A young girl crawled on all fours through a tight cavern. just large enough to fit her tall frame. She was nearing 6 feet, with dark red skin. She had Pitch black hair reaching down to her shoulders, and two thick, curved horns, with smaller protrusions peeking through the top of her hair. forming a crown-like formation. Having been crawling for about 2 hours now, her fatigue was building up but she continued. Tied to her foot was a woolen bag, with the hilt of a sword peeking out and a ball of blue light about a foot in front of her, just enough to illuminate the walls around her.
'All this had better be worth it. Ill skin Ach alive if he dared lie to me.' She had thought. The knowledge of this cavern had been given to her by an imp, known for his cave crawling and dungeon exploring. As she crawled, she felt pain from her horns, but she ignored it. This cavern was getting smaller, and the stalactites had scraped her horns.
'Nows a good a time as ever to take a break.' She sat down, careful not to scratch her horns again. small chipping will heal, but if it gets cut off it will never grow back. Reaching into her sack she pulls out a hard, grey piece of bread and a smaller leather pouch she used as a waterskin. Taking a bite of the bread took more energy than it was worth, but it was all she could get her hands on. She had spent the last of her coin on the knowledge of this cave, in a last-ditch effort to strike it rich. She had heard stories of cave divers and dungeon crawlers finding some rare treasure and retiring soon after. As she dreamt of the potential money she could make, she dozed off. Deciding that she had made enough progress, she slept to recover her energy, the ball of light dissipating.
A few hours had passed, and the young daemon's eyes slowly opened. 'Time to continue,' She thought to herself. She stretched as much as the cavern had allowed, and continued to crawl. Only a few minutes had passed before she saw the ceiling had suddenly raised, tall enough for her to stand. Speeding up her pace she crawled towards it. She got to the end and stood up. What she had seen surprised her.
Before her, was grass. She had never seen grass. At least, none as green as this, or in such abundance. Moving her hand forward the ball of light moved further in for 3 more feet. She continued walking, with careful steps. As she continued, the walls of the cave continued to expand. Amazed by the amount of grass, she kept walking until she saw a turn, with light peeking around the corner. Curious, she walked over and peeked around. Her eyes widened with shock.
The cave she was in suddenly turned into a whole new world around the corner. There were seemingly no more cave walls and the grass had created a field. The expanse was lit up by a small moon, just barely making the ceiling visible. The moonlight shined upon the grass, giving it a blue hue. Right below the moon stood a tower. The tower looked as if it would fall any moment, and its material was worn and dilapidated.
As the young daemon peered around the corner, her eyes were glued to the moon. "So beautiful..." she said aloud. She felt as if the moon was calling to her and she mindlessly walked towards it, charmed by its allure.
"Akasha," she heard, whispered in her ear. "Akasha....Akasha..." The whispering continued as she continued towards the tower. As she approached, the whispering was getting louder, and louder. As she stood before the tower, there was a yell.
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"Akasha!" the young daemon snapped out of the allure. 'What was that?' She stood there confused, looking up at the peak of the tower. 'Well, no other way to go but in,' she thought, as she entered the tower. Opening the door, she was surprised. The previously run-down tower turned luxurious. The floor was made of an odd shiny material and the walls were made of marble. There was a silver staircase that led to the top. Seeing nothing else in the tower, she climbed the stairs.
'Finally, the treasure I was hoping for!' She was excited to find out what lay ahead. 'Maybe a golden crown, embedded with diamonds! or a necklace made of platinum! Or even a mithril sword!' Lost in thought of the possible treasure, she reached the door. With excitement, she reached towards the handle, and tried to open the door but to no avail.
'Why cant I open this door?' she tried with all her might to twist the handle either way, but no luck. 'This lock won't stop me!' she reached into her bag and pulled out her sword. It was very crudely made and was chipped all over. She brandished the sword and got into an awkward position, holding the sword very low to the ground. She swung at the door, hoping to slice it open, but the sword bounced off, and she lost her balance almost tumbling down the stairs. she fell onto her butt, and the sword fell down a few steps. Shaking her head to cure her dizziness, she looked at the door in frustration. As she did, she saw a blue light, carving something into the door.
"What...Is...Your...Name," the daemon read aloud. "Name? I have no name." She 'replied.' She looked at the door, thinking that would work, but nothing. Then, she thought of something.
"Akasha," the door dissipated as she said the name. Her eyes widened, wondering why it worked. Names are only given to imps, a higher class of daemon, or those that have made a great contribution to their village and the priest had blessed them. She was neither an imp nor had she made any contribution. She stood up in a daze and entered the room.
It was a simple room, with a leather chair and a small table with a large ball of light. On the chair sat a book, a very thick one. The cover was made of an unknown metal and the pages were in perfect condition. The daemon walked up to the chair and reached for the book. As soon as she laid her hand on it, a voice resounded in her head.
"You are Akasha, Inheritor of the Twilight arts, and child of the Emperoch." Right after the voice had finished, Akasha felt a sharp excruciating pain. She grimaced and held her head with both hands, nearly falling over. Images flashed in her mind and words appeared. Battlefields with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, kingdoms falling into ruin, mysterious figures waving their hands.
There was one, that lasted a bit longer than the others. It was a complete memory this time and not just a flashing image. There were 15 figures surrounding the person in the memory, casting a spell. As they gathered their mana, the memory started to fade. Before it completely faded, Akasha heard a sentence.
"Akhasa, you have doomed your race. Pay for your folly and repent!" The memory ended. Akashas' pain was slowly subsiding. After a while, the pain had left. She stood up in a daze, looking at the book. 'What was that? and who is Akhasa?' She reached for the book again, hoping for answers. She grabbed the book and sat in the chair. Getting comfortable, she opened the book to the first page.
"To my Successor, whom I deem Akasha." As she said this, she felt her entire body stiffen, and pain crept down from her head. As the pain crept down, so did a layer of light that surrounded her like a bubble. Her expression changed and as the pain went further down, the worse it got. Eventually, it became unbearable and she lost consciousness.