“What risks?-” The words hadn’t even left Dalen’s mouth before he felt the world around him twist. He found himself standing in a small stone chamber, with a few sparse pieces of furniture and lit by several opal lanterns. On one side of the room were several stacks of those same illegible books and scrolls and the other was a metal disc about six feet across with several complicated runes carved into them.
A moment later the others all appeared in the room with him and staggered from the after effects of the teleportation. Elendria vanished again before reappearing on a lounge chair in the corner of the room.
“Does the order know so little about the firmament or are they simply hiding that knowledge from their followers,” she leaned back and crossed her frail legs,” I understand why. It is that very knowledge that made me ditch the fool upstairs,” she pointed a gnarled middle finger up towards the roof.
“So you left Uton on your own free will? What knowledge would make you do such a thing?” Melisia asked.
Elendria grinned,” Are you sure you want to know, girl? One cannot look at this world the same way after knowing the truth,” she turned back to Dalen,” I can do what you ask Scrawny but there are risks. Risks that you may find regrettable.”
Dalen didn’t like the turn this conversation had taken,” Nothing is ever easy…”
“What are these risks? There is very little I wouldn’t give up to give Kal a chance to return.”
Elendria tilted her head to the side and giggled, making Dalen grimace, “Yep definitely batshit…”
“ If you are to understand the risks you must understand the lie! It was in this very ruin that I finally learned the truth,” she waved her hand in a small circle and the air in front of it shimmered, becoming a strange dark hole. Then the darkness faded and Dalen could see the night sky.
Elendria sneered,” What you see is a lie. A fabrication. A lie based on an old truth but a lie all the same.”
Dalen shook his head not understanding,” What in the gods are you talking about woman?!”
“Every star, every moon, every planet, and every black void between them is a lie, an illusion orchestrated by our Almighty gods! The firmament is not some invisible force that conjures demons or separates us from different planes of existence. It is a barrier at best and an illusion at worst.”
“The firmament is nothing but a thin veil that surrounds our world and hides us from the enemy,” Elendria shook her head, sobering a little,” We are an island sinking in a sea of endless filth, blood, and viscera.”
Dalen didn’t know what to say. He didn’t really even understand what she was saying but the mark on his core simmered. She was telling the truth.
“I don’t understand. The gods made the firmament?” Dalen asked.
Elendria dismissed the window and began doing the same motions again, this time for longer,” Two created it, but the others benefited.”
“Why? to protect us from what exactly?”
Elendria didn’t answer straight away and instead she sped up the motions of her thin hand and another rippling window appeared. This one seemed to be moving even higher into the sky but something was off. The sky flickered then flickered again. Suddenly the stars seemed… flat. Shapeless.
The darkness between the stars seemed to pale and strange colors began to bleed into the window. Everyone in the room watched wide eyed as the colors grew more vivid. At first it seemed beautiful and awe inspiring but then another color entered the mix and all three of them frowned.
Dark demonic mana soon filled the window and writhing shapes began to move beneath its surface. Grotesque faces stretched the dark mana and fangs and claws threatened to pierce the thinning membrane. Dalen’s heart began to race as he felt the same feeling of dread he had experienced on both the Fracture Path and during the Blood Hunt. It wasn’t Kal’s aura, no this was something else. Something very, very wrong.
The membrane burst and Dalen’s stomach twisted as a terrifying aura slammed into his mind. He staggered back to see both Leo and Melisia doing the same. A clawed fist the size of Dalen’s entire body reached through the window and by reflex Dalen used Identify.
[?????? | Abyssal Spawn ???]
Panic ignited in his chest. How was it possible he couldn’t see the things level? He could identify levels well over one hundred now.
Dalen reached for his bombs but before he could throw it the window began to close, its rippling edge closing tightly around the things wrist. Dalen expected the hand to simple be hacked off by the weird space skill but instead it only seemed to trap the demon’s hand.
A terrible screeching sound tore at their ears as the arm fought to keep the window open but after only a few moments it withdrew its hand and the window closed with a pop.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Everyone was struggling for breath with the sheer shock and surprise of what they had just seen. Everyone except for Elendria of course. Dalen expected her to seem awfully proud of herself based on her earlier conduct but instead she seemed somber.
“Now do you begin to understand?”
Dalen frowned but nodded. His mark continued to simmer and he knew what he had just learned was part of what it was trying to tell him.
Leo was staring at the space where the terrifying hand had been. Judging by his expression Dalen guessed he couldn’t read the demon’s level either.
Leo shook himself,” It appears our world holds more secrets that even Quotz was willing to let be known.”
Melisia had recovered better than Dalen expected and had already conjured her bloody journal and was straight back to writing notes. Dalen was just glad he wouldn’t be the one getting interrogated this time.
Dalen focused on Elendria,” I think I understand. But how about you tell us everything else?”
“Reaching out into the abyss surrounding us is dangerous. Summoners can do it if they are powerful enough but most skills do not allow them to bring anything bigger than the smallest of demons. A gate so small that nothing of significant strength can get through. Not normally worth the effort.”
“It seemed pretty easy for you,” Dalen said.
“That is only because of my very specific class. Warden of the Ways is a class dedicated to the manipulation and protection of passages between realms. What surrounds our world is both a part of our plane and separate. The membrane of dark mana is the dividing line between our plane and the next. We are like a bubble within a bubble. Every time a hole is created between the two our bubble shrinks and firmament falters.”
“What? So if we can simply make holes that lead outside of the firmament why can’t the demons?” Dalen asked.
“That is part of the lie. The firmament does nothing more than deceive us and the demons alike. We see an open sky and stars and the demons see nothing at all. We are invisible to their kind,” Elendria said, her gray clouded eyes panning between each of them.
Dalen frowned. He was starting to understand what she was saying. To bring Kal back a larger hole needed to be created and making something that big would mean a larger effect on the firmament.
“So bringing Kal back would not just be risky for us but the entire world? Surely the amount of leakage or whatever you want to call it won't be that bad,” Dalen said, he was starting to think the woman was just trying to dissuade him.
“That may be true depending on the circumstances but that is not the only risk involved. I told you before that we would be openly defying the gods. If they have not disowned you already they will then. You will be putting their great lie in jeopardy.”
Dalen grimaced at the phrasing of what she said. Despite his problems with Dhinir’s followers and how apparently they were against Kal he didn’t see the firmament as something bad given the circumstances but that being said the mark continued to simmer at the thought of it all. There was more to it but what was it?
“We’ve had this discussion a few times now. I couldn’t care less if Dhoerin decided to ditch me and the others agree about Quotz. We already know Dhinir is against us and his followers are already attempting to either capture or kill us. I will not be dissuaded by all this crap lady. I will get my friend back,” Dalen’s resolve was absolute in this. He had come too far to give up when the risks were thrown in his face. He didn’t care about the risks when he entered the strange camp of a fanatical cult, or when he stepped through the gate to the Fracture Path and fought demons while those around him were infested with demonic flesh worms. So he wouldn’t care here.
Elendria grinned and for some reason it made Dalen shiver slightly,” You are The Friend. My son was right about you. You are interesting for a scrawny alchemist.”
“I will gather my stuff. We will leave in the morning.”
Dalen’s emotion were all over the place as he was half expecting here to throw something else on the pile of crap she was saying to dissuade him but relief washed over him in the end but before he could thank her the world around him twisted again and he found himself once more atop the pile of rubble just enough off balance that he couldn’t save himself.
“Not again…”
----------------------------------------
Lonesome Will
To fall into the space between is a death sentence. Your anomalous nature has saved you from destruction but soon you will wish it hadn’t.
Part 1: Heal your shell 4160/4160
The strong wither to dust in the space between. Will you do the same?
Part 2: Survive 21 days.18/21 -Available Resources have been extended to beyond this objective’s time limit.
Even the souls of the dead are made less in the place between. Will your feeble shell withstand the winds of desolation?
Part 3: Withstand the Winds of Desolation 0/1
You have found your path to survival now you must sustain it.
Warning: Do not leave the platform or allow it to be destroyed.
.
Escape the place between: 0/1
Time Limit: 48 days
Kal gasped for breath as more blood poured from his nose and eyes as yet another tapestry of destruction parted before his will. They continued to batter against him almost as often as the threads did at first and Kal was forced to improve his technique to lessen the mental punishment.
The explosions of the shattering threads never ceased and the once black void was now blindingly white to Kal’s eyes but to his Eyes of the Slayer it was all so clear. Fragments of broken dark mana influenced by his will fell into the void beneath him as the trial continued.
The passing days were a blur to Kal as his entire focus was on protecting himself and the platform directly beneath him. There was almost nothing of the once large black metal disc left. Now only a circle just large enough for him to sit remained.
Intrusive thoughts danced through his mind,” This is the end… You are going to die… You will never see your family again…” Kal did his best to ignore them but he couldn’t help but feel doubt crawl into his mind as days wore on.
Kal growled and spat another mouthful of blood into the void. He would make it. He wasn’t done yet. He would not die in this fucking place. He would not die alone.
”Flesh~`~`*@$ Consuuuuuuuume~`~`~~”
Kal froze as his ears bled as the meaning of the sound somehow burrowed into his mind.
Warning: A Void Entity Approaches…