a black glove with a white colored chain drawn on it.
I also have the belt with the pearl of invisibility... I can just twist it a little and I'll disappear but not yet, right now it's too dangerous.
There were about fifteen of those angels wanna-bes, they are still terrible I almost felt fear...
They kept getting closer and closer, but then something unexpected happened... as I turned my head around to glance at them, I got ambushed from the sky.
Without wasting anytime they tied my hands and feat.
In a second all of them got down on the ground, in the front someone with an armor that was more damaged(probably by monsters) took off his helmet and gazed at me with an expression of someone with a headache.
He looked very human but almost too human for a none human creature to be, his ears were a little deformed and elongated.
Slowly approaching me, he stood right there a Meyer away then said-
"This is the first time we get a live one! He isn't fully human anymore... anyway, let's move him quickly"
I turned my head towards him and said with confusion-
"Explain your behavior 'Long-ears' What the hell is going on inside that head of yours? Why are you doing this?!"
He stared at me for a while then said-
"We'll answer these questions later"
And without giving me much time to retaliate, they covered my mouth and flew to the sky... the direction however was a little disturbing.
As they flew with me I found out that they fly in their weird way only between the woods and it actually makes them faster, but they still can fly normally above the woods which to my surprise was slower.
At this hight, with my eyes, I saw so many radiant objects in the distance but it was hard to discern or recognize a thing, they just looked like a bunch of stars, five were rather extra radiant...
There is one with a string going down to what looks like infinity, there is a radiant light over a mountain, there is a radiant star far deeper in the woods and many others.
.
.
.
After a rather long trib the angels slowed down in front of a cliff, which was actually a cliff of a valley... no it was more like a trench.
A narrow crack in the ground, massive and grand, a weird kind of trees were ground horizontally on the walls of the trench making the trench look like a wound in the process of healing, oddly enough.
I could also see a very bright star in the trench, it seems inside the earth instead of inside the trench.
As we were descending through the massive crack we went through between these unrecognizable trees, it was especially impossible to recognize them because of my new eyes, they just looked like a faintly bioluminescent trees from a fantasy movie but those were actually just a relatively normal trees, that's all.
As we descended through the grand trench we reached a massive stone gate, carved through the wall of the trench, which was especially hard to discern with my eyes because it was made from stone, I still could recognize how grand that gate is.
A few seconds later we landed on protruding platform leading inside the hand-made caves.
It's only then that I actually realized how small I was in comparison to that gate, as they lead me through the caves I could recognize that the caves are two-man in hight.
The floor of the hand-made caves were relatively flat but the walls curved more until the two walls meet each other at the tope without a ceiling.
The walls had a bit of a protruding that seemed to be for injured members to use for support when they walk so that they don't fall down.
Their walls also seem to be lit by a type of mold growing on the walls, it was quite beautiful for my devine eyes.
As they walked me through the corridors to what seems like a specific direction, multiple members of their species walked by with a lot of them given me surprised expressions, some stared specifically at my ears while others stared at my feet, my none human feet.
After a lot of awkward glances we finally reached a darker grand room, with many metal bars creating what looked obviously like a prison cells.
They then threw me in one of them and closed the door, my hands were still tied unfortunately...
Then they left except for four, two stood on both corners of the prison cell from the outside, the other two guarding the door leading to the corridor while staring straight at me.
I looked around at the prison cells and was surprised to see the place was quite clean, except for the numerous claw marks and damage to the stone walls and even the metal bars received some damage, all probably from the previous prisoners... I hope.
.
.
.
A few minutes later the door got open with about five walking into the room, three looked common with their armor and walked behind, and one I recognized both because of his damaged armor and his face since he didn't wear his helmet.
At the very front walked slowly with a little bit of a struggle, an older man with a weak body but sharp eyes, he looked bored...
He stood in front of the prison bars side by side with the other one I recognized, and looked at me with indifference.
After a while he said-
"It's truly been that long since I've seen a living one! Huh..."
________
V-4_C-8
A long silence followed... it seems he was expecting me to respond so.. I ignored him and just stared at him.
After a while he said-
"When did you came to the realm beyond?"
I replied-
"... do you call this unnatural place the 'realm' ? What do you mean??"
He looked at me for a few seconds then said-
"I really forgot how humans are... look, I don't know from where or when you came into this realm but you are not the first"
I replied-
"That doesn't answ?r my question"
He replied-
"From what we... what remained, we know that our world and your world are separated but connected, somehow.
Many humans came before you, most of them died, we don't know much really"
After a few seconds of thinking I replied-
"I know that already, still you didn't explain the part about the 'realm' thing"
He pondered then replied-
"Who knows..."
I stared at hem for several minutes then I said-
"The... the important thing is why, why am I tied? In a prison?"
His eyes got a little colder, he replied-
"Simply, because we don't trust you"
- "Trust my ass.
You literally sent twenty soldiers to kidnap me, so... trust thy ass"
He got a little irritated especially the one with the damaged armor, but they kept their cold expressions.
After a second the old man replied-
"We... we hope to get you as an ally, you help us and we help you"
I replied-
"Well... isn't that something.
What do you off?r? since I'll offer a lot"
After a second he replied-
"Want wings?"
- "Say no more"
.
.
.
Even though I don't need to blink, in front of those elves, I did blink to not make them suspicious of my devine eyes, who knows how they will react.
Walking through the stone corridor I could see eyes in the dark corners and in the shadows...
Anyway, it seems they are taking me to the place where all of them got their wings attached.
More interestingly is that they can hid their wings when they don't need them, like hiding my rifle as a glove, at the moment I can't see their wings...
After a while I asked-
"So.. where do you make your weapons and wings? And how?"
They kept walking in front of me with silence, then the elder replied-
"Both the armor and the wings are considered magical objects... there is a tree that makes their special base material.
That's all I can tell you, young man"
I replied-
"Seems interesting, do you actually attach those wings to your flesh?"
He took a second then replied-
"Yes, and it'll burn... for a minute"
that's not concerning at all... right? At least I can't feel fear... mostly.
As we kept walking in the cave corridors and the dark corners kept staring at me with many eyes, I ignored them because even outside those caves, I could see eyes everywhere because of the eyes of divinity.
And even before I got the devine eyes, I could feel thousands of eyes staring at me ever since I got to this realm.
Staring at the dark corners for a while a second later I thought, I don't like this even a little but I kept walking.
After a while we reached a staircase leading downward, the darkness there was rather extra... to say the least.
Every step echoed into the stone walls, after a minute we reached the bottom which didn't take a long time.
Now we are in another corridor but one less maintained and more unclean, a few steps later I saw a figure covered with black fabric covering the entire human-like figure, including the face.
The figure sat on a stone chair which is just a big stone with a flat top, resting near the wall she was envelope with darkness and gloom.
The elves avoided even looking at her and just ignored her, on the other hand my interest was peaked, because of my eyes I was able to see what's beneath the veil of the black piece of fabric, and I flinched !
Under the black fabric I could see more than twenty eyes staring directly at me through the veil, they were more organic than the eyes in the shadows of these corridors, they were covering the entire head.
I hurriedly looked away and followed the two elves, eventually after a few minutes we reached a stone door.
The strong man who's name is Vedd, slided the door open which seemed to have been set on a moving mechanism.
As we walked in I could see a wide room with about four billers holding the roof, the room was filled with tools weapons armors, and in the middle connected to the wall is a forging furnace and with a special blacksmith's tools and a grand anvil in front of the furnace.
A man and a woman were working together on a piece.
As we walked into the middle of the room that was illuminated with red warm radiance, the man with the damaged armor Vedd said-
"Hey Velverd, we have a special customer"
Looking up from his grand anvil, a tall man with a skinny figure stared at me then his eyes widened, a second later vedd continued to speak-
"A living human ! For the first time.
We will recruit him to help us with the swarms"
A second later the blacksmith Velverd replied, darkness in his eyes-
"You just found a living human, and the first thing that came to your mind is to throw him to death!?"
________
V-4_C-9
Vedd stared at him for a few seconds then Velverd just sighed.
I turned towards Velverd and said-
"Deal with the swarms? Thrown to death? May you explained"
Velverd spoke-
"Don't worry, it'll be a safe mission.
Moreover, you don't really have to accept it, we'll explain the details later"
- "Oh yeah wings come first"
Vadd looked at me then looked at the woman and said-
"Rava, bring the wing roots, and the~ the thing that we put before the root"
She took a second then walked towards a shelf with a lot of flat plates of metal, they were pairs of metal plates.
one side flat with a protruding connecting base for something else, the protruding was rather thin.
I saw the other side as Rava brought a pair, the other side had multiple needle like spikes connected to the plate, most of them are only two centimeters in length with about seven of them.
The man grabbed the two plates to inspect them while Rava went to bring "the~ the thing..."
Anyway, I walked towards the grand anvil and watched with him... it didn't look very advanced when I got closer, the simple design didn't look different up close, it was as dull as a piece of metal.
Velverd was just watching in silence.
I spoke-
"Is that the bas? of the wing?
Where is the wing??
Do you have anesthesia?"
Vadd looked at me with a sarcasticly bothered expression, then he said-
"You'll see"
A few seconds later Rava came with a jar filled with a green substance and placing it at the grand anvil, Vadd looked at the jar then at me... then he smiled- "it's time"
In the middle of a spacious room filled with weapons and tools, an orange hue radiating from a furnace.
A man sitting on a chair, his back bare and a few marked points with a weird primitive pen, marking seven dots over each side as if targeting different points of his lungs.
Then Vadd opened the jar took a small amount of the green supplement, Vadd was careful to cover every marked dot.
After that he brought one of the metal plates and aligned every mark with every needle that was protruding from the metal plate... then he grabbed the hammer and before I could react, he hammer the metal plate piercing my flesh and maybe even my lungs.
With a sudden piercing pain tearing through my nerves, I jumped with a scream, after buckling to the ground the pain somehow disappeared... I looked at Vadd who giggled with pure dark happiness.
I stood up with a frown and said-
"I can't complain about the effici?ncy, can I? Not too bad"
With a smirk Vadd replied-
"Don't worry, it'll be worth it"
I smirked with irritation-
"Oh really! Would you do it again?"
He stopped smiling, then said-
"... if I get to fly higher"
*sigh* he found a good compromise, damn it'.
I sat back on the chair, And after a minute or so I was standing and stretched my hands.
Vadd spoke-
"It's time for the wings"
- "Don't tell me it'll be filled with sharp needles!"
- "Oh, no. Actually, you are already wearing the wings, in a way..."
I looked at him with "obviously confused" written on my face, Vadd resumed his talk-
"Well, to activate your wings, all you have to do is to channel air in-to the wing-root"
I looked at him with confusion... then I got an idea, I exhaled then I Inhaled... and kept inhaling... until my chest was full, I couldn't Inhale anymore no matter how much I tried.
I glanced at Vadd who slapped his face for some reason.
Vadd Inhaled then sighed, he then said-
"To... to do it, Inhale then close your mouth and nose, then exhale... in the beginning nothing will happen but then you'll start to feel the air in your lungs disappear.
That's how the wings form, they are made of air"
... I already inhaled quite a lot and so I just closed my mouth and nose, and forced my lungs to exhale... but nothing happened, it felt like trying to press on a piece of metal... futile.
I kept trying until suddenly, I felt relief.
From the two pieces of metal on my back which they are called 'root'
Long and transparent wings were connected to me, they were weightless and they were very very thin and sharp.
Extending a great distance with each wing being as long as I 'tall', the wings and even with every feather still had no width at all.
The wings move however I desire with a great reaction time to my commands, almost instantly.
After a while I just exhaled as much as I could, emptying my lungs then I closed my mouth and nose and Inhaled.
At the start nothing happened, but after a few seconds my lungs were filled with air and the wings disappeared.
...
Vadd and Rava stared at me with confusion, especially Rava who was at the verge of slapping her face.
Vadd spoke-
"... you could... just command the wing to disappear"
I stared at him for a few seconds and then I just acted as if nothing happened, completely ignoring what I just did.
- "By the way, is that the whole thing or is there more that I need to know or whatever extra parts and pieces..."
Vadd replied-
"That's all... just don't let something get stuck in the root"
I extended an eyebrow, Velverd then said-
"It's time to fly, you'll have to learn that before the mission"
.
.
.
A few minutes later we were at the protruding platform of the front gate of the Cave Colony...
_________
V-4_C-10
As we were walking out of the blacksmith and through the slightly damaged hallways, I asked-
"Velverd tell me about the mission, how is it safe?"
He pondered for a few moments and respoded-
"The swarms attack us... but they don't seem to attack you... because you are an outsider.
That's why it's safe"
- "still, what is the mission?"
After a few moments he replied-
"Just burn a tree, and come back... nothing too grand. We'll discuss the details later"
I thought for a few moments, it's obvious that this is not all the details, a lot is hidden, but I was curious about other things as well.
After a few seconds I asked-
"Those... well, 'wings' how do you make them?"
He looked at me with a confused expression... then said with a little uncertainty-
"We don't really make them... we sort of collect them"
What??? What the hell?!
After a second I spoke-
"Collect them???"
- "We also collect the material to make armor and weapons, but for the wings... we just find them whole"
I suspected that there is something wrong because they didn't seem very developed with their technology... it was weird that they can make something as advanced as those wings, unless they actually didn't.
A second later I spoke-
"What... what about those caves... who built it?"
He showed that he was genuinely thinking about it and then said-
"Well... we actually found them like that, we didn't came here that long ago anyways.
We came from a destroyed kingdom... or a village to be a little more accurate"
I was bewildered for a moment, after composing myself I spoke-
"There ar? more of you??
Let me guess, they got destroyed because they didn't have wings."
That was a sarcastic remark... yet he replied genuinely-
"Yes... or no, it's hard to say...
They definitely didn't have wings."
- "Those... 'elders' from the village...
How were they like?"
He thought then replied-
"They we're humans... almost"
- "What the hell do you mean 'almost' ??"
- "Well... you might have noticed that there are not many kids.
Most kids die in the womb, not even getting the luxury of seeing the world.
Hmmm... it's called the curse of the paranormals, or abnormals.
Either way, it's the idea that any entity born in the Realm Beyond, is from the Realm Beyond."
He lingered, thinking deeply, then he resumed-
"They are different... WE are different from humans from the outside, the 'paranormals' .
The difference between me and you is deeper than the eye could ever hope to glimpse."
He lowered his head with a heavy *sigh* and continued-
"But... that doesn't answ?r 'why our kids die before birth?' ... the answer is that they are simply... sacrifices, done against our will.
Some took it as acts of mercy... that the lords do the dirty work so we don't have to feel guilty when doing it ourselves... the sacrificing, I mean.
You see, we are protected... and without that protection, our fate would've definitely been the same as the village inhabitants...
Our safety has the cost of sacrifices."
That was a heavy weight of knowledge, one that I'm reluctant to think too much about.
Does the lords... or probably ciphr really take their kids? And protect them in return!?
And what about the difference between me and them? Just because they were born in the "Realm Beyond"?
They have long ears don't they?
I exhaled a heavy breath as my hand tightened it's grib over my belt.
After this talk I tried to ask more questions but they were all a waste of time...
But I got a closer look at an Active wing-root which looked rather weird.
Because of my eyes I was able to see beyond the nature of the material things, which my old eyes can't see beyond...
Now I could see something different, there is definitely something in those metal plates!
It reminds me of how living thing glow under the gaze of my eyes.
.
.
.
A few seconds later we reached the stairs... behind the stairs there was another path!?
I didn't notice it the first time I came.
As we got closer, I was able to see the hallway clearly.
In the darkness of the hallway, a red radiance, dimly illuminated the hallway, the red light was shining from one side.
'What a strange light! Red? That's a new color to those eyes...'
What's more, beyond the hallway is a radiant star that I only could see it because of my eyes.
It's even behind stone.
It was the same one that I saw as we flew into the trench.
I shivered, lingered for a minute without ascending the stairs, and then I spoke to the man a few steps ahead of me up the stairs-
"What... is in this hallway?"
He looked at the hallway then back at me, then he said with an eerily indifferent tone-
"Not much... just some cursed knowledge, or something cursed... you'll just get cursed if you look at the carvings so... don't worry"
He smiled then continued walking up the stairs.
I was reluctant to follow him... but in the end, I did.
I glanced at the red ominous dim light, then I went up...
_________
V-4_C-11
In a dark room, it's walls made of flatten and carved stone and in the room a rusty wooden bed, the room lit with a faint light from moss that was growing on the ceiling.
A young man with a deformed legs laid on the bed with a thoughtful expression.
Somehow the two metal plates connected to his back didn't bother him that much, as he laid on his back.
*sigh* the flight training was harder than I thought... I managed to hover and fly towards a target, yet I couldn't do it as efficient as those elves, I couldn't even replicate their lightning-like path line of movements through trees.
What's worse that I couldn't land at all, like a bird with no tail but somehow these elves could do it easily... *sigh*
That wasn't what concerned me at the moment, there are so much I'm shrugging constantly as if it's ok to just ignore.
I even struggle to remember my name... "Odd" is now somehow my name, I just took it.
- "Hey Avatha... how do you feel about this place"
She took some time before replying with a very quiet tone-
"I probably shouldn't tell you this but... there is a powerful ghost right here"
Her tone sent a shiver down my bones more than the thing she actually said.
I thought for a second and replied-
"I think I saw it already, there is also some eyes in the dark corn?rs"
She hesitated and then she replied-
"I don't think we should talk about that ghost... she is not so friendly"
- "She? You know that ghost"
- "Of course... just don't ask why"
What the hell?!
No matter, so... there is even a powerful ghost here... why didn't it do anything to those elves? Or is it a friend to them?
I should go back to my train of thoughts I should concentrate!
- Firstly- How did I end up in this world- What is this world- Why did I end up in it?
Possible answer- It might have to do with the weird organization which suddenly appeared in front of my house...
Another possibility is that I was wanted here...
Or just because I went through the wall....
Possible answer for what is this world- Is that it's just a magical place... but that doesn't make sense, the wall and the disappearing of people in the woods only happened recently...
What if I'm in another world? No, because how did I got here then...
- Secondly- What is the mysterious book- What is the moon eclipse- what does those two have to do with Ciphr...
Possible answer- The book was written by someone, who made it only reveal it's mysterious when the wielder deserves it... but that doesn't make sense, and there is also the fact that it has shallow information and even wrong informations...
Possible answer for the moon eclipse- The moon eclipse doesn't seem like a ghost... not even an entity, it might not even be conscious... but it always brings creatures that I killed so that I could suffer... is it a law of this world?
Which reminds me, that mission the elves want me to do... if many creatures die... it's my end.
I sat up on the bed edge and looked at the closed door...
What about Ciphr... should I talk to him again? Unfortunately he is very secretive and I doubt that I can make him talk... there is also the fact that he is a Lord, and his domain if I remember correctly is of living creatures... shit.
I don't want to talk to that bastard.
- Thirdly- What is limpo- Why does it exist- Who was I talking to in there Lord of the underworld...
Possible answer- Limpo seemed to just be a barrier between two worlds... but that doesn't explain why it exists.
There is also Lord of the underworld... why did he help me?
- Fourth- What is the devine eyes- What is it made of- Is there more devine parts...
Possible answer- Either they are made of a lord's body, or for a lord... which doesn't make sense, or it was made for another purpose.
In which there is endless possibilities.
I bet there is other devine parts.
- Fifth- What are the elves- Why did they took me in- How do they have this technology- What is that shining light near their cave colony, deep in under the surface...
There is also the strong ghost and the cursed knowledge...
This one is the hardest to even make assumptions for...
I stood up and started walking in circles, my hand on my chin, thinking intently.
Should I go check the cursed knowledge? No no no, that's dumb, what even is cursed knowledge??
No matter, I have only two more days before going to the mission, tomorrow we'll discuss the details, is what they said.
With that I went to the bed and fell asleep.
.
.
.
In the darkness of a dimly lit room, a shadow of monster with unspecified form and many long limps, went through the door as if the door doesn't exist.
The sound of screaming from many souls, some are even familiar.
I opened my eyes with cold blood and shivering hands, moving back towards the wall behind me.
I saw it far too clearly for it to be a shadow, the color of it lips is as black as darkness itself.
The many limps extended covering one of the walls completely and half the other wall, moving over the floor and even beneath the ceiling.
Trying to reach to me through the air.
I lifted my right hand just to be surprised to see...
My glove wasn't there !!
_________
V-4_C-12
There is no glove on my hand! Where is Avatha!?
A second later, a very long and sharp needle peirce my skull, in an instant I fell on my back unable to move.
The black limps deformed as it got closer and closer, one of them the shape of a hand with long fingers, it gripped my paranormal leg then it's grib got tighter and tighter and ever more tightly, it felt as if my leg was suffocating and is about to burst.
I felt the flesh deform and tear under the grib of this hand, then my bones started cracking, I was about to scream but... I couldn't?! I could not move and I could not scream, I can only feel pain.
The bone of my leg cracked and I tried to scream with all my might but I couldn't, I tried to move but I couldn't, I couldn't even think straight.
A few more deformed limps with no color, reached out to that leg, many fingers coming to take a hold of the nails of my feet, then suddenly I felt an unimaginably pain piercing my feet and biting on my very nerves.
Blood flowed down my feet, but the black limps didn't stop, it took a grib on my feet then slowly twisted it rotating it like clock hands, twisting it until every joint in my feet cracked and tore off, leaving my feet twisted a full rotation.
But no matter how much pain scraped against my bones and no matter how much it tore my very nerves, I could just look at the horrible multiple eyes in the middle of the dirk deformed figure with a hundred limp, and feel suffocating pain.
Another limp reached out to my other leg, the dark limp was made of thousands of hairs, each moving as if have a life of its own.
Then suddenly each and every one of these hairs shot towards my leg, piercing my skin and moving through my flesh, the pain was like getting stabbed a thousand times with a jagged knife.
Then within my flesh every one of these hairs moved underneath my skin, it felt like centipedes were crawling within my flesh.
Another limp took a firm hold on my feet, the hair limp suddenly pulled back and pulled every one of the hairs off my flesh cutting through my flesh thousands if cuts, each flowing with blood.
The pain was just unimaginably, it felt more like being stung by venomous bugs then feeling like physical cuts.
A new limp with dozens of strings that has small spikes on it, these growing in the opposite direction on the length of the eah strand, such a thing exist to stick inside the flesh and almost impossible to take out.
The limp loomed over my abdomen then those spiked needles shot into my flesh piercing through my muscles and tissues, I felt like I was being burned alive but it didn't stop here, suddenly the limp pulled back on every spiked string, but instead of the string slipping out, my flesh was forcefully getting torn.
As the dark limp pulled out the dozens strings, blood shot out , and a more burning pain spread through my fibers.
Blood covered the bed and spreading through the floor, losing all this blood should mean immediate death but somehow I'm still alive.
More limps with different tools at the ende of them continued their torture, somehow despite the pain and the blood I lost I'm somehow still alive.
There was something wrong with all of this but I couldn't think straight.
.
.
.
After half of my body was already shredded to pieces, a sudden weird and unnerving voice spoke into my ears.
I was scream in my head as the pain kept chewing and churning every nerve I have, I was almost unconscious.
But I heard the voice very clearly-
"Hey! Do you want the pain to stop? I can help you~"
The voice was calm feminine and very too eerie.
She continued-
"Just let me in, let me into your head, all your pain will go away... if you just let me in"
Her voice was loud and clear.
In this pit of agony her voice was almost addictive, it made me feel calm and I felt less pain... but that was her mistake, because that second of clear mind and the ability to think made me immediately realize what was happening. She, she is the source of this creature and she wants to control my body.
There was many questions and many things to think about, unfortunately I'm out of time, I just said- "No" in my head.
Then her effect disappeared, and immediately the pain was back slicing through my brain.
In the second I got to think, I realized a few things immediately like the fact that this is a dream or a nightmare, but not reality, also that she tortures me so she can get permission to my head but that's an indirect but obvious death, to accept her offer.
Also that if I refuse her offer, she'll make sure that death will seam to me like a pleasant option...
_________
V-4_C-13
A dark limp made of two tubes spiraling around each other, both already penetrated the ribcage of the paralyzed human.
Inside his chest the two tubes ended with what looks like a claw at the end of each tube.
Suddenly the dark limb spinned around itself pulling with it the flesh of the human then pulling outwardly, the claws pulled on the flesh and breaking the ribcage completely, blood spilled everywhere but somehow the human was still alive and drowning in agony, and wishing to at least get the luxury to scream but there was nothing for him but suffering.
I started regretting my decision to refuse the vile ghost's offer...
Mostly.
Shards of sharp broken glass-shaped pieces were thrown into my stomach.
Narrow worm-like things peirce my skin and slithered through my veins... and arteries then forcing explosive blood to burst underneath my skin.
My left hand was twisted so much that it was no more recognizable as a hand, blood busted out through many tears that covered the overly twisted hand.
My flesh was torn shredded, slowly cut pierced or twisted, my bones cracked out... and somehow I am still alive.
***
In a room made of stone walls the ceiling covered with moss, on a humble bed sleeping soundly, a young man was experiencing that horrible nightmare, but in this room he wasn't alone.
A see through and ghost-like fingers touched the forehead of the young man, those fingers were too long to belong to a human and the arm itself was long and very unhuman, it was wide long with some rigid muscles.
The creature itself was monstrous as well with it's head and some of its body covered in ragged pieces of fabric, it was impossible to see the face.
The body was huge with long arms and short legs and a head veiled with fabric, that's Avatha the ghost of his glove that can turn to a rifle.
Right now Avatha was sensing the presence of another entity but she couldn't exactly pinpoint where or how...
Until she realized that the only remaining possibility is that the unwelcomed ghost is in his dreams.
And now she is trying to invade his mind as well.
***
In a dark room on a flimsy bed, a body that looked like a hundred pieces of torn red fabric laid paralyzed on the stained bed.
A dark silhouettes of darkness itself that hid more than most of the room behind it's many limps.
One or two are still busy intricately torturing the shredded mangled body...
The pain I felt, felt as if it came from everywhere at once, as if my nerves extended to encase the universe and experience every possible pain all at once.
My mind was slowly going deranged until suddenly... the pain slowly faded into the background, and a very pleasant voice sounded in my head-
"Are you ready to take my offer?
I'll make all your pain go away... just say-"
Instantly and before I could accept her offer I suddenly opened my eyes in my empty room, the second I opened my eyes I screamed jumped and convulsed, the sudden release of my paralysis made me almost explode with multiple movements at once.
When my mind finally cleared I was already on the floor near the corner, I breathed forcefully and heavily.
looking at my room which now is empty again except for the bed, I moved my hands in front of my eyes and then they moved with a shake in them.
I stood up barely managing to stabilize myself, walked back towards the bed and sat on it like a chair.
I looked at my right hand again to check my glove, it was there, with a sigh I said-
"Avatha... I had a little nightmar?, I guess you noticed..."
She took a second then replied with her usual fake human voice-
"Well, ain't I the one that took you out of it? But seriously, I think we should leave this colony.
There are a lot of bad things here."
I thought for a second and then I said-
"Ugh... this is annoying, I finally got to talk to... humans? And now I hav? to leave!
Just... I'll check something first before we leave"
The time was still at midnight, so most likely most of them are asleep, in the meantime I plan to investigate and explore the cave colony, with my belt and the pearl in it I'll stay invisible.
Avatha replied-
"If you're going to do this, it's on you, am I clear?"
A few minutes later I was already walking through the caves of the colony, my belt tightly tied.
The colony only got two levels, the upper one opens to the outside with the protruding platform, the upper level hosts the fighters closest to the gate, while civilians live in the rest of the first floor.
In the lower level exists stuff like storage, blacksmith, bakers, sewers and other artisans and workers, most of them live in housings in the lower level but close to the gate.
The places that are farthest from the gate hosts important things... and unknown stuff.
The first place I'll investigate is in the upper level specifically the furthest part of it from the gate.
There, there are the room of the elder and there is the library, I have high hopes for the library to be honest.
After a few minutes of walking from corridor to corridor I noticed each one looked more unmaintained, as if these parts did not matter, the elder really is weird.
But when I reached the gate to the library the corridor that leads to it has a few billers to prevent collapse, it seems they recognize that not maintaining the walls of the corridors is dangerous.
One of the things I noticed as I walked through many corridors is the thousands upon thousands of scratches and doodles on the walls, mostly done by kids, but with this number of them... it's hard to believe that they are new to this place.
Were there people or creatures before them?
With a deap breath I opened the door of the library...
_________
V-4_C-14
If I still had the ability to feel fear... well, I meant it when it was as functioning as it used to be before limbo I would've probably stayed in my room unable to move because of fear, but even without direct effects of fear I still felt dread and fear indirectly.
After a moment of thought I opened the door and walked into the... library!!?
'Damn It's ?mpty!'
The library was smaller than my room and the shelfs were carved into the stone walls, the books... are those even books? Some were just a bunch of pieces made from animal hives while some others are made from thin pieces of wood, that's how the mess they call "library" was made, was there even books or just piles of makeshift papers?
There was a desk in the middle of the tiny library with nothing on top of the desk except for a bowl of ink and... a wooden primitive pen, which seemed surprisingly intricate.
What I was hoping for is to find out more about their origin, maybe I'll get some good knowledge out of it.
As I reluctantly started sprawling through the mess of papers animal skin and even fabrics, after some time I started to see weird things, some of these papers are blackened or erased, some had writings and lastly are the empty ones.
The stacks of papers with writings were useless to me, they either were written crafting knowledge as well as artisan knowledge, or recordings of important details as well as mabs and blueprints.
From what I've read they are capable of many crafts but as I thought, crafting those air powered wings is impossible for them.
As I reached the last pieces of hive-made paper mabs, suddenly the sound of footsteps reached my ears.
***
- "Hey Voll, I gotta sleep for real, can't you take my shift?"
Delve spoke with a somewhat tired tone, he was of course faking an excuse to slack off but he had a reason to avoid staying too late, he wanted to eat some roasted fish that his family cooked.
- "Listen Delve, I ain't taking your shift, I am hella sleepy, and you know that.
I barely slept last night because of the night whispers"
Voll who was wearing his normal clothes instead of the armor, ready to walk home and now being forced to speak to his armored friend.
- "Night whispers! Really? Is that your excuse... Ugh!"
- "I'll go now, and... have fun with these freaky whispers.
Believe me, these whispers will definitely like you very much"
With that Voll walked away ignoring his friend while Delve was irritated to the bone.
'Whispers!? Really?? Is that his damn excuse! I have a nice smoky fish at home waiting for me, damn you!...'
.
.
.
After a few hours it was mid night already, Delve was accustomed to the night mood of the cave colony, with only moss as a light source the caves looked both beautiful and a little dim... it's easy to start seeing "things" or hearing them.
As he walked through the corridors reaching the further back rooms of the colony, he started hearing weird rustling faint-sounds from a far.
As he walked closer, the color slowly drained from his face as he paled.
With a gulp the man slowly open the door and as he did he saw... nothing?!
The library looked a little more messy but nothing other then that, so Delve slowly walked into the library, there he found nothing but Delve was skeptical... especially because of his ominous friends Voll.
Suddenly he heard the sound of a faint inhale then the sound of a sudden wind went by.
Delve's blood froze for a second as he looked left and right, his hand was already on his sword but... there was absolutely nothing.
- "Is there anyone here?
...
... Thought so."
He thought to himself 'Voll will cause me a heat attack because of his ghost stories'
Anyone would've felt fear here, not because what happened was crazy but because someone was actually here.
Eventually Delve went back to his normal route.
'At least I got a good prank idea for Voll, the whispers will like it... definitely'
***
Damn! I got out som?how, if it wasn't for these wings I wouldn't have been able to run out.
The more important thing is what I've found in the library, while most of it is useless to me still there was some bits and pieces.
Firstly it seems they've came from a somewhat kingdom or a village... a big village of elves until something happened.
What happened was described as hearing a wail sound that resembled the sound of a horn, every night that sound spread wide through the skies and with it people started disappearing one by one.
There was just no way for them to fight back, they tried everything and everything failed, eventually the remaining left the village and then they found the trench.
And as I thought special tools like the airo wings did not exist back then.
The problem comes next, because the rest of the band of papers were completely tainted with ink.
As I was walking back to my room I remembered something weird, a map that doesn't make sense.
The maps are usually two dimensional to be fit in paper, well... this mab was kind of different, the problem is that it was a map of a two dimensional land with up down left right, instead of front back left right.
There was a very intricate and detailed line that describes the geographic terrain, and it goes from left to right.
In the left side the line suddenly fades, and on the right side of the map there is only a skull mark of
Up is just clouds which become more violent in the right side, underneath the line is nothing.
The line goes up to indicate a tall hill and down to indicate a valley, across the line there were a lot of marks and terrains that somehow looked familiar.
One especially steep and quite deep valley was marked as
While the map is interesting and accurate, still the fact that they choose to depict up and down in the map makes it very lacking... but I still stole it, it was just too weird...