It was dark. Allan could not see the light like before anymore. He felt unbearable numbness and pain filled his mind once again. He did not feel his body at all. Just the thoughts and mind, which were slowly coping with sudden movement. Away from the land of death, Allan survived the impossible.
He came back to his destroyed body. Wounds of all sorts of intensity were scattered all over his body. His eyes were destroyed and his chest area had a big crevice. Blood and shards of red orb were inside of his chest wound.
Allan was currently within a deep and tall cave filled with gold, shining metals, gems, and crystals, with rows of bags and boxes of unknown stuff. There were even bookshelves with some books or them being engulfed in gold instead. It did not look like a cave in the mountain range at all. It more resembled a home of somebody. Above was a deep hole from the way the orb of red came, with its protection wrapped around Allan's body. Light from the outside was slightly coming all the way here. All the way into the body of Allan, who was bathed in the light and gold glittering around him.
Allan’s body was lying in a sea of gold and other valuable gems and crystals of unknown value and origin. Nonetheless, this incredible sight was unseen by his eyes. Life was gone from his body as his soul and origin came back from the Underworld. Just a time, he felt, was anything that he could even imagine or think about. His own mind was barely conscious, with primal senses which were almost numb to everything. His body was unusable, but he was unaware of it.
There was a sudden change in this holy moment of light. The crimson shards in the chest wound started to emit light of crimson and in just a few moments, it flew in a shape of a whirling snakey hand that grasped a few pieces of gems and crystals alike. A light that was slowly causing to be done while holding it increased as the shattered crystals in its palm ceased to emit any light. It absorbed the energy that it felt in them. Barely satisfied with this amount, the red orb's remains went further and grasped and absorbed as much as it could. The hunger it felt was barely quenched, but the energy was slowly entering Allan's chest.
Slowly realizing sudden changes after eating up the energy within the crystals and gems, the consciousness which was on the brink of dissipation and corruption beneath the onslaught of the red orb returned. Orb of red could not coexist with other beings inside of the same body. Interference and annoyance with sharing were not something it was willing to take, so it was pissed off with the ending results, which were a failure with another following failure.
Yet again, the unknown return of the host made the orb of red mad and confused. Only slim pieces of its instinct were left from the previous shattering, and it wanted to slowly regain its power and resume its possession.
Suddenly, roars of anger and hatred sounded from a near distance. It came deeper or outside of the cave's systems, but no one was sure about it, not even the orb or Allan’s earbuds, which were mostly intact, damaged but usable.
The slightly regained red orb ceased its activities and retracted its hand that disappeared to where it came from.
Allan could not feel his mouth, unable to lift his body, legs, arms, head, or even his fingers. He was, once again, filled with disturbing helplessness, which filled his slowly regaining mind.
He could only hear tremors through his back which kept some feelings. Coins moved away around him and were clicking against each other. Steps were hardly heard in clicking sounds like something or someone was moving towards Allan's location. The snorting of some beast was also there as a gust of wind went against his body.
“What is it? How come there is a hole in my roof? Who are you, human boy?” An unnatural, deep voice shot toward Allan.
Allan’s mind was jolted away. Someone was there, near him. It made him glad as the time he felt was rather long, but he did not know what it said. The language seemed different and harsh with the loud cry of a beast. Perhaps it was an unnatural mind of Allan who could not process it yet.
He couldn’t answer, even if he wanted to. Lifting his finger or even opening his mouth seemed like an impossible task at the moment.
Voice was silent for some time. The chirp of clutter was ringing as it moved closer to Allan’s position. He could feel a slight breeze coming his way once more.“How did it manage to get in here? Is it an assault by some lunatic? Is it a corpse of it as well? It should be impossible for anyone to find or break through this fortress. And that scent of yours... ”
“I don’t even know where I am... Let alone understand what happened to me.” Allan helplessly thought to himself as he once again was unable to tell any word apart.
“You... Are you even alive or dead? These injuries, yet life is still clinging to your soul... Hmph! To think that my stash would be breached by a human mortal boy on a brink of death. I would be more of a laughingstock than already am. You should just die. Let the suffering go away. Let me help you.” The voice talked as if in understanding. It was willed with strange wisdom and strength which acted in a domineering way. It made no distinction as if everything that it wanted would go that way.
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“I am on a brink of death? I figured that much. Considering the Underworld, I should have died at the hands of that scarred man. He was a servant of that old man who went against Skoll, I guess.”Allan marveled in the darkness as he regained his last pieces of memories, but could care less about the current situation. That voice... it could not help him regain light?
Sudden heat enveloped Allan's body. What remained of his clothes burned to ashes. The heat and warmth of flames were noticeable on his skin, but it left no pain or suffering to Allan. It went on for minutes, yet he did not feel any pain or suffered the same fate as his clothes. It was even a somewhat pleasant and fascinating feeling.
“Huh? What?!” The voice exclaimed in confusion.
“Who are you? Is this some kind of joke made by my kind? Answer me!” Shouted angrily the pissed-off voice. Huffing tones were heard in the air. Allan was oblivious to any of that as the heat slowly disappeared.
“Grrrrraaaa!” Both angry and helpless howl was heard by Allan. A roar of frustration that was universal in any language.
“No. No... They would never lower themselves to such low standards. Is it that fate that, the patriarch talked about to me in our last moments? I don’t know, but he is special. Human nature is prone to unexpected mutation like us beasts.” Voice muttered.
“What is it talking about? I wonder.” Allan was hearing the thing he probably shouldn’t have, or it could all be just nonsense in a way some beast communicated? He had no idea. The voice was talking to itself or to him for all his sake, yet it did not matter.
“Boy, you can probably hear me, but cannot talk to me, or probably not even understand me. Ugh... this is troublesome. Your chest has some strange cavity. I don’t know the extent of your internal injuries. Your eyes were popped off and your limbs are probably shattered or broken apart significantly. I don’t know how you would even manage to stay alive in such a state, yet life is still clinging to you.
“Oh... That is just great. Back from the death itself, but ended no different from before. Should I be called lucky?” Allan lampooned his own fate as the words started to sound clearer, but in no way familiar words were within them. This was a completely different language he had no idea about.
“I will try to give you some medicine, but I am not sure if it can work for you. You have no energy within yourself, yet something strange happened to you. I don’t understand it myself. I will ask someone who should know.”
“Why does it do this constant useless talking? I don't understand any of it. Did I end up near some samaritan who decided to help me? Come to think of that, I feel constant pressure on my chest. What a weird feeling. Are these coins pressed on my back?”
Truthfully, if he got a chance to see his body right now, he would not be so calm in his mind. Even these limb injuries would mean certain death for normal people. Infections or infernal bleedings are near-fatal in the current age.
Steps slowly disappeared from Allan’s vicinity. He was once again left alone.
Unbeknown to him. Tiny strands of crimson hands shot from his chest. It grabbed a few surrounding crystals and began to absorb the energy within them once more.
A few dozens of minutes passed away. Strands of energy floated towards Allan’s chest and disappeared towards the shards of what is left of the red orb. It was careful and angry about the damage it went through. Slowly repairing itself was its main priority. It showed some vigilance towards the beast it felt. Luck was terrible and extremely unfaithful misfortune befell it again as if heaven itself were against it. It was stranded on some near planet, but to a lair of something it did not want to meet, not in the current situation.
Crystals dimmed, and cracks started to appear as they shattered apart. A crimson vortex was slowly rotating inside Allan’s chest. It twisted inside his chest, but this time. Allan was aware of something unfamiliar.
The pressure inside his chest was not something natural. The cavity or not, he felt something sinister around himself. It was not something he felt physically, even amidst the pressure. It went deep into his being. You could call it his spiritual soul. Mind what every being had or awareness of what came from knowledge.
“W-w-what is happening?? What is that death feeling and sense of danger? I feel like I will be eaten up by a prime predator. How terrifying.” Allan was scared and there was nothing he could do but just endure it. Hoping that the intent would leave soon.
“Ahhhahaaa! I can see you!” A voice from before said from a hidden distance. It echoed in the cave. Orb of red was abruptly interrupted. Far above, on a ceiling, what was a previous path of Allan’s descent, a pair of eyes were watching what was happening below.
“You thought I was just another idiot? Who knows nothing? Do you think that some lunatic who wants to possess someone beneath my gaze can go away with it?”
“Graaaawrrr!” A claw made of crystal clear flames shot up from the hole. Its fangs, like nails, pushed to a single point. It looked almost like a spearhead, but also had something strange around it.
It came like a meteor from the sky, right to the floating hands and appearance of the red orb.
A demonic wail shrieked from the sudden explosion of the crimson vortex. It spanned just a few meters. Some sort of face was formed on its surface. A devilish smile and deep red, almost black pupils were above the smile. Beams of a crimson shot from these holes. A fierce clash against the claw shook the entire cave. Gold rained everywhere, and all sorts of antiques and random objects were scattered around. Be it from boxes, bags, or shelves.
“You!? What is even your real body?” Voice said in astonishment. Claw was certainly losing against it.
The collision between the attacks formed a big red hand. It traveled up at a wild speed as the ceiling’s crevice was destroyed even more. Its fingers grabbed the surroundings as the beast behind the ceiling of the cave came into a view.
A dragon-like creature with claws and fangs, with considerable resemblance to other such creatures. But it had a rather weird stature and most of its scales were in dull colors. Spikes or aesthetic genetics that made dragons so visibly threatening were not there at all. The only saving grace was its wings. Beautiful to behold, they were neatly folded on its back. Spikes and shiny scales were on them too, unlike the rest of its body.
Lines and curvature made them look like a stacked sharp blade. It had a reddish-brown color. It was significantly bigger than its body, which was made from the same base color as his body outside of the scales themselves, which had a dull sheen of brown.