Chapter 8 - The Null

Tal emerged into what he hoped was just another nondescript room. Alone once again. Unlike before, no lanterns hung from the walls providing any sort of illuminative closure. The darkness of the room held close around his skin; enough that nothing in the room was visible. He debated his options; he had no known source of light but he could yell out and listen for some sort of echo that would give him a slight idea of his surroundings. The problem with that, though, was that any sort of nefarious creature that may be lying in wait amongst the darkness would instantly know where he was. It made more sense to stay silent for now and try to get a handle on his situation. That brought him to his next thought.

Tal hadn’t wanted to ask Doldahr for any items to help him on his journey. He told himself that was because he had already helped him plenty, but in reality, it was a little more complicated than that. Instead, he had petitioned the owner of the tavern, Jordain, and his two other dwarven acquaintances for what he thought he needed. Jordain had obliged quite willingly of course; nothing he was asking for was anything extravagant. He had even thrown in what he called a low-grade Health Potion - payment for the entertainment he had provided his patrons on his first night. Hogarth and the introverted dwarven girl had seen fit to provide him with a small sack full of what they thought might come in handy on his journey.

And so Tal had left The Devil's Tongue with a small burlap sack containing just a few days of food and drink, and a number of unknown resources to help him on his way. Tal rummaged around in the sack. Naturally, it was one of the first things he did since leaving the comfort of the tavern and the company of its inhabitants. Blind as he was, he found it quite difficult to get any sort of catalogue on the contents of the sack. That would have to wait.

What he did find was a note attached to what he was positive was a dagger. The note, unfortunately, was unreadable in his current climate, the weapon, however, was definitely useable. He withdrew it from the sack and lodged it, and its shealth, into a pant pocket. It was the best he could do without some sort of belt to stow away his weapon.

With that out of the way, Tal decided forward was as good as any other direction as he continued forward warily in a straight line. His eyes grew more accustomed to the dark as he ventured forward; never enough to make out any concrete objects in the room, but enough that he could be sure there was someone, or something, moving in slow circles around him.

There was never any sound in the chamber, save for his own footfalls and ragged breathing as he moved - something that coming from days of Awareness training made the hair on the back of his neck rise instantly. Tal kept trying to pierce the darkness with his eyes. There was definitely more than one, he reasoned, as he watched the shadows move about in the distance.

Tal couldn't be sure how long he wandered in his effort to navigate around the room and avoid the figures lurking amongst the inky darkness. All he knew was that he was exhausted. Even with his new and improved stats…he was exhausted. Stopping was not an option, though. There was no way he could get anything even resembling sleep under the ever-present eyes of the suspicious shadow figures. He was only grateful that they weren't getting any closer, seemingly content at staying in the distance. For now at least.

Tal’s feet ached. His back ached. His eyes ached from his constant surveillance. He knew he couldn’t go on, in fact, he was sure he would have already fallen to his exhaustion if it wasn’t for his Determination attribute. Yet no matter how far he ventured, Tal could find no exit. A few hours later and his fatigue finally caught up to him. His muscles seized up. His eyelids rolled back into his skull as his body forced him into the recovery of unconsciousness.

***

The hivemind had been given almost as many names as the forms it had taken over its many years. The name of the one they wore like loose skin now was The Null. And they circled the sleeping figure.

It had been a long time since they had ventured this far into the outskirts of The Tower. The distant call of a fellow Tower-Marked though was a ceaseless, light touch upon their senses. Such impulses could be ignored, yet some deep part of their collective consciousness yearned for something new. Some change in scenery.

They would acquiesce to The Tower's unvoiced wishes. For now. It was moments like these that made their home feel like little more than a shackle they would soon need to discard.

***

Tal woke with a start. Instantly he was on high alert. He jolted upright and swept his eyes around himself. Nothing had changed. Thank god. Although unintentional, It was the first time he had braved sleep in the Tower’s wilderness and he was relieved to find himself unharmed. That brought him back to the threat at hand though and he searched around for the all too familiar shadowy figures, still lurking in the distance. Tal found them instantly. Sweat brewed upon his brow. They had gotten closer.

My top priority needs to be getting somewhere where I can actually see something. Someplace where I can lock a door wouldn't go unwelcome either Tal thought as he looked over his shoulder. Once again, he was on the move. Progressing through the room as best he could while always skirting away from the undefined blobs of darkness intreating through the darkness. They seemed to be more alert now. Moving with more purpose. As if they had finally made up their mind about something. It made Tal even more uneasy.

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Hours of trudging through the blank landscape passed in a blur before Tal came before the landscape's first notable feature. It was a shimmering archway with a dull blue film stretched across its emptiness. Every so often, angry red embers would burst forth from the blue film, launching themselves towards the rocky pillars clustered around the base of, what Tal assumed, must be a portal.

The portal was still far off but it was the first thing of significance he had encountered. Not to mention a probable way out of the oppressive darkness that made up this room. As such, Tal began his journey toward the landmark. It may look scary as shit but surely there must be something nice on the other side. Why can’t I get a room full of chocolate? Or…puppies? Surely there must be something like that here somewhere…

It didn’t take long for Tal to realise that he was being blocked from adventuring further toward the landmark by the shady figures. It didn’t take a genius to realise that they didnt want him to leave. Instead, they wanted to keep him trapped in this rubbish room. But for what purpose. With the exit in sight, Tal braved their gaze and began to move closer. An uncountable number of the creatures swarmed toward the direction he was headed in. Tal was obstinate enough to keep going up until he got close enough to get a proper look.

The creatures not only outnumbered him manyfold but looking upon each gave Tal an insidiously queasy feeling. Each of the creatures would have been half of Tal’s height - if they weren’t slightly levitating up off the ground. Instead, they rose until they were just below Tal’s shoulders. They were cloaked in what appeared to be a tattered pitch-black cloak, obscuring any sort of supposed humanity that might be hiding within the cowl. For all that the creatures lacked any sort of facilitates to provide a menacing glare, they made up for when they started to advance upon Tal in complete unison.

That was enough for Tal to change his mind about venturing through the portal. Alright, I get it, don’t mess with the dozens of scary, floating, magic people Tal thought as he retreated to put some distance between himself and the advancing Null. They stopped moving toward him after he got far enough though Tal couldn’t help feeling their unseen eyes resting upon him.

In short order, Tal was braving sleep once again. And again. And again. He had encountered many doorways, portals, stairways and even a few other oddities now in this strange room. In fact, he wouldn't even call it a room. He felt like he had travelled dozens and dozens of kilometres. Each time he found something noteworthy though, the Null would always prevent him from getting close. Pressing him like some sort of cornered animal, he was sure. Forcing him to travel in a direction coinciding with their whims.

His food had all but run out. And after this great ‘fresh’ start, Tal was almost ready to give up. Just when I thought things were starting to pick up, I get thrust back out into this Tower once again to fend for myself. Not that there's anything to fend myself from. It takes a twisted sort of humour to devise something like this. Showing me various ways away from this prison and then blocking any attempt at taking their path from me just like that.

Every time that Tal would move towards the entryway of a new room the Null would stop him. But there was little else he could do. There was, in fact, nothing else he could do. Save for fighting the creatures off himself. Tal was going to save that plan a last-ditch effort. For now, Tal moved towards each object, each pillar of hope that he could and tried to hold out until the stupid creatures' fascination with him gave out.

Thankfully, or perhaps, unthankfully, the Null never lost interest in Tal. But they could see the boy was getting more and more skittish. If they weren’t already close to his final destination, they would have had to become more forceful with their suggestions. The Null for their part just did their best to hurry him along. Making sure they would be next to him in time to deliver their parting gift which would hopefully pay dividends later. The boy was beginning to sag, though he perked up when he noticed he was getting closer and closer to a structure in the distance without the interference of the Null.

Tals eyes widened. He was doing it. He was finally about to be free. Where he was about to emerge, he couldn’t be certain. His destination was just an orangy-ember glowing crater in the ground. It was big enough to fit many people down through it at once though it wasn't perfectly circular. Splinters of the amber light from the portal snaked out through the cracked ground surrounding it. It was certainly eye-catching, though nothing too fancy compared to some of the other shows of magic he had seen over his last few days here.

Tal was finally having a good break in his luck. Then he made the mistake of looking over his shoulder. They were racing behind him. And he was only just keeping up enough pace that they couldn't catch up. But despite his increased attributes, he was beginning to flag. The constant uncertainty of the last few days and a lack of a decent meal did nothing to help his athleticism. Tal tried not to look back again as he raced towards his salvation. He was almost close enough to jump through.

Tal pushed through, gasping heavily for breath and striding with as much might as he could bring forth. He leapt, spiralling forward and toward the ground in a performance that he thought would make Olympic long-jumpers proud. A hand snaked out behind him, impossibly fast. It speared into his shoulder and Tal instantly lost all sort of control from that side of his body down. A coldness spread through his chest, but in the jumble of things, it was too hard to assess the damages. A blue screen bloomed in his vision before he fell head first through the portal

Mark of Null-Kin [Epic]

Temporary

You have been infused with the essence of The Null. This temporary mark will allow you to develop the racial abilities of this species far easier than what would otherwise be possible.

For a temporary period of time, this mark will allow you to shrug off wounds that would otherwise afflict a corporeal being.