Chapter 1: Limbo

"Who the hell are you?" Vina interrogated the six-eyed, six-limbed creature looming over her, its presence an unsettling blend of the familiar and the unimaginable.

"The Darkness," it replied, its voice a disturbing harmony of the guttural and the sibilant, a wicked, toothy grin stretching across its elongated face, which bore the austere beauty of a gothic sculpture. Its skin was a tapestry of midnight, absorbing the scant light that dared to touch it.

"Don’t play games with me. I’m asking for your name," Vina shot back, her irritation simmering against the cold backdrop of her own trepidation.

A flicker of confusion clouded The Darkness's alien eyes, as foreign as the void between stars, and its four arms drooped slightly, a strangely human gesture of uncertainty. As Vina scrutinized the entity, she found its alien anatomy defied easy interpretation. It was a leviathan from a realm beyond, its chitin-clad limbs reminiscent of an arthropod's exoskeleton, yet articulated with an eerie grace that belied its monstrous form.

Its humanoid knees and feet, grotesque parodies of her own, supported its towering, bipedal stature. The arms, a quartet of nightmarish elegance, ended in hands that sported six clawed fingers, dancing with a delicate, almost hypnotic motion. Its torso, a fortress of natural armor, transitioned into a thick and powerful segmented tail that dragged with a whisper across the ground.

The creature's head was a monument to its otherness, long and rounded, adorned with a sextet of eyes that glowed with a feral intelligence. Its mouth, a labyrinth of small, dagger-like teeth, promised a death by a thousand cuts. The creature towered over Vina, a titan cast in the dark mold of some forgotten world's nightmares.

"When you understand the truth, you'll know my name is unnecessary," it hissed, its speech a cascade of clicks and rasps that somehow coalesced into words she could comprehend. Vina suspected some unseen machinery at work, translating the creature's thoughts directly into her mind.

With a cautious step forward, Vina activated her Blood Shot Eyes ability, her gaze dissecting the creature's form for anything that might be hidden from view. "You don’t possess any aspects whatsoever," she murmured, more to herself than to the entity. She reached out with Examine, her ability probing the Darkness's body, seeking answers.

Six Eyed Kaliter (Adult) Level: Private This Kaliter is possessed by The Darkness. No further information

"A kaliter..." she whispered, her voice a mix of revelation and disbelief. "Is this your true form, or are you just a parasite, like the shadows that possess other creatures?"

“This one and I are now inseparable,” The Darkness said enigmatically.

The privacy of the Kaliter's level piqued Vina's suspicion. The information provided was no different than when she used the skill on a fellow paliternian. “This isn’t just a creature… it’s a sentient person like me. Does it have a name?” Vina inquired.

“She retains her name, now and forevermore,” it replied, its tail sweeping across the ground in an elaborate gesture.

“Is she still alive? May I speak with her?” Vina pressed.

As though enjoying a dark amusement only it knew, The Darkness grinned once again, its many teeth glinting ominously. "As you wish," it hissed.

Suddenly, the creature's demeanor shifted. Its arms moved rapidly to its mouth as a voice emerged, startlingly casual despite the dire circumstances. “Oh! I’m still here,” a feminine voice emitted from the tall figure. Four eyes focused on Vina and the other two closed, "It hasn't ensnared you yet, Vina."

Vina’s heart clenched with sympathy, never anticipating compliance with her request. “Hey! What’s your name?” Vina asked, her voice laced with urgency.

"I'm Znza... but why am I allowed to speak? It's not yet time..." Znza's voice was tinged with confusion and resignation.

“Znza, I’m trying to fix this, but I need you to tell me what is going on,” Vina implored.

“Have you learned something, Vina?” The Darkness asked coldly, swiftly reclaiming control.

Vina's glare intensified at the possessed kaliter from behind the sanctuary of Trina’s barrier. “You’re worse than a monster!” She spat venomously.

“Your understanding is yet to come. Step away from the chajirin, and let me enlighten you,” The Darkness said, a sinister grin creeping back onto the Kaliter's face.

“Chajirin?” Vina queried, but her only answer was a gesture of four welcoming arms. Shaking her head she looked away instead.

She saw the entire sphere that made up Trina's protective influence was surrounded, teeming with shadow creatures. Though she could have analyzed their individual levels with her Examine skill, her constantly active Blood Sense skill did that job for her. Since specializing in this skill, she had been trying to accustom herself to estimating a creature's power by their health pools. A daunting task considering nearly every creature here had a health pool exceeding a thousand, considerably more than her own.

“So… the system doesn’t classify Znza as a creature. She must be a traveler, or an outworlder like the stigandorians,” Vina mused aloud. Turning back to The Darkness, she asserted, “You, on the other hand, are an entirely different matter. With Znza’s body, you can’t bond with Aspects because her body isn't of this world.” She frowned, puzzled. “What is your objective? Why are you here? What have you done to Trina?”

“When I arrived, Trina was unenlightened. Though she learned swiftly, she was not quick enough to evade the repercussions of her ignorance. Now, I am here to teach you in her stead,” The Darkness proclaimed.

“Teach us what? Speak clearly,” Vina demanded, exasperated. She spread her arms wide as well, acknowledging her predicament. “It’s not like I have a chance of escaping this alive.” Her gaze swept the blue-grassed terrain within Trina’s safe sphere. Spotting a colossal axe, her attention was abruptly redirected by a familiar voice.

“Vina, you killed us!”

Whirling around, Vina saw a shadowy figure bearing the likeness of her deceased guard, Parin, pressing against the barrier. His accusation, his plea of betrayal, cut through her heart like a knife. “Parin!” she cried out, rushing towards him. Tears welled up in Vina's eyes as she struggled with an onslaught of guilt and sorrow.

“How could you abandon us? How could you leave me?” Parin’s voice was a plea of betrayal.

Vina’s stomach turned as a nauseous feeling crept up her throat at seeing Parin’s pain. She turned towards the Kaliter woman, desperation creeping into her voice. “Please! Don't do this to him!” she implored. Seeing the silent, but observing face of The Darkness, Vina turned back. “Parin, I did what you told me to do.” Her voice faltered, teetering on the edge of a sob. “I listened to you. I finally did listen!” she pleaded.

Parin’s lamenting cries continued to echo her name, “You had the power to save me! Yet, you fled like a coward!”

“Coward! Coward!” Other voices chimed in, as the shadowy forms of her fallen guard clustered around Parin.

“No! I tried to save you all! I was striving to do better.” Vina cried out, tears now streaming down her face.

“You knew you were condemning us to death. Now it's tormenting us!” Parin's voice was laced with bitter resentment.

Overwhelmed, Vina covered her ears and retreated to the sphere's center, beside Trina. “Damn you!” she screamed at The Darkness, trembling with anger and sorrow. For a long time, she remained seated, the shadows of her companions cruelly taunting her with their condemnations.

~~~

Vina, trembling and overwhelmed, nestled into the still form of Trina. She sought any scrap of comfort while The Darkness tormented her with the dead voices of her fallen companions. Her hands remained clasped tightly over her ears, a futile barrier against the haunting chorus of her fallen companions’ accusations. Their accusatory words chased her, inescapable as her own shadow. Despite her efforts, their persistent condemnations slipped through her mental defenses.

Then, as if the universe itself had pressed pause, the cacophony ceased. Silence enveloped her, thick and suffocating. Vina's head lifted slowly, her eyes wide with confusion. The Kaliter woman had vanished. "What's happening?" she croaked, her voice hoarse from hours of unspoken terror.

"Daughter?" The voice, tinged with a spectral resonance, came from the barrier's edge. It was a word loaded with a lifetime of absence and unspoken yearnings.

Vina's heart skipped a beat, hope and fear intertwining in her chest as she guessed at who had asked the question. "Dad?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Shan... it got you too?"

“Yes. Steen keeps me close,” Shan replied, his shadowy hand lifted in a spectral greeting. Of average height and sporting a modest beard to match his scruffy hair, he appeared no older than thirty. His image wavered, the motes of shadow comprising his form struggling to maintain cohesion.

Vina’s emotions spun, a cyclone of hope and dread. “Steen?” she echoed, her voice uncertain.

“Indeed, Steen, The Darkness. Although, it seems to have a penchant for semantics. When The Darkness learned of my writing, it insisted on spelling it S-T-I-N-E. You’ve grown so much, Vina,” Shan said, a hint of warmth in his tone.

Vina's mind reeled. "How are you here? Why?" she stammered, a mix of disbelief and desperation coloring her words.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Shan's laugh was a distorted echo of a once-familiar sound. "Stine is an insatiable teacher. It refuses to let death hinder my 'education.' First, it was Trina's lessons, now this... a reunion with a purpose, perhaps?"

Vina's smile was a fragile thing, tinged with sorrow. "I've always had so many questions, dad."

Shan's form wavered, a ripple of shadows. "I don't deserve that title, but... thank you. I'm here to answer, within the limits Stine allows. It hears all, knows all I know. Yet, I feel a strange separation. My thoughts are my own, but I no longer own them.”

For a moment she faltered and both of them went quiet. Vina, overwhelmed by the surreal reunion, steered the conversation away from their strained relationship. "Stine knows about Parin," she began, her gaze drifting towards the shadowy guard. "He saved me, but we were ambushed... they were..." Her voice trailed off, choked by the resurgence of grief and the threat of tears.

Shan, moving with a ghostly grace, placed a hand on Parin's shadow. "Thank you for protecting my daughter, Parin," he said, a melancholic note in his voice.

To Vina’s astonishment, Parin smiled and nodded. His own hand reached up to pat his neck, his eyes twinkling in Vina’s direction. As Shan retreated, Parin’s glare resumed.

“What did you do?” Vina asked in wonder.

Shan shrugged and the motes making up his body battled to regain his form. "I can offer them a moment's reprieve from Stine's grip. It's fleeting, but it's something. Why Parin gestured to his neck, I can't say."

Vina offered a weak smile. “You’re continuing Trina’s work. Thank you for giving him even a bit of relief.” She took a steadying breath as she tried to broach the divide between them. “Parin knew everything. He knew about my sisters, Trina’s necklace, the Aspect of Light. Now Stine knows too. I need to understand what started all of this. Please, tell me all you know.”

“Where to begin?” Shan pondered. “I suppose before The Severing, Trina appeared increasingly preoccupied—a state I'd never seen her in before. Considering she could quell a world plague, it was alarming. She, however, wouldn’t confide in me.”

Vina watched her father, noticing his odd stillness. As he narrated his story, he lacked the typical nuances of human expressions.

“One day, Trina brought me to a town and extracted a stone from her necklace. I’d seen this action countless times and assumed she intended to aid someone. However, she pressed it against her arm and filled it with her blood. Then she handed it to me before traveling without warning. The Aspect’s description said to ‘find her’. I thought it was a quest and tried using the stone. To my surprise, it bonded with me, which was a first. Days later, The Severing occurred, and my actual quest to find Trina began.”

Shan’s narration paused, and Vina encouraged him to continue. “What happened next?”

She could see pain in his eyes and he continued to speak, “I made mistake after mistake. The Aspect of Life afforded me a faint sense of Trina. It was a very weak connection and all I ever found were her other aspects. I grew impatient and began recruiting people to help me search faster. Those people died and were replaced by more. Later Nura told the people helping us that I gave her a fake aspect of life. They demanded that I find a way to give them immortality as well.”

Vina’s eyebrows furrowed. “Who’s Nura?”

Shan shook his head, “She’s probably calling herself Haco now. I rescued her, much like Trina rescued me. I had a soft spot in my heart for her and brought her into my quest. She was the first of the twelve and I couldn’t bear watching her die of old age. When she turned twenty-five, I made a fake aspect of life for her.”

“How? When?” Vina’s tone sharpened.

Shan bowed his head, “I created Nura’s about four centuries ago with the help of the Kaliters, around the time when the creatures first appeared.” Shan paused for a moment, appearing to think, “I was forced to make the others about fifty years ago. A separate organization calling itself the Adventurer's Guild had discovered a way to do it independently. It was a closely guarded secret. I never saw who duplicated them. From behind a curtain, a yellow stone was placed on my aspect and the duplicates were created. However, The Watch wasn’t content with eleven fakes. They wanted an immortal army to combat Stine.”

Vina’s expression soured. Haco's age surprised her but shed light on her power and influence. “They betrayed you and mom,” she observed.

“In essence, yes. As we fled, one of our expeditions bore fruit. A man named Lior discovered the Aspect of Light and delivered it to me. In desperation, I bonded with it when Stine closed in on our family, only to discover I had low attunement and limited usage,” Shan concluded, giving Vina an opportunity to ask more questions.

"Why is Stine so intent on obtaining the Aspect of Light?" Vina questioned. "Its body is an outworlder; it can’t bond with aspects. Is it just trying to prevent someone from using it against itself?” Vina asked.

Shan responded, "That seems the likeliest explanation. However, I harbor some doubts. Stine seems to share a peculiar bond with the Aspect of Light. Once bonded, it could track my movements no matter what countermeasures your mother and I employed. Only the Aspect of the Hidden kept us safe. It’s baffling that an entity of darkness could exhibit such a trait."

Vina was puzzled. "What truly is Stine? Is it the Kaliter? I heard rumors that an Aspect of Darkness existed?"

“In all my time with Trina, I’ve never seen her give away such a stone. I very much doubt darkness was ever an aspect of Trina. When I spoke with The Kaliters, they refused to discuss Stine besides the use of its name,” Shan responded, shaking his head.

After pondering her father's words, Vina inquired, "And Trina’s necklace? How did you retrieve it?"

“That’s perhaps the most inexplicable part, Vina. I discovered a mortally wounded Stigandorian woman on a battlefield amidst a fierce clash against the creatures. She was an adventurer who had hidden away the necklace. When I tried to help her, she pressed it into my hands and implored me to get it back to Trina. She died soon after, without even telling me her name.”

"So, just to clarify, the Stigandorians and the Kaliters belong to different worlds?" Vina asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Yes. The Stigandorians' world is devoid of Kaliters," Shan confirmed.

Vina sighed deeply, "Alright. The Kaliters and the Stigandorians each originate from distinct worlds. I'm standing on a third world, and Earth constitutes a fourth. Simple enough." Her frustration apparent, she massaged her forehead before asking, "What does the necklace do?"

"I can't say definitively. By the time I recovered the necklace, I couldn't afford to experiment; Stine was about to find me. All I can say is Trina wore it almost daily and it held all the stones she distributed. My hope was that returning the necklace to Trina would enable her to recall all the stolen Aspects at once."

Vina nodded, recalling the stories she had read. “The history books say the stones could fly back to Trina. Is that true?” Vina asked.

“It is true. I witnessed it myself,” Shan affirmed.

Vina studied her father closely as she shared her knowledge. "Etana has the necklace. Ann bonded with the Aspect of Light."

Shan's smile faded as he registered Vina's hardened expression. "I can see my plan didn't unfold as I had hoped. What went wrong?" he asked, concern furrowing his shadowed brow.

"No, explain your plan first," Vina retorted, her voice harboring a sharp undertone.

Shan nodded in understanding, as if he had been waiting for this moment. "There was a time when your mother and I were safe. We built a home in a quiet town. One day, you and your sisters appeared out of a portal Priya had opened. We were happy, if only for a short while. Then, the protections I put in place failed us."

"Shan, I need specifics. The complete picture," Vina insisted, her patience fraying at the edges.

Taking a deep breath he likely didn’t need, Shan continued with a more formal tone, "In our fleeting years of peace, you and your sisters were our joy. But the safety I crafted was a fragile illusion. The Watch continued to hunt for us as well as The Darkness. We were protected only by one of The Twelve with the Aspect of The Hidden. I had cared for her as a child and her dedication to me and your mother was resolute, but eventually her protection of our family was discovered, and the aspect was wrested from her control, exposing us to Stine and The Watch simultaneously."

"Norimor…?" Vina interjected, a glimmer of recognition in her eyes.

"You're familiar with her?" Shan questioned, a touch of surprise in his tone.

Vina nodded, her mind laboriously piecing the scattered fragments of information together. "Please, continue."

“After I learned what happened to her, I understood we had no options left.. We couldn’t hide anymore. The only way to protect our family was to save Trina. I... manipulated your mother, Priya, into doing it," he admitted. "With our safety compromised, I knew Stine would return for us. My priorities were clear: I wanted to protect my family, and I wanted to save Trina. I concluded that the only way to accomplish both tasks was through my death. Stine wouldn't be able to locate you and your sisters without the Aspect of Light bound to me. By endowing you three with the strongest powers I could offer, I believed you'd stand a chance against the shadows and be able to rescue Trina."

Distancing himself from the barrier, Shan looked at Vina, his eyes full of remorse. "I'm not proud of my actions, and I won't try to defend them. Your judgment of me is yours alone to make. When you three arrived, I saw an opportunity, but I didn't act immediately. Only when there were no other alternatives did I take such drastic action. I had to find Trina, to get her to mend this world. I knew her fondness for Travelers. I used rune carving on you, ensuring it would activate when you turned eighteen so you'd be drawn back to this world. I would've done it to myself, but Trina had already barred offworld travel for those bonded to aspects."

The revelation left Vina reeling. Arms folded protectively around herself, she managed to choke out, "You… you used rune carving on me when I was a toddler?" Her voice trembled, echoing the horror and revulsion coursing through her veins.

Shan's shadowy form swayed, burdened with guilt, "I deceived your mother too. She would never have agreed to what I planned. Under the pretense of fleeing Palitern, I manipulated her into opening a portal to Earth. I slipped you through and sealed it behind you. I was certain that upon your return, Trina would grant you the title of Traveler, opening up a plethora of skills for you to master, including blood skills. Given your Earthly upbringing, I knew you wouldn't have any Paliternian prejudices against such abilities.”

Vina, wrapping her arms around herself as if to shield against the torrent of emotions overwhelming her, barely masked her turmoil. She held up a hand, interrupting Shan, “Wait. You knew I would learn blood skills? How?”

“Afterwards, Priya tracked me down and I had no choice but to explain my plan to her. That we had to find a way to teach you blood skills upon your return. She was livid, but ultimately agreed that we needed to bestow you girls with all the power we could to ensure your safety and Trina's recovery. Before we could finalize our strategy, Stine found me. Yet, your mother was successful! She managed to instruct you in blood skills. How did she do it?”

Vina squinted at Shan's dark figure. "She left me letters leading to a rune-filled chamber. Accidentally, I activated some with my own blood."

Shan nodded, "That sounds like her. She would have embedded some subtle hint, perhaps even in one of those letters. She probably told you to bleed."

Vina's memory involuntarily dredged up a long-forgotten note, a seemingly innocuous message from her mother, now imbued with profound significance.

“I made the lantern by hand using the rune carving skill. Rune carving has always been a passion of mine. I spent so much time making runes, sometimes my hands would bleed!”

A grim realization dawned, and she muttered, "She meant that literally..." Retreating from the barrier, she clenched her fists, anger surging, "So, you both orchestrated this? For what? To make me a Trina detector!”

Shan approached the barrier, his remorse as tangible as the shadows that formed him. "Our intent was never so simplistic. You were meant to lead, Ann to defend, and Etana to restore. Together, you were to be our world's salvation. You were never meant to be alone."

“But I was alone! I was alone for sixteen years in another world! You abandoned me!”, Vina shouted.

Shan’s admission was a mere whisper. "Yes, and for that, I bear an eternal regret. I am sorry. I wouldn't blame you if you never forgave me," He conceded.

Vina diverted her gaze, but the sight of Trina, the shadow creatures, and a glowing axe embedded in the ground was no comfort. Her mind raced with memories of her past hardships, and she returned her attention to Shan, "Where's Mom?"

"I'm uncertain. After I breached her trust, she only agreed to work with me on what was necessary for your survival upon your return, and for Etana and Annalina's safety. She never trusted me again," he confessed, his voice laced with defeat.

Vina yearned to vent her fury, to unburden herself of years' worth of pent-up anguish, but found it pointless. Like her, Shan had been trapped for sixteen long years in a shadowy prison. His decision had branded them both with scars of regret and loneliness.

“Do you still want to help me?” She asked, her voice barely audible.

Shan's reply was gentle, yet resolute. "Always."

Vina's resolve hardened. "Then quiet Stine's shadows. After I rest, we plan."