Gathering Darkness

"Hmm..." Metas paced back and forth, thinking deeply and muttering under his breath. He tried to make sense of all of this. He muttered and paced until he snapped his fingers and a small spark appeared.

Yuria had a disposition that matched when they first met her in the rundown town. "I think I may know something about that." Yuria whispered. "What is it?" Asked Metas who stopped in his tracks. "Recently when I fell asleep. I... dreamt of him, rising from the depths. From the abyss." "Humans can often slip into other realms in their consciousness slipping through in sleep." The boy added. "The old man used to tell me stories, legends about people who supposedly came back from the dead." He remarked.

"Huh." Metas turned his head away in thought. "I read about some back when I was in training. Do you have any books here?" He asked. "Um... Yeah, I think we do." The boy answered. Metas and the boy rushed upstairs while Ellyn and Yuria stayed on the first floor.

"What is this place? It's well stocked, and has a collection of books?" Ellyn asked the barkeep. "It's a sort of armory or keep for Jura. He has the place stocked with wealth he has collected over the years. It's usually rare treasures that he barters or turns in, or the infrequent jobs he does where he can collect reward. I'm just tasked with taking care of the place and attending to the guests."

"Who is he? What do you really know about him?" Yuria's eyes narrowed. "He's a very private man and keeps to himself. I don't question him, or the strange individuals who come here. My family has been indebted to him for years, and I'm just fulfilling my duty." There was silence as he continued to mundanely clean the area behind the counter. "Found it!" Metas called out from upstairs. Metas and the boy emerged out of a room and walked down, large book in Metas' hands. He laid it down on one of the wooden tables and flipped it open. He quickly went through its page by page, scanning the words and images that were within. "Hey that's me! And that's Jura!" The boy remarked, as Metas flipped through the pages.

One page had an image of a vague humanoid fire and another one had an illustration of the early Lodeleth army and the forest outside the kingdom, with Jura being a highlighted figure. Metas flipped another page and remarked: "This looks like it." The others leaned in and looked at the tale. "Once, there was a man who hunted beasts of all sorts. Then, the kingdom enlisted hunters from all corners to hunt a especially ferocious beast, a large black wolf who ate livestock and terrorized the local villages. A group of them tracked it down, but it was no ordinary beast. Its hide was as black as night, and its sized towered over any known kind of wolf at the time. The hunter was the only survivor and had wounds that were blood red and did not heal. It was as if he returned from the dead, for the injuries he withstood were fatal to others, so the stories say." "So, he recovered from fatal wounds." Yuria pondered.

"What's next?" asked Ellyn. "It was said that the hunter went into the royal palace and lifted a weighty weapon that no other could ever carry before. Guards tried to stop him but were struck down one by one. He soon went into the forests but he nor the beast was ever seen again. No trace or body was found, but the kingdom issued bounties and rewards for their capture years after." They stopped reading. "Wait, a burdensome implement that no warrior could carry. I remember one such relic found in our records." Metas remarked.

"What can you tell me about your friend?" Ellyn asked. "I'm not involved much in important matters, but maybe I can remember tiny things that involve magic stuff or other realms." The boy remarked. "Where did you come from? What do you know about the other realms?" Asked Metas. "I dunno. One day I was just there." The boy remarked. "Then you just wandered around and started playing tricks on people?" Said Yuria. "I don't think so." He was in strained recollection.

"I remember at one point not being. Just floating through the air and thinking. About the other realms, I remember being in one. It was full of other things like me, just sparks of thoughts in the air. I can't remember much, its been a long time." The boy added. "I see." Metas sighed. "There's a lot of things at play here that we don't even know." He remarked. "And yet, we're all wrapped up in it." Ellyn continued.

Yuria thought back to her dream. She saw the figure rise from the murky depths and the crimson glint of light. The brief flash of red frightened her.

Jura came face to face with a wall of fog, and he felt like as he was standing on clouds. For a split second, he reached for his weapons but hesitated. "I'll never get used to this." He remarked. The lady in white had a small smile on her face. Her visage was beautiful and peaceful, but looked cold and inhuman. Like a finely crafted marble sculpture of a worshipped deity.

"Beautiful isn't it." She held the white flower that Jura handed over to her. "I admit, the flowers don't get old." He remarked. A portion of the fog cleared and the flower floated onto a small field clearing, the flower deconstructed onto petals and leaves, and settled onto the expanse of white leaves and flowers. "Now back where it belongs." Her stare seemed cold and inhuman even though she was smiling.

"Now, something tells me this won't be the normal assignment." Jura remarked. "Yes. A far more important matter has arisen. I'm sure you have felt it as well." She answered Jura stared off into the distance. "Abyssal forces and the world powers are taking action, do you and the others have something to do with it?" He asked. "Perhaps. But more important are the threats that are made about by the dregs of the abyss." The woman answered.

"Is the situation that dire already?" Asked Jura. "Those touched by the abyss and other higher forces are awakening ancient forces and wreaking havoc across the land. More and more of the relics are being utilized, not just in this kingdom, but in other locales and locations all over the realm." She remarked. "Why is it so important to you that these forces don't wreak havoc on the mortal world?" He asked. She smiled coyly. "No desire to help your fellow man? Or do you simply don't want to so the extra work?" The woman exclaimed. "Hmph." Said Jura.

"Its imbalance. The powers of other worlds do not belong anywhere else. Besides, the powers of these forces combined may bleed over destruction onto the other planes." She remarked. "So, what's the job?" Jura asked.

The boy nodded intently to Metas' words. Yuria gladly chomped on dish after dish, the utensils laid neatly untouched beside the plate. Ellyn absentmindedly handed over a napkin which Yuria stopped for a moment to determine that it wasn't food and wiped her face clean. The barkeep stared worriedly but remained silent.

"Mhm. Could you take me through that again? I didn't get all of it." The boy remarked. Metas sighed. After drinking a tall glass of water Yuria interjected into the conversation. "Would you guys like anything? We can just ask." She asked. "I'm fine." Metas answered. "I'd like some coffee." Ellyn answered to Metas' surprise. "Get a cup for me too!" The boy answered in excitement.

"Hmm... Fish. Do you have grilled fish?" Metas meekly answered. "We do. This is going to set back supplies until the next delivery, but you are his guests so eat up." The barkeep remarked. "We just ate fish yesterday. Don't you want to eat something else?" Yuria curiously asked. "Nope. Now, let's get back to it." Said Metas. Their conversation continued.

"Just give me a quick rundown, a brief summary." Said Yuria. "I was tasked with investigating the resurgence of the lycanthropes amidst rumors of witches in the rural villages. We went to question one which turned out to be her, -" He pointed to Yuria who turned momentarily with food in her mouth.

"The angry mob ran after us then she tore open a hole in the air which led us to the abyss. We barely made it through a horde of beasts when we emerged in the icy snowfields just beyond the villages here. In the ice we encountered a fire Dragon and escaped through a cave where we fought a giant spider. We went outside when Felkin got injured and then when he was healed, we went to the town. We made it to a village when bandits attacked and we went into the forest. We met a spirit of light Pharros, after we killed it, we went face to face with the-"

"Wait, Pharros is dead?" The boy asked, surprised. "Did you know them?" Metas cautiously asked. "Yes, she was one of the spirits left here on this realm. We were supposed to meet here along with Jura at the next winter cycle." The boy remarked. "You okay?" Ellyn asked sipping on a cup of coffee. "Yes. I am alright, please continue and finish recounting it posthaste." He answered. "Right after that we encountered another marked human, who used blue energy to fight. We thought we lost Felkin there, and that's when we met Jura as he rescued us." Said Metas.

The boy chuckled. "Always been soft for others that one. Her death might have affect him more than I know. You must have had quite a tough time as well. Losing someone is hard for people." The boy remarked. "Yes. But I saw him stop breathing, we buried him, he really must have rose from the dead..." Said Metas. "You must be really close friends with him." The boy said. Before Metas could respond Ellyn spoke. "You guys barely knew him, right? Only spent a few days together, barely talked to boot." "Well…" Yuria remarked.

"We fought through numerous battles together and spent time through thick and thin being challenged by dangerous forces. As a knight I know we know enough about him without the abundance of spoken word." Metas exclaimed "Agreed!" Said Yuria. () 'But how much did we really know him... How much does he know about himself...' Thought Metas.

"So, after that?" The boy asked. "We went into a town near the capital, where we fought the infamous murderous princess where Jura rescued us again and brought us here." Said Ellyn. "Ah her! She's really funny when she's mad, but pretty scary too." Some of the excitement returned to his words and expression. "And that's it." Said Metas.

"So… Numerous encounters with supernatural beings as well as nonstop fighting, you guys must be tired." The boy remarked. "Yep." Ellyn concurred. "You said something about growing a wing on your shoulder, because someone touched it and it got a crimson mark…" Metas showed his shoulder to the boy's amazement. "Urk, it really is a mark of the abyss!" He reached forward to touch it when his hand sparked with an orange glow, pushing it back and the roots on Metas' shoulder writhed.

"How did you say you got it again?" "He was there when I got it. A girl bandaged throughout her body touched me after telling a fable about Jura." Said Metas, wincing. "I don't recall any bandage-wrapped persons that ever came to my establishment, even when you were there." The barkeep remarked. "That must have been a force out of the abyss. That might explain how the dragon rose. The ancient beasts from the earth are being roused by the otherworldly powers." The boy surmised. "So that's why we kept encountering the wolves…" Ellyn remarked. "Wait, didn't we fight them each sunrise even before his eye was healed?" Yuria asked.

"You said he had a weird sword that got longer?" The boy remarked. "Yes. I thought it might have been a relic." Said Metas. "The old tale in the book!" The boy and Yuria remarked at the same time. "Both of them are too similar to be a coincidence." Said Metas. "What do you think?" He turned to Ellyn who had stared out into the distance.

"Oh yeah, that seems right." She was thinking about the entire journey being a dangerous inconvenience and that she would rather been back at home, she looked at her new prosthetic, which had been cut and stained in the recent battles. She held it close to her and sighed, looking at her companions which she would willingly accompany further. "So, what now?" She asked. "Even if he was out there, how would we even reach him or make him know what we're doing?" Ellyn added. "I saw him in one of my dreams, so I might be connected to him somehow…" Yuria optimistically suggested.

"Maybe the marks that were gotten from forces of the abyss, are still connected to it and each other somehow…" Metas had been swept up in the conversation for a while but was taken aback. "Your manner of speech…" Metas addressed the boy. "Yeah, what's up with it!" He asked. "Nothing. Continue." Said Metas. "Maybe through her manipulation of the abyss through magic, you guys can reach him somehow." The boy exclaimed "But what here is of the abyss-"Ellyn asked as her eye took attention Metas' shoulder. "That." She pointed to it.

"Are you sure about this? I haven't made contact with his shoulder since then, I don't know what'll happen." Said Yuria. "Hmph." Metas grumbled. "Well, I don't think we'll know unless we try." Said Ellyn. Yuria slowly walked and reached for his shoulder. Ellyn stood up and took a step back, the boy hid behind a table. "I hope this place doesn't get destroyed…" The barkeep walked away muttering.

"Should I do it now?" Yuria asked nervously fixing her hat as it drooped and pulled it back. "Okay." Metas looked away and had slight regret as her hand tapped his arm. "Nothing happened." Said Yuria. "What do you usually do or think of when using magic?" The boy asked. "I feel like I'm drawing something out of somewhere, like taking something out from the darkness." She closed her eyes and focused intently. Her hand sank into Metas' arm like sinking into a pool of darkness, and reached in. "Mhm!" Felkin exclaimed, surprised as something touched his shoulder.

"Here it comes!" Kieron yelled. The creature's hands were in different lengths and sizes but shared the same dark shade of color. Four hands outstretched in different directions and blasted forth wind, fire, electricity, and water in rapid speed through the trees. Kieron jumped up to a tree and jumped off it into the air, dodging the blasts which razed the ground below. Felkin coiled his sword up and swung it with force, sending two of the beams of matter veering off into different directions in the forest.

He sent his sword forwards and extended it, like a corkscrew it twisted as it sped towards the creature. The attack landed on its smooth featureless skin, bouncing away and sending Felkin back because of the force directed. The being was angered and shrieked in a shrill voice, causing the arms in its mouth to quiver intensely. It jumped in the air, its body being supported by two large hand-like claws instead of legs and headed over to Felkin.

It hit the ground creating a small shockwave that cleared foliage, and then its arms glowed in preparation for another attack. It outstretched the arms out and launched another volley of elemental attacks. Felkin ducked at the last second and ran towards the creature. Piercing blades struck the hands from behind as she threw daggers into them. The beast shrieked and turned around furiously; arms pointed in her direction.

She threw her last one, but the creature caught it with one of its arms and crushed it with ease. As it charged up another attack, Felkin jumped on its back and wrapped his blade around its body. He pulled it back and made it look upwards where the arms it possessed shot upward, shooting up into the sky.

' Maybe, I should've just left earlier...' Kieron remarked silently as she sprang up in the air. Although its mouth was facing up, its hands lowered themselves, sending the barrage at her direction. A strong gust of wind blew through the forest, and she then closed her eyes and let it pass through as it harmlessly blasted through sand that the wind carried.

Kieron returned and swiftly used her blades to slice through the creature's appendages. She landed a distance behind it, trying not fall over as her legs hit the ground. Felkin let go and the blade reverted to its original form. He fell back exhausted holding his sword, as the creature shrieked in pain and staggered forward leaving severed hands in its wake. Felkin sat up, exhausted breathing sharply and struggled in light of his wounds. She ran over to him and motioned for him to get up, he complied.

The discarded limbs that lay across the forest floor began to slowly dissolve and disintegrate like the remains of the wolves the fought before. The creature turned around and the stumps of its arms still sticking out of its mouth. It forced out the stumps out of its mouth and more hands emerged. Felkin's sword shot out at an incredible speed towards the creature but it caught the blade and forced it down onto the ground.

In an instant, more arms blasted out of it, but extending and lengthening in a rapid pace, like the ability of his sword to do so. He picked up the first thing he saw in the corner of his eye: one of the severed dark hands. When he touched it, it reacted and he promptly threw it in the direction of the oncoming attack. The hands recoiled, having been set ablaze. It let go of his sword whilst trying to put out the flames that consumed its limbs in vain.

Kieron had recoiled backwards in response to the attack and looked back at Felkin. "What now?" She exclaimed. Felkin then tried again to attack with the blade connecting with it's the flesh and plunged deep into its gullet. He then tried to retrieve it from the depths of the beast but felt an imminent pull. The creature's internal hands pulled and dragged Felkin towards it, him being dragged across the remaining brush of the forest floor.

She dropped her two weapons in order to try to pull Felkin back in vain. He stood up quickly and extended his blade, making him run away with an excess amount of the sword piling up in front of the creature. It turned around and quickly charged towards them, swiping at Felkin with its claw. He stepped out of the way and looped his sword around the creature, wrapping it around its body. As the creature continued to pull, and Felkin continued to dodge each attack, he wrapped his sword continuously on its body.

Kieron ran up to it from behind and struck its seemingly impenetrable body, the steel bouncing off and drawing the attention of the creature. It swiped as it turned around and she dodged through it in a flash of sand. It swiped tirelessly as she jumped and ducked through its attacks while Felkin wrapped the blade all around in its body. He ran around the creature and had almost wrapped it completely with the blade. Exhausted, he pulled hard stopping the beast in its tracks, looming over a tiring Kieron.

The creature swiftly turned around and Felkin's red eye flashed at its control, rendering it slack and unmoving for a moment. Felkin then let go of the blade, being pulled to the beast's body and being stuck between two wrapped lengths around its body. The creature began to crack due to the weight and the pressure of the entirety of the blade within and wrapped around its body.

Its dark shiny skin which was previously impenetrable, fissured and shattered. Black liquid spurted out of it. The creature exploded in a splash of its own fluids, shards of its skin and pieces of its flesh scattering all over. "Ugh." Kieron exclaimed dodging puddles and showers of the abyssal dregs. Felkin's sword, now free from the hold and storage of the creature, started unfolding quickly and rapidly, creating a massive stack of snaking steel, destroying even more of the surroundings.

Felkin quickly ran in and grabbed the handle, flailing wildly in the wind. As he held it, it reverted to its original form like the line of fishing rod being reeled back. As it returned to his hand, he knelt down tired but noticed something moving in the remains. Something resembling a single-segmented white centipede crawled from it, fleeing quickly from the area. Felkin ran in but stopped in his exhaustion but as the small insect gained distance, Kieron tossed one of her sickles towards it, striking it dead. "What was that?" she asked. "I don't know. It's not usual, that's for certain." Felkin thought back to the strange feeling he felt in the heat of battle earlier.

"I think something touched you earlier." "!" Felkin's expression barely changed but he internally felt surprised. "Sorry. I have sharp eyes." She remarked. "That's fine." He stood up and wondered. It was a sensation that was similar to where he rose out of the murk of the abyss. His eye then forcibly opened itself, and Kieron covered her face in surprise or maybe fear.

He saw a vision of vague figures moving around in the darkness. One of the figures' shoulders went alight with crimson glow and it slowly reveal the individuals who were mere shapes in the shadows earlier. He winced with pain and held a hand to his eye as he closed it. "Can you not do that?" "Sorry, I have a sharp eye." He walked slowly, dragging his sword behind him.

"Where are you going now?" Felkin asked. "I guess... The capital." Kieron remarked. She then walked alongside him deeper into the forest. "You don't have to come along." She exclaimed. "I choose to." Felkin answered. "Hmph." Kieron remarked. They both continued into the forest, walking in a general direction towards the capital. "What can you tell me about this power?" She held out her hand and Felkin looked at it, slowly unraveling into falling grains of sand.

"Whoa!" At the same time at Jura's keep, Yuria was thrown back and over the table. "What happened?" Metas turned around quickly. "I reached him." Ellyn stood up swiftly to help her. "You did?" "It was just one moment, and it felt like more of a feeling than actual contact." She remarked. "Well, do you know where he is?" Metas asked. Yuria watched her hand intently. "No. But it felt like he was in the middle of a serious fight…" She remarked. "So, he's in trouble, and we don't have any way to get to him." Said Metas. "Sounds like he can take care of himself…" The boy optimistically suggested. "It would be helpful if we could get him to help us… But as we have no way of reaching him, we don't have time to sit and wait around." Metas remarked. "How can you bypass the castle guards?" He asked.

As the conversation went on, in a distant forest far away lie still the wounded Felkin and Kieron. "That power comes from a different place, some other realm. Mine seems to come from the abyss but I'm not sure about yours." Felkin remarked. "So still no answers, huh…" Kieron remarked. "When did you first manifest it? What happened to you before you got that ability can possibly hold a clue to its source." He asked. "The day that I got this power, I was attacked by-"Her sentence was cut off by a loud shriek in the air. "What's that?" Emerging out of thin air were more instances of the nightmarish creatures that were akin to the one they had just recently defeated. They had many deformed limbs and had black metallic bodies that had a dull shine to them. The two immediately ran in the opposite direction, the creatures gained on them but could not move fast enough due to their bodies mishmash of parts not being attuned to natural movement.

"More?!" Kieron exclaimed. "Last time, there were multiple beasts that we fought, there's no reason to expect only one of them to be here now." Felkin said while panting and gradually lagging. They approached a large cliff face which stood tall and put them in shadow, away from the sun. "Dead end!" Felkin immediately looked around the forest for signs of exit or separate paths of escape away from the pursuers. "Can't you do that thing where you can stop things with one look from your eye?" Asked Kieron. "I'm drained. My wounds could open more and I could lose the strength to stay awake if I use more energy." He answered.

The sounds of animals fleeing and trees crumbling can be heard approaching them in an alarming rate. "Maybe we can use my power to evade them?" Kieron remarked. "They'll surround us and even if we can dodge some of their attacks, we'll be overwhelmed. And did you just say 'we'?" Felkin asked. "I don't know, I've never tried to do it on another person and I've never done it more than a second!" She exclaimed. Felkin drew his sword slowly. "You've been dead before, I don't know if I want to be the same." Said Kieron.

In a flash, a creature with a half-formed wing leapt out into the air, and pounced with its many claws. Kieron snatched Felkin's hand and then the talons of the creature grasped naught but handfuls of sand in its possession. Kieron stood up, spitting mouthfuls of sand onto the ground. Felkin stood with one hand in front of his eyes staring at the blazing sky, looking over the horizon and having his boots sink into the sandy ground. "Is this a desert?" She exclaimed, covering her eyes looking up at the raging winds and sandy dunes as far as the eye could see. "Where in the world are we?" She asked loudly amidst the wind currents. "I don't think we're in the same one." Felkin commented as he looked up at the sky as the sandstorm cleared, two blazing orbs shining high above the sky.