Gasping for air, the little fella clawed through the darkness, hot, piercing little shards stung his whole body. With a final and desperate heave, he punched upwards and felt his arm reach the air, blazing hot air.

He struggled to escape the grasp of the Black Desert. Once both arms got free, he pushed himself from the ground, his fingers digging deep into the sand as his torso and knees lifted above the sand.

“Fingers? What? When did I get those? Wait, I got knees too?” He asked himself surprised as the scorching heat blasted from above.

He stood tall, surprised by his new corporeal form. It was… large. Humanly large. He was unnaturally long in his opinion. He even had toes now, covered by the glass like sand.

~wiggle~ ~wiggle~

“hehe,”

Amidst the relentless onslaught of the blazing light, his gaze shifted upwards. Squinting, he locked his eyes upon the mesmerizing sight of the multicolored pearly opalescent sun, which devoured the swirling black sands of the desert, creating ethereal rings and a cloud that enveloped its radiant form. Towering pillars of sand stretched towards the heavens, resembling grotesque tentacles of an otherworldly eldritch monstrosity hungering for its celestial feast.

“Primordial Sun…” He refocused upon witnessing it, he had to find Luke, the quicker the better.

Their tether, that inexplicable connection, pulsed within him, guiding his steps in this strange realm. He was always suspicious as to why he woke up near that fuckwit in the sewers. He wasn’t all bad, but he was a dumbass, that’s for sure. A dumbass that took care of him and helped him without rhyme or reason. Never asking for anything in return.

It was time to help him back.

He moved in the direction of the source of their bond. Towards the biggest whirlpool of sand rising into the sun, the one that was the furthest away.

“Of course”

He crouched down to prepare for a phase to get there as fast as possible.

He leaped mightily.

And he crashed face-first into the ground eating sand. With his ass up in the air, he lay sprawled in the sands really considering if Luke needs his help.

He bounced back and pushing with his hands on his knees he spit out sand while cursing randomly.

“Fuck it, we do it the hard way then.”

He started his journey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He trudged through the seemingly interminable desert, the relentless assault of obsidian sands piercing his feet with excruciating pain. The shards reflected the intense light, searing his eyes and forcing him to squint in pain. His unfamiliar body threw off his equilibrium, causing him to sway and stumble, his arms hanging limply at his sides. With each agonizing step, he pushed forward.

“God fucking damn it how can I even feel heat? I’m made of nothing! NOTHING! What the hell, my feet hurt, I can’t fly. What a shit existence do humans live. At least I can wiggle my toes and coil my shadows to pass the time….Hehe”

The journey continued for an unmeasurable amount of time, with its passing, the darkness forming its body became smaller. Less solid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, he reached the bottom of the colossal column of sand that rose into the sky. Now standing directly under the fireball, he felt as if he was inside an oven. Scorching air crackled around him, his shadowy figure was now shaved off all excess energy. He was barely hanging on.

He walked around the huge moving pillar until he finally saw the source of their bond.

The sight was not good. He took in his friends' current form.

His eyes were closed and twitching in visible torment. He was sprayed in a hole in the sand, covered by them as they traveled over him and through him. Digging under his skin and shredding every muscle and nerve ending he had. Grating against his exposed bones.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

His body was trying to regenerate but it was easy to see, that he didn’t have enough power, even with the Primordial Sun consuming so much sand, he was still being dragged in, dragged down. Being consumed, being swallowed.

The Little Fella jumped down with grace and tumbled down the slope of sand like a kicked can.

“OW SHIT AH OW A!” Those sounds resounded the whole way down.

Landing on his neck, he stayed in the upside-down position. With a sigh, he let his backside drop and his butt smacked on the ground.

“Ow…” he mumbled tiredly.

He stood up once again, dusting himself off, he walked right over the head of his friend. Still unresponsive as he lay half submerged in a crystal shredder.

“Luke. Luke! LUKE! WAKE UP!” he yelled bowing over his head, straight into his face.

No response.

“Hmmmmmm…” he looked at him in consternation.

He raised one of his arms straight up towards the sun as if gathering his blessing. Next, adding torque and power to his movement he swung his arm down with power, his open palm whistling in the dry air.

SMACK!

“OW WHAT THE FUCK!” Luke screamed as his eyes opened.

“HAHAHA!” The little fella started wheezing with laughter as he clutched his sides.

Luke looked angrily as his friend rolled around while laughing. Giving him the stink eye until he settled down.

As the Little Fella exhaled, Luke wanted to say something but was interrupted by another bout of laughter.

“HAHAHA! HOLY HELL FINGERS ARE FUCKING AWESOME, I CAN SEE EACH ONE IMPRINTED ON YOUR FACE, HAHAHA !” The shadowy man started slapping his knees and wiping non-existent tears while constantly laughing.

After a few seconds even Luke in his torment couldn’t help himself and from a small chuckle rose a burst of full-blown laughter. The two resounded in this desolate land. As they both calmed down, Luke managed to get a better Luke at his friend. He could easily feel it was The Little Fella, their connection made it clear. But here? He was something different.

“A Big Fella”

“You know it.” He answered with a smirk and flexing his shadowy biceps.

A tense moment of silence passed between them. As Luke lay in the writhing sand, he tried not to squint in pain as he was constantly feeling the sensation similar to being ground down with a belt sander all over and inside his body.

The Little Fella also tried to put up a good face even as exhaustion wrecked him.

“Listen, buddy, I’m done. I can feel I’m close to being dead. Just let me go, I’m tired. Just protect my-“

He couldn’t continue as his friend, standing over him and listening to his pitiful last words started kicking sand over his face and into his mouth.

“BLAGH UGH STO-GGH STOP THAT!”

“Only when you stop speaking dumb shit, I don’t care in how much pain you are, or how tired you are. You still have stuff to do, and we maybe can help you. Since I entered this place I’ve felt something guide me, I know stuff I shouldn’t. So be so kind and suffer in silence as I save your ass.”

He remained silent, only scrunching his face as he tried to get most of the sand out of his mouth with his tongue.

His friend started walking around him, arms raised and all of his eyes closed, his weird horns or ears on the top of his head twitched at random moments. He pulsed darkness or kept it completely contained. He mumbled under his nose sounds that sounded like the scratching of cutlery against porcelain. Like a pebble thrown inside a revved engine.

He grabbed the air, his fingers sinking into something unseen.

And then he twisted.

Luke screamed, the agony emerged from the empty space in his heart, overshadowing anything he ever felt before. He could feel a feeling so hollow, so fragmented, so wrong his mind almost shattered. The seeping hunger ate away at the very fabric of his being, of his mind. It tore and shredded all of his forms, astral, mental, and physical. He could feel something from the other side pouring into him, unrelenting, uncontrolled, unyielding. He was going to pop like a balloon.

He trashed and spasmed as his friend looked within him with unwavering focus. Concerned.

The sheer will to fight off the pain forced him to pull out one arm of the sand. The will to survive.

Unconsciously he started swinging it at himself and clawing at the hole in his chest.

Little Fella jumped at that moment, dropping whatever he was doing. The air revolted and created a massive POP that cast away the top layer of sand in the crater.

He grabbed his arm, muscles flexing on both of them as their grip tightened.

“We don’t have much time so shut the fuck up and listen, I can save you but you need to get out. The sun may heal you as long as you stop being sucked into the Abyss, The Empty.”

“What, how? I can feel it, if I leave it the pathway will open, It will drown all in Void, extinguish all. No, no, just let me die. Save yourself and Monsoon.”

His friend only grabbed the bottom of his elbow with his other arm, he squatted low, exerting every ounce of his dwindling strength to yank him upward.

"TRUST ME! I fuckin' know how to plug this goddamn hole! We can both make it!" he bellowed, his voice laced with raw desperation.

"BULLSHIT," came the scornful reply, dripping with doubt.

As his ravaged body slowly ascended, the desert sand trembled and convulsed. Each agonizing inch he gained from the accursed sinkhole set the very ground on edge, vibrating with an unsettling energy. Behind him, a bottomless abyss devoid of any hope waited, its gaping maw hungering for his existence.

It echoed silence. The unspoken threat. The indifferent force was capable of endless destruction.

It yearned to be released.

“TRUST ME YOU IDIOT, WE CAN DO IT. I PROMISE YOU, YOU STILL HAVE PEOPLE TO CARE FOR, DEBTS TO PAY!”

He looked away, he didn’t want to think about it, the guilt hurt more than the pain he suffered in the last weeks.

He promised.

To them.

To his mother.

To never willingly end his life.

To always struggle, no matter the hardships.

“FUCK!”

The scream escaped his lungs and the whole world shook with it.

“LETS DO THIS”

The Little Fella grinned. And heaved. He ignited the darkness around him and in pulsing dome waves pushed away the sand and the heavy influence of the Hunger.

Luke, like a kite with its string cut, felt weightless and got thrown with no control over his body.

As he sailed through the air he could see his friend smiling at him as the crater shot off mounds of sand in the air and started aggressively piling on his buddy.

He didn’t land, instead, his body got caught by the pull of the Primordial Sun, he thrashed weakly with his crippled body, hanging his head down.

Being forced to see his friend being overwhelmed by the torturous glass sand. Being overwhelmed.

In his place.

He was smiling even as the sand pierced into his body and writhed under his skin, dousing the flames.

“DO IT, SEAL THE ENTRANCE!”

“I am doing it” He answered calmly.

“NO! YOU PROMISED!”

His friend just smiled as he looked up, he stated.

“I lied.”

Dread and horror filled Luke, he started thrashing madly, begging to be let down, screaming in the air in rage and impotence.

“Listen, you fucking idiot, I can feel it, you are incomplete, you need to find the missing fragments before the Void overtakes your crumbling self or we are all fucked.” He said loudly, his voice piercing through Luke's screams and reaching him, making him stop, and drop his limbs in hopeless surrender.

“I will hold it off, for as long as I can, at least. Go and raise hell.” He said with a smirk as his friend rose higher into the scorching sun formed by the pure power of creation.

As Luke flew away, he lacked any words to respond. He could only gaze down at his friend, to see how much he tried not to show the torment and torture he was experiencing.

But Luke knew.

He knew it was his fault.

It was supposed to be him.

He left this realm moments after the screams started, he couldn’t see him anymore, but he could hear him. Even as the incinerating sun started to absorb him.

He could still hear them.

Echoing within.