Chapter Eleven

Diegen approached the white flower with a mix of awe and suspicion.

Under the circumstances, he was sure this had to be a trap of some sort by the Watcher, but his Sixth Sense was telling him something different. The shimmer it was exuding wasn't the anxiety-inducing kind that he knew to be associated with the Watcher, but one that was calm and peaceful, like a giant dune of sand sifting gently in the wind. The chill in his bones that had set in from sleeping on the cold ground seemed to melt away as he drew closer to the flower, giving him a sense of comfort despite how odd the situation was.

Six ovate petals of white gently cupped a golden center, radiating a soft glow that warmed Diegen’s eyes. He leaned forwards to get a closer look, but he didn’t dare to touch it.

“What are you? And why are you here now?”

He knew that it was, of course, the same flower from his dream, the same one he had seen in the mural, and the same one that was etched into the stone pedestal from which it had grown. But there had to be more to it. If his dreams were to be believed, this flower was the one that, when bloomed, would've caused the villagers to select a cub to be sacrificed to the Watcher.

Diegen shuddered as his thoughts strayed to the dream he just had. The details were a bit hazy, as all dreams tended to be, but he could still remember some parts and the emotions attached to them. It was clear that the relationship between these villagers and the Watcher was dark and distasteful. The Watcher had terrorized these people, not only punishing them arbitrarily but also forcing them to sacrifice their most vulnerable in a sinister way. It didn't make sense to him why they would worship something like that, but he supposed they built this tower for a reason.

These people were looking for a way out, and that desire was so strong that they nearly achieved the impossible: building a tower that would take them to the surface.

From the state of the tower's construction, it was apparent to him that they hadn't been able to complete it. It was unfortunate, Diegen supposed, and it didn't bode well for him since he was now trapped down here too. If these people hadn't been able to escape in all that time, would he be able to do it? Not just that, but he wasn't alone. He had the incredible company of a hundred skeletons or more, as well as an evil creature that had once terrorized an entire village for generations.

Diegen sighed.

"Well, I guess I have you for company now too," he said to the flower in front of him. The flower didn't respond, of course, but he thought the shimmer in it may have pulsed softly in acknowledgement. "Just what exactly is the connection between you and the Watcher? And why did you bloom now, of all times?"

If this was a video game, Diegen would've thought that a flower appearing in the middle of nowhere like this and exuding some kind of power might be a signal for the main character to take it to gain some sort of hidden ability or secret power that would help him somehow.

But this wasn’t a game, and he was still suspicious of the flower's sudden appearance. Another reason for his wariness was because of the description for the artifact he'd found earlier. He pulled it out of his pouch to read it again.

—-

Blessed Knife of Castitas (Rare)

Artifact - One-handed weapon

A knife used to cut the stem of the flower known as Anima. Only a knife blessed by the divine may sever the connection of Anima with the world without cursing the wielder with infinite misfortune.

—-

He was pretty sure this flower was this 'Anima' that the description was referring to, and if the description was to be believed, then it was dangerous to try and take the flower with him. He supposed he had the artifact that claimed to be able to protect him, but if anything went wrong, being cursed with infinite misfortune seemed like exactly the opposite of what he needed right now.

He also wasn’t sure that the knife would be all that effective in protecting its user. The villagers had presumably used the same knife to extract this same type of flower, and all the evidence around him pointed to their ultimate demise.

Without knowing exactly what kind of benefits would come from taking the flower with him, even if he was able to do so safely, the risk seemed to outweigh the benefits. Logically speaking, he thought it would be best to just leave the damn flower alone.

Still… a small part of him couldn't help but be drawn to it. After all, he'd come to the tower not only to look for a way out, but also to find treasures and artifacts, and perhaps something that could help him get out of this place and back home. Considering the powerful shimmer that it was exuding, he was sure that this flower had to be valuable to him in some way.

A strange feeling welled up in him that he wasn't very familiar with. It felt like hunger, except it wasn’t exactly a physical feeling. He felt like he needed the flower, despite his logic telling him to leave it alone, and the feeling grew stronger as he basked in the flower’s glow. Eventually, the temptation became too much. He needed this flower, even if he didn’t know what for.

He used the knife to sever the stem and lifted the flower up to the light, looking upon it with wonder. It seemed to glow even brighter in his hand, and the soft petals kissed the tips of his fingers, filling him with a deep sense of comfort. A notification popped into his vision, and it took him a few seconds before he gave it a read, mesmerized by the flower as he was.

When he did read it, he felt a little annoyed.

—-

Anima (Epic)

??? - Special Consumable

???

—-

“Not more question marks,” he grumbled. “But I guess I should be happy nothing bad happened-"

Just as the words left his mouth, the tower shook with the force of a small earthquake, and Diegen had to steady himself using the pedestal. He was confused. He had used the artifact, and the description had said he'd be safe so long as he did so. Had that been a lie after all?

Gradually, the shaking stopped, but something still felt off. Diegen placed the flower into his Rift Pouch before climbing back up the stairs to peek outside. The air seemed thicker than usual, and there was a purple haze cast over the cavern. A clicking noise sounded to his right, and he ducked out of sight as an Astral skeleton appeared from between two stone houses. It moved with jerk-like movements towards the tower, its eyes two pins of purple in its dark sockets. The shimmer it was giving off seemed stronger than what Diegen had been used to feeling from these skeletons.

"That’s different. I've got a bad feeling about this," he murmured.

His feeling turned out to be right, because several more skeletons soon showed up from the vicinity, and soon the area outside the tower was teeming with skeletons of both Astral and regular Sa'nasi origin. They were no longer moving in random directions and bumping into everything, but slowly circling the tower as if someone was commanding them to patrol the area.

“Damn. I guess taking that flower was not such a great idea after all.”

Diegen frowned, knowing that not enough time had passed to recharge his ring fully to help him if he needed to make a quick escape. He checked it to see how many charges he had.

—-

Stone Ring of Stealth (Rare)

Artifact - Ring

This artifact was once just a piece of stone that had been untouched for a million years. It was then carved into the shape of a ring using the core of a monster that specialized in stealth. Allows the user to become undetectable for one second. Can be used three times a day.

Charges remaining: 1/3.

—

"Only one? No way that's going to be enough."

The distance between the tower and the first line of houses wasn't so small that he could cross it in one second, even if his agility stat had reached the limit of what was possible at the Discovery Stage. He doubted the full three charges would’ve even been enough.

He supposed that he could try waiting until all three charges were ready, but then the tower shook again, and he pressed his body to the ground to prevent himself from falling down the stairs.

A chilling spike of anxiety hit him as he did so, and he stared in horror as something dark and black began to glide towards him from the edge of the cavern. At the center of the dark mass was a giant bloodshot eyeball that was staring right at the tower where Diegen was.

The Watcher was coming.

Diegen tried not to panic, but the boss seemed to be coming for him when he was surrounded by enemies.

“This seems a little bit unfair, don’t you think? Don’t main characters usually get enough time to prepare for the boss fight after the boss is introduced?”

At first, Diegen thought that the black things whipping and weaving around the Watcher’s eye were black threads from his path-related ability, but then he realized that they were, in fact, tentacles. The Watcher itself didn’t appear to have a body, but instead had countless black tentacles around itself that helped it to crawl forward like some sort of malformed millipede.

Diegen didn’t spend any more time studying the Watcher before he booked it back down the stairs and through the short passageway to the tower’s exit. Luckily, the door was on the other side of the place where the Watcher was coming from, but he knew that getting through a bunch of skeletons with just a single charge of his ring didn’t give him great chances.

He briefly considered trying to hide somewhere instead, but he was certain that the Watcher was coming with the knowledge that he was here, and it would certainly look for him inside the tower. Why else would it be showing itself out in the open now, when he had spent weeks here already without even knowing that the Watcher existed?

Taking one last, deep breath, Diegen cursed at himself for taking the flower in the first place, wondering why he did so in the first place, and inserted the stone key into the hole on his side of the tower. He turned it slowly to avoid any unnecessary noise. With a soft click, the door opened, and he dashed out into the open area beyond.

✾✾✾

In a remote corner of land, nestled amidst rolling hills of emerald green, beneath a cerulean sky and amidst a flourishing canopy of verdant flora, stood a quaint and peculiar cottage. Its chimney spewed forth ethereal puffs of purple smoke, wafting an enigmatic scent through the air. Within the confines of the cottage's kitchen, a young Sa’nasi cub sat perched on the edge of her seat, carefully manipulating an eyedropper with her mouth to add drops of a clear elixir into a pot brimming with bubbling, violet liquid. Each droplet caused an eruption of smoke, thick and noxious, clouding the room.

“Just a bit more…” Iris said through her teeth, hoping that today might be the day when she completed her final potion. She had been working on this formulation for several seasons now, working out the issues bit by bit by testing and experimenting over and over. She lost count of how many times she had failed, but it didn’t matter, because she knew that she had to complete it if she was ever going to escape this place.

She had overcome an endless stream of challenges to get this far. Most of the other residents of this place thought she was deluded in trying to do the impossible, and a small part of her agreed with them from time to time. However, her ancestors had been people who had tried to do the impossible and succeeded in doing it, so she kept her faith and refused to give up.

One more drop plopped into the pot of bubbling liquid, and a different reaction happened. This time, instead of letting out a puff of smoke, the bubbling and smoking stopped, and the liquid turned from vibrant purple to a nearly transparent liquid, tinged pink. Iris withdrew the eyedropper from her mouth and placed it carefully on the table next to her.

“Did I do it?” she asked excitedly.

Hope surged within her, but suddenly the liquid turned a deep crimson, boiling and roiling with an intensity that shook the very foundations of the cottage. Panic-stricken, Iris threw up a barrier spell, just in time to shield herself from the explosive eruption of the pot. The entire kitchen was drenched, and her barrier was splattered with a large blotch of gory-looking red.

Behind her, she heard the door creak open, and a timid voice asked her a question from the doorway. “Is this a bad time?” he asked. He was peeking his head through the doorway with a quizzical and amused look on his face.

Iris sighed and let her barrier dissipate into mist. The contents splashed onto the ground harmlessly, and Iris turned around to face the youngest of the residents in the Cavern of Dreams.

"Bad time? Nah, just a little explosion, no big deal," Iris said, waving her paw dismissively.

Krellan's eyes widened in amusement. "Ah, just another day in the life our resident potion-maker, then."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Iris chuckled. "You got that right. So, what’s up? What brings you here before the reset?"

Krellan grinned. "Hey, the gang was wondering if you'd be up for dinner tonight. It feels like ages since you last joined us."

“I don't really see the point. We don't need food to survive in here."

“Yeah, but it's all about the experience. What else are we going to do with all this time we've got?”

“I'll come, but only if you're the host. I can't bear another one of Rosita's dreams."

"What's wrong with Rosita's dreamspace?"

"Seriously? It's so barren and plain. It might as well be a regular dream."

“I find the minimalistic, abstract look quite refreshing, actually.” Krellan grinned in his goofy way, making him appear younger than the day he entered this place. “I'm happy you're doing some redecorating, but why all this clutter when you could make it any way you want?"

“Did you come to invite me or just to criticize my place?” Iris chanted a quick spell, and a burst of sparkling blue light filled the room. The spell flowed from her chest area, enveloping the kitchen in a dazzling aura of shimmer. The crimson liquid that had splashed on the counters and floors vanished in an instant, as if the spell had ripped through the very fabric of reality itself. The hundreds of stone tablets that cluttered the space floated in the air, each one spinning and rotating like a tiny planet. With a flick of her snout, Iris directed them to the corner of the room, where they settled neatly in a towering stack. The tools and utensils she had been using to brew her potion were transformed by her magic, rising up from their scattered positions and gliding through the air. They lined themselves up perfectly on the wall racks and cupboards, gleaming with a newfound sheen. “There, are you satisfied?”

“I wasn't bothered in the first place, really. I was just teasing you,” Krellan said defensively. “That was impressive though. Has your control gotten even better?”

“When you’ve had a few centuries to practice, this is nothing.”

“Uh huh. So, tea. It's at Rosita's dreamspace, but before you say anything, we all miss seeing you around.”

“I don't buy that for a second. You miss my face, and you can come see it anytime. The others, though? I don't think so.”

“They do,” Krellan assured her. “They know how much you're trying for all of us. It's just hard to keep our hopes up after all this time, you know?”

“I'm close, Krellan,” Iris said, looking him straight in the eye. “I know I've said it before, but I feel like I'm really making progress. Do you believe me?”

Krellan smiled warmly. “I always do, sister.”

Iris smiled back, but as she was about to suggest they start heading over, she felt something that made her heart catch in her throat.

She hurriedly pushed the curtains aside from her windows, revealing a sky that suddenly turned a deep shade of purple, and an overwhelming weight descended upon them. It was as if the very fabric of the atmosphere had been distorted and amplified, causing her dreamspace to flicker and fail altogether. Chaos seemed to surround them as the familiar nightmare from the Cavern resurfaced. The once-lush landscape had become a barren wasteland, ravaged by pollution and decay. Iris's skin prickled with discomfort, and her eyes stung and itched.

She frowned, confused why this would happen again after so long. It had been centuries since the last time this happened.

"What's happening?" Krellan asked in a voice trembling with fear.

Realizing that Krellan had no prior knowledge of this, Iris answered with equal parts curiosity and hope, "It means that for the first time in a long time, that damn flower is back."

✾✾✾

Diegen's heart pounded in his chest as he burst out of the tower and into the open area outside. His senses were on high alert as he scanned his surroundings for his enemies.

The first skeleton he encountered almost immediately caught him off guard, and he almost crashed into it. The sight of its empty eye sockets and angry snarl made his skin crawl, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. He somersaulted over the skeleton, narrowly avoiding its snapping jaws. As he landed, he felt his feet slip on a patch of damp moss, but he managed to regain his balance just in time to dodge another skeleton that lunged at him from behind.

Diegen's heart raced as he surveyed the situation. Two skeletons were closing in on him from either side, and he had nowhere to run. In a split-second decision, he ducked down and skidded along the ground, causing the skeletons to collide into each other with a loud crash. The sound of their bones breaking made him shudder.

As he scrambled to his feet, Diegen saw the looming figure of an Astral skeleton bearing down on him. Its massive stone club glinted in the dim light, and Diegen could feel his muscles tense in anticipation. He had been hoping to avoid this type of skeleton, knowing that it would be far more difficult to take down than the others.

The Astral lifted the club high above its head, the weight of it causing the ground to tremble beneath Diegen's feet. Diegen's eyes widened in alarm as he realized he couldn't hope to block it. He dove to the side as the club crashed down, the force of the blow sending shards of rock flying in all directions.

Pain lanced through Diegen's body as the sharp rocks peppered his skin, leaving cuts and bruises in their wake. He gritted his teeth and struggled to his feet, watching as the Astral flexed its massive arms and dragged the club against the ground. Suddenly, it lifted the club again, using it as a makeshift launcher to send a barrage of rocks hurtling towards Diegen.

Diegen cried out in pain as the rocks pelted his body, leaving him bruised and battered. He shielded his face with his arms, feeling the impact of the rocks leaving his arms and body stinging.

The Astral skeleton raised his stone club once more, and Diegen once again threw himself to the side to avoid the strike. He could feel the wind whistling past his ear as he moved, the whoosh of the club cutting through the air, and the thud as it landed on the ground where he had been standing moments before. Determined not to be caught off-guard by the same follow-up attack, Diegen wasted no time in creating some distance between himself and the Astral skeleton. He put his weight on the balls of his feet and prepared to dodge.

His eyes darted around, searching for an opening, when a four-legged skeleton appeared out of nowhere and charged towards him. Diegen braced himself for the impact, unsheathing his dagger. The skeleton slammed into him with a force that nearly knocked him off his feet. He felt the jolt of pain shoot up his arm as he absorbed the shock with his blade.

“Come on!” he said, grunting with effort. It felt like trying to stop a moving Flappitus head-on, and the force pushed him back a few centimeters, but he dug the balls of his feet in and held his ground.

As expected, the Astral skeleton launched its follow-up attack and sent rock projectiles flowing towards them, and he used the enemy in front of him as a shield. Rocks pelted against the skeleton’s hard body, and it barely seemed to register the attack. Diegen waited until the barrage ended, then guided the skeleton's movement to the side and sent it tumbling forwards. Without wasting a moment, he made a dash towards the nearest stone house.

He heard the sound of cracking and breaking behind him as he leaped over a group of stone brackets. Even with more shimmer being poured into them, the skeletons still seemed to be having trouble navigating their environment effectively. This bought him the few precious seconds he needed to create a bit of distance between himself and the skeletons.

However, just before he reached the first stone house, a large shadow swallowed his own, and he could see a towering line of shadow above it. A chill ran down his spine, and he activated the stealth charge in his ring before pivoting and dashing behind the first thing he could find, a pile of stone brackets.

As he crouched behind the pile, he saw the Astral skeleton whirling around, trying to locate him. Diegen held his breath, praying that he wouldn't be found. Then, five regular skeletons dashed into the stone house, causing it to collapse. The Astral skeleton was trampled underfoot in the process, and Diegen breathed a sigh of relief.

As the collapsed house spewed dust into the air, Diegen felt a gritty film settle on his skin and coat his tongue. He stifled a cough, blinked rapidly to clear his vision and used the dust cloud as cover to escape into the next line of stone houses. He only peeked back once he was well hidden inside one of the houses.

Back at the tower, the Watcher's tentacles wriggled and slithered through every crevice of the tower as it canvassed the tower from bottom to top, creating a cacophony of scraping and scratching sounds that grated on his ears. The tentacles cast ominous shadows on the jagged walls of the cavern, making the space feel claustrophobic and foreboding.

Diegen gulped, knowing that he’d have been at the Watcher’s mercy right now if he didn’t get out when he did.

The giant eyeball perched itself on top of the incomplete tower, its unblinking gaze fixed on the village below. The shifting angles of the Watcher's scrutiny made Diegen's skin crawl, and he shuddered involuntarily. The tentacles remained rooted in the tower, pulsating with a life of their own. Diegen ducked back into the house, not wanting to give the creature a chance to find him.

He ran his fingers over the welts and cuts on his body, wincing at the sharp pain that shot through him. The injuries throbbed with a fiery intensity, reminding him of the danger he faced. Thankfully, none of these injuries were life threatening, so he shifted his focus to plotting a course to the chamber where he had seen those golden threads earlier. The sooner he figured out why those threads were leading him there, the sooner he could get out of here and leave this place and that creature behind for good.

A part of him wanted to wait until his charges were back up, but with the Watcher looking for him actively now, he couldn’t bank on staying hidden for an entire day. As if to confirm this, the sound of crumbling rubble snapped him out of his reverie. Diegen peered through the window, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. He could make out the shapes of skeletons crawling out of the debris of a nearby house, their bones clacking together in an eerie rhythm. Another group of skeletons charged towards a different house, their leader an Astral skeleton wielding a massive club. The impact of the club against the stone sent shockwaves through the ground, making the very air vibrate with its force.

He grimaced and started moving, trying to stay as quiet and inconspicuous as possible. His footsteps were light and measured, barely making a sound as he navigated through the village. He scanned the shadows for any sign of movement, his senses on high alert.

A group of skeletons shuffled past, their bones creaking and cracking with every step. Diegen held his breath, waiting patiently until they passed before slipping behind them and making his way to the next house. The darkness of the village was punctuated by the occasional flicker of light from the tentacle-infested tower, casting eerie shadows on the walls of the crumbling stone buildings. Diegen's senses were heightened, his ears straining for any sound of danger. He could taste the musty scent of decay, the smell of old bones and dust hanging heavy in the air.

He froze as he saw an Astral skeleton standing guard near the village’s perimeter. Its spectral form seemed to glow ominously in the darkness, and Diegen eyed it warily, trying to figure out a way to get past it. Looking around him, he located a rock on the ground, and his fingers curled tightly around it. He hurled it down the street, the sound of it clacking against the ground drawing the Astral skeleton's attention. As it turned to investigate the noise, Diegen took advantage of its distraction and slipped past it, staying off the road as he made his way to the mysterious chamber.

The tunnel leading to it was shrouded in darkness. Diegen took a deep breath and stepped inside, the musty smell of damp moss and something acidic filling his nostrils. The ground was slick and uneven underfoot, and he moved slowly, his senses on high alert.

It wasn't a long tunnel as he had expected, but it soon narrowed and terminated in a wall that shimmered like liquid silver. Diegen approached the wall cautiously, his hand outstretched. As he touched it, his fingers slipped through the wall without resistance. He recoiled in surprise, staring in disbelief at the shimmering wall before him.

“What the heck? I thought there was supposed to be a chamber here…”

His attention was brought back to the entrance of the tunnel by the clicking of bones sounding behind him. He spun around to come face-to-face with an Astral skeleton and three regular skeletons.

“Ugh, you guys just won’t let it rest, will you?”

The skeletons advanced towards him threateningly, their bones clacking ominously with each step. The Astral skeleton brandished the weapon in its hands, a two-handed stone cleaver with a savage-looking stone blade at one end. Diegen backed up towards the strange silvery wall, debating whether he should try fighting them or risk going in.

He had no more stealth charges, was in a cramped space, and was facing four enemies at the same time. He did the math and dashed through the silvery wall.

Just as his hand had felt no resistance earlier, he didn’t feel a resistance going through the wall with his body either. Instead, he found himself hurtling much further than he anticipated, free-floating through empty space. He flailed his arms and legs around but found nothing there. He glanced back at the wall he had gone through and saw nothing but four skeletons hurtling after him.

The air around him gradually gained a purple tinge and his body began to experience an invisible pressure from all sides. With a sudden lurch, Diegen experienced an uncomfortable feeling of vertigo, before he touched ground on all fours. He gasped for air, but the air burned his lungs. He scrambled to his feet and tried to figure out where he was.

All around him was a wasteland with the absence of life. Any vegetation he could see was dead, and instead of clear water, there were small pools of green bubbling acid in patches along the ground instead. He could feel the acid stinging his skin even though he wasn’t in contact with it, probably owing to trace amounts being in the air as well. His eyes stung, but he forced them to stay open as he saw four skeletons slowly struggling to their feet around him.

“If it’s fight you want, I’ll give you a damn fight,” he growled, lifting his dagger up.

He attacked first. As he launched himself into action, the acidic soil sizzled and burned beneath his feet. He gritted his teeth against the pain, determined to take down the skeletons before they could do any more damage. With bounding steps, he closed in on the nearest regular skeleton, ignoring the sharp sting of acid as it ate through his shoes, or whatever was left of it.

As he got behind the skeleton, Diegen thrust his dagger into its spine at the base of its neck, twisting it in a sharp motion to dislocate it. The skeleton crumpled to the ground, its bones hissing as they met the acidic soil.

But there was no time to savor the victory as the next nearest skeleton lunged for him, only to trip on a small hole in the ground. While the skeleton struggled to get up, Diegen focused his attention on the other regular skeleton, which was floundering in a larger pool of acid.

Summoning all his strength, Diegen delivered a flying kick, sending the skeleton careening into the acid pool. The acidic liquid splashed onto Diegen's skin, causing a searing pain, but he gritted his teeth and turned his attention to the Astral skeleton.

He gritted his teeth as he lifted his dagger to meet a vicious strike from the Astral skeleton’s stone cleaver. The force was so heavy that it threatened to dislocate his shoulder, and he grimaced as his feet even sank into the soft ground below.

He set his dagger ablaze, causing a surge of power that gave him enough strength to deflect the cleaver to the side. The Astral stumbled forward, and he used this opportunity to grab one of the Astral skeleton’s ribs and swing his body around the skeleton to its back. Before he could try and attack the spine though, the Astral skeleton shook itself violently and sent Diegen tumbling sideways on the ground.

Diegen rolled a few times and cried in pain as his exposed back was lacerated by jagged pieces of dead foliage as he skidded by it. It cut a long, deep gash on his back that seared white hot with pain, and he thought that he might pass out from the pain. His vision blurred, and he blinked tears away as he tried to regain his focus.

As he struggled to regain his focus, Diegen saw the stone cleaver raised high into the air, ready to strike. With a groan, he rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the deadly blow. The ground trembled as the cleaver thumped into it.

Struggling to his feet, Diegen shook his head to clear his vision, but the movement sent another flash of pain shooting down his back. The Astral skeleton was still struggling to retrieve its weapon from the acidic soil, and Diegen knew this might be his only chance.

Summoning every last ounce of strength, Diegen gripped his dagger tightly, or so he thought, until it slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground.

“What’s going on?” he asked, surprised to hear his own voice sounding so weak. The strength left his legs, and he was forced onto his knees. He even tried to pick up his dagger, but he didn’t seem to be able to put any strength into his fingers. “Come on, not now.”

Diegen's heart sank as he realized the gravity of his situation. He was alone and defenseless, with no one to help him in this fight. His body shook with fear, and his mind raced, trying to come up with a way out, but his limbs refused to obey him. He felt powerless and hopeless, resigned to his fate.

The Astral skeleton towered over him, its eyes glowing with malice as it raised the cleaver high into the air. Diegen's eyes widened in terror as he saw the weapon coming down towards him, the dull edge casting an eerie glow under the purple sky. He tried to summon any remaining strength in his body, but his muscles failed him.

As the cleaver descended upon him, Diegen's thoughts turned to Holdar and his family. He wondered if they were safe, if they knew what had happened to him. He whispered a prayer for their safety, his voice barely audible.

"Sorry I couldn't make it, you guys," he said, his words barely above a whisper. He closed his eyes, bracing for the impact of the cleaver, and waited for the end to come.