《The First Nightmare》 The Maw What is the greatest creation of our age? is it the many ways in which mages of the arcane improved the daily life of our citizens? is it how our blacksmiths developed improved ways in which to work metal and essence of slain creatures in to one? is it the ever improving warriors of our kingdom developing new ways to combat the ever growing threats around us? is it the tenuous alliance between us and certain other races to combat the monster scurges and beings in the dark places? No, it is the consumption, the devouring of essence, that which has allowed our race and others to survive against odds which by right should have wiped us from existance, for without essence we are no more than cattle for slaughter, it is our strength, our means to grow, our means to fight back, our means to survive. Kazie Umbre 1st scholar of the arcanium consortium. "Tired... so weary... i feel.. nothing..why" the last whispers that echoed through a pit, a pit covered in blood, limbs and vicera visible throughout as if a gale made of blades had shredded whatever unfortunate cratures they had belonged too. In the pit a figure, a tragic figure, a man, or what was left of one, pale skin matted with blood, legs missing chunks of meat down to the bone as if many mouths had taken greedy chunks of flesh, one arm torn from the shoulder, broken bone and gore left in its place, the other in no better shape than his legs. but the worse was the stomach, it was missing as if torn from his body, his ribs cracked open and his entrails pulled out, parts missing, parts eaten, a sorry figure of a man, not a good passing, not an easy one, alone within the pit. Time passes, the passing sun and moon shine their light down upon a lush forest, many seasons of biting winters and scorching heat of the summers pass, the eternal cycle, years go by, but slowly a change starts to happen, the forest is the first to change, it begins with the bushes and weeds, grey spots of decay start to grow upon the vegetation, soon withering into husks, then the trees, bark turning slowly to a moldy burnt black , branches become twisted and threatening, the leaves to never grow again. Then the land its self slowly changes, the fertile brown soil slowly loses the life it once held, turning dark, a prevalent scent of rot and decay within the air, the birds had long fled, quickly followed by the smaller woodland creatures, they sensed a threat, an ominouse coming, the predators sensed a rival, posturing and guarding their territories until it was to late, they too began to change, creatures soon became monsters, changing in to horrific versions of themselves, they rage across the desolate scape of twisted trees and dead earth, locked in an endless struggle of hunger and death, eternal combat for dominance, savagely killing each other for a never ending craving of flesh that will not be filled, a need to attack all other life. Deep within this landscape of corruption and nightmares and twisted trees yawns a deep maw, an inky blackness writhing within, tenderals of shadow seeming to be reaching out, as if reaching for something, as if calling something, enticing any and all living beings to enter its depths, seductive. "come see... come.. see..." A passing creature nears the yawning casm, enthralled by the writhing shadows, a creature that may have once been a wolf, if a wolf was three meters long with several layers of teeth and rotting grey tentacles flayling all over its body, its congealed eyes glossy, decaying purple tongue flayling around its salavating jaw, trailing over its many, many teeth. The wolf was powerful to have survived so long, it must have been the top predator in the area, killing all other contenders, but that do''s not matter now, all that matters is that writhing mass of shadow, like a will ''o the wisp, calling to it, never ceasing. "come... come..." The voice never stops, wiggling its way in to the head of the wolf monstrosity, a horrific voice, like jagged metal being impaled in to screaming children, truly terrifying to those who bear witness.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "come.. inside...." The wolf edges closer... closer... so close now, almost to the edge of the maw, the voice calling it ever onwards, the survival instinct of the wolf was finally rearing its head, starting to fight for control, the first vestiges of dread appearing as it came closer, something is wrong, DANGER!FLEE! but it was too late, far too late. Shadow that was tangible thundered out of the maw, wrapping around the wolf and dragging it within, the voice stopped. It was the wolf''s turn to scream. The sound of snapping and grinding akin to stone over stone screeching over the top of the wolfs drawn out death knell, shadow breaking bone, rending flesh, the never ending screaming, then sudden silence. The wolf was suddenly gone, the only thing left an impenetrable inky darkness, it seemed almost somewhat denser, like it was growing, If you stared into its depths you might see it, the eyes, the terrible eyes, like voids in the shadow, far darker than its surroundings, two sharp orbs of malovent and vicious intent, glaring from a pit, such hunger held within the stare, looking, searching, hunting.Something else would come, they always do, drawn to the inky blackness and the terror within, it was patient, it would wait for the next one, there was always one more. The voice sounds out once again, looking for prey, another meal, calling from a dark pit, within a cave that seemed more like a great carnivorous maw, the voice touched something, another creature, this one had a stronger mind, much stronger, but nothing could stop the voice, it caressed the thing''s mind with sickening ease, seducing, tempting. "come... come to me... come.." The eyes in the dark seemed to be smiling, a smile of endless hunger, the darkness slowly begins to sink back within the pit, the cave shrouded in shadow, a slow laugh leaking out, the sounds of children screamin once again held within this tortured laugh, but there was something else too, a new sound... like the crying of a wolf. "soon". Footsteps sounded upon the forest floor, amongst the twisted trees, the clanking of metal and creaking of leather heard over whispered voices, fear and caution showing on the faces of these beings, humans and elves, strangers to this desolate landscape, walking in formation with weapons drawn, constantly on guard looking out into the trees, always vigilant, eyes always roaming for the dangers that could beset them at any moment. they too appeared to be hunting, six heavily armed humans in full plate mail taking up positions at the front and back of the formation, large kite shields and blades facing the wilderness, covering two elve''s within the formations centre, they were different, carrying long wooden staffs of intricate design, strange stones inlaid the top of each one, seeming to draw in the light slightly, colors whirling within, they were wearing more leather than metal, long deep cowls of green cloth covering their heads, the elve''s were constantlymurmuring, strange but fluid words seemed to flow from their perfectly symmetrical mouths, they never stopped as if they were keeping away a great evil with their words, the human in the centre front also in plate mail, slightlly taller and broader across the shoulders than the others, was the only warrior to carry a great battleaxe, ready to be swung at any time, gripped within large gauntleted hands, his eyes followed another elf who was further in front. Another member of their party, aranger, with full leather covering him head to toe, dyed a deep green and a long bow strung with an arrow clutched firmly in within his hands, this group had a full trust within each other, there was no doubt that they could count on each other to always cover their back in a tough situation. These were men of the kingdom,soldiers to be exact, soldiers of the valen kingdom, land of one of the three great cities that the sentient races had managed to carve out of the wilderness, pushing back the horde of monsters that inhabited the area, proud were the founding races of human, elf and dimir of this land, jealously guarding their borders against threats, monster or otherwise. The soldiers were hardened veterans, all soldiers are, its not a safe life, one mistake and your life is snuffed out, this world affords no mistakes. Trust and training is what let them survive all their trial''s in the past, so they never doubted each other, all fulfill their role within the valen army. That is why they marched in formation, guarding against threats from the wilderness, following the ranger who navigated from the front. None saw the slack-jawed face, or the slightly cocked head, as if he was listening to something, the tracker, always in front, always leading, for if they did they could have stopped what was to come. "come.. come to me..". The Maw part 2 What are the beasts, these ancient and powerful creatures, with such diversity amongst their number, their endless legions dwarf our own civilization, their forms both deadly, myriad and seemingly of purposeful design, where did they come from? Well, those are hard questions to answer, you must understand that our world is mostly unexplored, our planet is of immense size, simply trying to cross our continent, Firnius, is a massive endeavor, to say nothing of the dangers, the travel by mount alone, even on the backs of the finest steeds of the kingdom would take over ten months from the two closest points of the land. Where did the beasts come from? No one knows, one thing is for certain, they were here before us and they will be here well after we perish.You may ask what are these beasts? The only thing certain is that they are powerful, some of titanic power, within the very deepest reaches of the earth, untouched by our mortal hands, the very land itself gives birth to monsters that would make you quake in your very soul, scuttling around in the dark places, that¡¯s not the worst of it either, for you had better pray you never try to sail upon the oceans bordering our kingdom, it is a death sentence, those who do shall behold true fear when they gaze into its depths, for the ocean always gaze¡¯s back. Kazie Umbre 1st scholar of the Arcanium Consortium Several weeks had already passed since we had set out from the bulwark, charged with hunting down a particularly dangerous beast, it had not been a smooth journey, one of our number had fallen on the way already, no one could claim that our land was safe, we knew that better than most, still it hurt, to lose one of your own, a friend, a comrade in arms, it was never easy, but we are soldiers of valen, we know our duty, so ever on we press, until we end the beast. A strange beast it is too, its like never seen before, truly ugly I am told, its form of a great wolf, writhing grey tentacles covering every inch of its body but for its eyes and slavering jaws generously layered with rows of razor sharp teeth, it did not look healthy according to witnesses, it had attacked the outlying farms that surrounded the great city, beyond the walls of the bulwark where soldiers are constantly on guard. The wolf had devoured an entire family in the dead of night before the alarm was razed, but it was for naught, it fled into the wild with the last of the family clutched in its jaws, a small boy, leaving nothing in its wake but for deep prints in the mud, panicked screams and the distinct sounds of cracking bones, the poor child. It has been a long time since then, our ranger, Lena, had tracked the beast for many weeks and we had finally started to make real progress, it had journeyed very far into the wild, into a massively sprawling forest that was still uncharted territory for us as no known troops or explorer¡¯s of our kingdom had scouted this far in the past, the prints had started to become fresh, signs of its passing in abundance all around, broken branches and deep claw marks marring many trunks of the surrounding forest, as if the beast had a taken offence with the greenery. It was in the evening, far too close to night for comfort, that we started to notice that the scenery had started to change, all plans to set up a fortified camp forgotten, first it was the silence, noticed by the sharp ears of Lena, an oppressive silence, one that should not be in a forest of this size, the chirping of the many birds had ceased, the insects absent and the normal hubbub of animal calls and distant roars muffled, as if afraid to wake a sleeping dragon. We formed ranks, all six of us moving in tight formation, a tight wall of steel and blade surrounding our troops, the assigned mages took up their positions within the middle, I pulled my axe from its holster above my shoulder, my old friend, always by my side through all my battles, I started stretching my legs and arms, getting the blood flowing and shifting the full plate mail that may as well have been welded to my body by the accumulated sweat of the journey. Lena instantly stringing her bow, an arrow to the string already in an animal like graceful pose, ready to move at a moment¡¯s notice, smooth as silk, I smile, the army do¡¯s its training well. The mages have already begun their spells, chanting in a language that still makes me uncomfortable to this day, like ants within my ears, a buzzing that wont quit, still it was comforting to have them there, nothing like the fire power of a mage to make most grown warriors wet themselves, no one would like to melt inside their own armor or take a blast of lightning to the face, just glad it wasn¡¯t my boys that had to face them, I hate fighting mages. We press on through the undergrowth letting the shields of the group press back any low hanging branches, afraid to slash the foliage of the trees incase of leaving an opening that could be exploited by whatever was the cause of the silence. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Always moving, never stopping for a single moment, my eyes never left Lena as she navigated our path forward, I would be damned to whatever hell existed before I let her fall to a sudden ambush, I had learnt my lesson this far in to the wilds, it was my inattentiveness that let Tomas fall under the Armored Python, we were trusted to watch his back, especially me, I¡¯m his Sargent. I was even looking at the fucking thing, I stood staring like an idiot as we passed a colossal oak tree it¡¯s branches stretching into the sky, wondering in amazement at the large tree limbs just as one of the said limbs shot forward to reveal a mouth bigger than Tomas was tall, over in a split second, no more Tomas, no more python either after our mages had finished with it, or oak tree. fucking beasts. No, our remaining ranger will not fall, not again, I will make damn sure. The formation moved ever forward, we took no breaks, the situation did not allow it for it. The very ground seamed to change before our sight, what was once deep, rich soil and undergrowth slowly turned dark and dank, an acute stench of rotting in the air, decomposing rampant all around, the trees started to take on strange personality¡¯s, the bark turning black as if a wild fire swept the area in the past, no leaves graced their crooked extremities, what could only be called grey fungus seemed to layer some of the trees, even the ground. We must be nearing an area of a swamp, the rank stench of decomposing and dank soil normally a precursor for it, which was not a great sign for us, swamps were a hot bed for disease and maladies, not my favorite places, I gave the signal in whispered orders to start covering heads and hands just in case, I closed the visor of my own great helm that I was already wearing, sealing myself in, watching as my men did the same, the mages pulling long green cowls over their heads, their hoods casting deep shadows upon their faces, the chanting never stopped though, irritating buzzing. Lena seemed to not be phased too much though, always knowing where to go, damn fine ranger, she didn¡¯t appear to be paying attention to holding her bow at the ready though, somewhat clutched in one hand, I would chew her out after this for that, this is no situation to be getting sloppy in, not the time for it now though, The night moves ever closer as we keep going. Light from an over cast sky flooded with clouds was finally starting to reach us, it did not help ease my nerves, the leafless trees casting foreboding shadows everywhere, the light gloomy or rather ethereal, not good. The troop slightly started closing together, I don¡¯t think they realized, not that I could blame them, something was wrong here, very wrong. I could feel it, like spiders running up my spine, a tingling on the nape of my neck or a formless shape just in the corner of my vision but no matter how quickly I look nothing is there. This is no swamp, no marshy ground anywhere, just dull black mud, there are no insects trying to get their two pounds of flesh from us, in fact there is nothing, just silence. A dead fucking silence, unnatural. The land got worse the further we traveled into it. What is wrong with the trees anyway?! Why do they seem to be twisted?! Like they are melding together to create¡­. something! As if some force was controlling them, changing them into something un-holy. Fuck THIS. ¡°Everyone stop, something is obviously wrong here, hunting the wolf may be a priority for the kingdom but it didn¡¯t cause this place¡±. I maintain eye contact with my men, trying to will courage into them, even as they stare out into the desolate forest, keeping formation, one of the mages abruptly stops chanting, eye slightly rounded like a new born calf, obvious fear coming through. ¡°Sargent, we need to get out of here! There is something wrong with the ambient essence in this area, I have never seen anything like this! Its foul, rotten!¡± the normally flowery speech of his race no where in sight as his voice started to crack in strain over his words. The other mage, still chanting makes eye contact, supporting what the other elf had said with her own widened eyes. I take a deep breath, this was bad, only the deep dark places had essence that was rotten, the true birth places of monsters, god dammit! We were not prepared for this! We can¡¯t face them with only a single understrength squad. Then my choice is clear, screw the wolf, I nod at the mages in understanding. ¡°Ready yourselves! We are moving out immediately, the bulwark must be warned! Another dead spot has appeared, that means there is a passage somewhere to the deep around here! Keep formation! Eyes open! These fuckers could be on us at any time and I don¡¯t know what we could face!¡± I grip my battle-axe, knuckles straining in readiness, my eyes already roaming all around us in search of the enemy. That¡¯s when I notice. Oh please no. Lena is missing. ¡°come.. to me¡­..¡±. The Nightmare Begins How unfortunate it is that you must ask me of the deep, how much of our history has been lost over the ages? How much of our history is waiting to be laid bare by inquisitive minds? Do you know of the old conquests of our kingdom far in the east? Of our rivalry with the other great city¡¯s, the other kingdoms? The four great city¡¯s always locking horns over resources and cultivated land? How much do you know of Shalen in general? What¡¯s that? Only three great city¡¯s?! A pox upon you! For shame that you don¡¯t know the lessons direly learned by our ancestors! There used to be four city¡¯s, four kingdoms! But for the avarice and greed of men there still would be!.. My apologies... you did not deserve that, you are still young and learning dear apprentice. Long ago, about three hundred and twenty six years to be exact, there was four kingdoms, our own but a fledgling still growing, there was a larger kingdom to our south, across the great spinal mountains that make our border, you may wonder why it¡¯s always proclaimed that the mountains are inaccessible to us, its not the mountains themselves or the beasts upon it, although deadly we are more than a match to contend with them. No dear apprentice, its what lays beyond the mountain that¡¯s the problem, a passage to the deep. That is why its inaccessible, none dare tread upon the deep or risk meeting it¡¯s denizens. The kingdom of Faall¡¯eln is what it was called then, much like our own kingdom of Valen is now, their military was even better than our own, they even had an elite order of Knight¡¯s, the Drangszarrd, said to have consumed so much essence from slain beasts to have the strength and combat prowess of twenty men each, the best equipment, the best magic¡¯s to support them. But it was for nothing. The stupidity and pride of its leaders undid them all! They thought themselves unbeatable, unmovable, a cliff against with which any tide would break against! They ventured into a place that they should not have! Fools! They mined and mined the bedrock, taking no heed of the warning signs! Not caring! Just wanting the precious materials that could be found underground! Well¡­ they found what they wanted alright. Along with their doom. One night a singular shaft of the great mine they had dug caved in, taking the floor with it, opening an abyss! A gateway into the deep! And the shadows poured upon the land, grotesque monstrosities cloaked within. It was madness! Pure madness! The entire kingdom fell, all in a single night! A complete bloodbath that only stopped thanks to the sun, the only thing that is anathema to the denizens of the deep, very few made it out alive. You ask me what is the deep my apprentice? Well, It is our end if we do not follow the lessons of our past, always fear the deep my apprentice, for if one day you do not and you go knocking upon the gates of the abyss¡­. The deep might knock back. Kazie Umbre 1st scholar of the Arcanium Consortium in a lecture to his Apprentices Pain¡­. So much pain¡­ Splintered images of faces leering at me¡­. Beasts tearing apart as I let forth a great spell¡­ Despair¡­ A crystal-like flower blazing with power¡­. More pain¡­ SO MUCH PAIN! ¡­ Falling into a pit paralyzed¡­ Laughter¡­ Fucking laughter¡­ More leering faces, rictus like grin¡¯s spread in malicious mirth¡­ More pain¡­ More laughter¡­. WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING¡­.?! More pain¡­ why¡­? why¡­? When will it stop¡­.? Please stop¡­. Please¡­ please¡­please¡­ STOP¡­! Help¡­. Me¡­. Please¡­. What¡­. More images¡­ another beast¡­ no¡­ A monster¡­ help¡­. NO STOP¡­! IT HURTS¡­.! THE PAIN¡­! KILL ME¡­! KILL ME...! KILL ME¡­! KILL ME¡­! WHY WONT IT STOP!! Never¡­ Stops¡­ The pain¡­ how long¡­ have I been¡­. Like this¡­. AN ETERNITY!! I get it now¡­. The pain never ends¡­. It NEVER ENDS¡­.! FOREVER! Yes¡­ Forever¡­. And ever¡­ And ever¡­ And ever¡­ YESSSSSSSSSSSSS MOREEE!!! HAHahHAHAha¡­. More¡­ Bring¡­ Me¡­ More¡­ PAIN! MORE PAIN! MORE PAIN! MORE PAIN! MORE!!! GIVE US MORE!!!!!! MORE¡­ Pain¡­ It¡¯s so ¡­. Good¡­ SO GOOOOOOOODD! Others¡­. Must feel¡­ This good¡­ Too¡­ Lucky¡­. LUCKY! LUCKY! LUCKY! LUCKY! But¡­ Some¡­ Might not¡­. Poor¡­ Souls¡­. HELP THEM FEEL THE PAIN! Yes¡­. YES¡­ They¡­ Would love¡­ That¡­ Spread¡­ The pain¡­ Spread the PAIN!... But how?... GET UP! GET UP! GET UP AND OPEN OUR EYES! Yes¡­. My¡­ Eyes. A forest lush with vegetation, predators and prey alike skittering and stalking beneath its great mass of canopy, the great cycle of life happening in all its glory, the call of birds twittering and chirping, the scratching of small mammals, the growls of many a beast locked in combat, the ambient background noises the same as in any forest on Firnius, all suddenly ceased. ¡°Come¡­ To me¡­.¡± A voice unlike any other sounds silently within the forest, but still all the beasts heard it. Irresistible, like honey, like the sweetest nectar but terrible, tortured and twisted. ¡°Come¡­ Here¡­.¡± The deafening sound of a thousand feet shuffling as if to the tune of a piper, marching through the forest, eyes glassy, minds clouded, all following the broken voice in the dark. The very air itself seemingly disappears, fleeing from an unseen dark will, the trees groaning under the weight of a terrible mind, silently screaming in protest. Still the beasts come, forever shuffling, flying and skittering to the tune in the dark, pilgrims toward a deep pit inside a great maw, in which laid a great shadow, two orbs of night far darker than the rest the only thing to attain to what waited within. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The sounds of screaming, pleading and begging unintelligible to the ears of man constantly permeated the forest, the sickening grinding, as if of two great stone jaws crashing together, the cracking of bones and tearing of flesh. A sweet symphony of agony to all, a delight to the nightmare in the pit, until the very last of the condemned souls entered that un-holy hollow. Too soon it passed, only a few nights and days of joy, of pain, of agony. Not enough, no where near enough. The nightmare in the shadows moved forth toward the entrance of the maw, shuddering forward with a very unsteady gait, as if unused to its body, as if it was incomplete, missing something that would make it whole. Reaching, grasping for the light that shined down from the sky blocking the entrance to freedom, to more fun, to more joy, to more PAIN. Shadows peeled back as a disgustingly grotesque finger, a foot long, red raw as if the skin had been flayed from the muscle, blood steadily dripping to the floor below and topped by a long black ivory talon, the same length as the finger itself shimmering sickeningly with a dark grey light, pierced the veil of sunlight. Instant searing heat and blinding fire, the nightmare screams, the voice of thousands of tortured souls wailing in agony, like the screams of children sounding from within its shadowy mass, it slams back into the dark, back into the pit, its sanctuary of misery, of refuge. Eyes like the void stare in hatred at the light, imagining the worst things possible to happen to it, disturbing things. It knew now, to shun the light, to hunt only in the dark, at least¡­ for now. But soon it would be strong enough, very soon it would be free, free to spread the pain. Especially to those laughing bastards!... wait what?... laughter?.... why? KILL THEM Yes¡­ the laughing¡­ those faces¡­. THE LAUGHING FACES..... I WANT TO SHRED THEIR FACES! ¡­ KILL THEM ALLLLLLLLLL! ALL NEED TO DIE! ¡­ END THE LAUGHTER! ¡­ END THEM! ¡­ SHOW THEM PAIN...! SHOW THEM THE NIGHTMARE! Time slowly passed, like the waves waning and waxing, years creep by, an age. A forest slowly changes over time, rot and disease slowly set in, what was once vibrant towering trees slowly, quietly turned in to blackened husks, their branches slowly melding, as if imitating arms, hundreds of hands, wooden charred claws bared in threat to the world. The very ground itself started its own metamorphosis, the land changing, what was once soil full of the very essence of life, slowly syphoned away, as if being devoured by some dark god, in its place a different type of essence, one of decay and rot, turning its colour black, the rank smell of decomposition pervaded the air. Time flowed ever onwards, through the many seasons, none of which seemed to ever touch a silent horrify forest, a mockery of a forest, a waiting nightmare. A new type of being finally started to grow within the wraith like scene, but not one birthed by creation, no, one birthed by blasphemy, a blight upon the world, a curious grey fungus. It started from the very ground, sickly grey coloured, small straggly hair adorning its surface, ever shifting as if caught in a breeze that did not exist, it propagated, slowly creeping up the trees, across the ground, it grew. Its purpose¡­ evil will incarnate. An owl, a starving wolf, a herd of Herbivores, all made the mistake to consume the fungus in hope of sustenance. But how could anything from this horror scape be benign? It was they that were fed upon, the fungus took root within their very stomach¡¯s and began its nefarious purpose, its spores flooded their systems, their organs, their brains, their very minds. Soon the changes came upon them. Pain, more pain than they had ever encountered in their daily lives, it lasted for days along with their screeching and screams. Their very forms soon began to change, the owl¡¯s feathers shed off, its skin covered in blisters and pustules, growing twice its normal size, claws elongating, beak lengthening, turning serrated. The wolf grew in height to one and a half meters at the shoulder, three meters long, grey Flailing tentacles slowly split through its very skin, its jaws widening, thickening as many separate rows of teeth sprouted within. The herd, well¡­ too many variations of to account for, abominations all. The changes never the same, ever shaping, ever evolving. But one thing they all shared. Aggression, the need to feed, to consume life and grow stronger, to hunt. Unknowingly growing into fatter morsels for the nightmare lying in wait. A year passed, more death, more pain, more joy. It was time. The nightmare sent out its terrible voice, calling out into the night. The abominations answered, running or flying with an urgency that they did not understand, their very beings in agony with the need to answer the call, no matter how far, no matter what they were doing, they came. All to feed the nightmare in the dark. The wolf was the last to meet its end within the maw of the cave, the nightmare was grinning. Ecstasy flood it¡¯s very being, a new type of pain taking hold, its own form changing, evolving, strengthening, what was once incomplete was now whole. The nightmare was ready. To brave the daylight, to finally put an end to the smiling faces, to silence the laughter. To share the pain. A sickening deep and shrill giggling echoed out into the rapidly approaching night, a thousand voices in one, the nightmares own brand of humor, It was happy. Its voice was still traveling on the stagnant evening air, when it inadvertently touched a mind, one it had not expected, a much stronger mind than it was used to, resistant. It stopped laughing, no joy to be found, no happiness. The mind. It was like them. THE LAUGHING FACES, THE FUCKING LAUGHING FACES!! MURDER, DESTROY, CONSUME THEM ALLLLLLLLL!!! END THE LAUGHING!! END THE LAUGHING!! END THE LAUGHING!! BREAK THEM! A voice in the dark called out, from a pit, in a cave that appeared as a great maw. ¡°come¡­ To me¡­¡± Descending Into Nightmare The invention of consumption, conceived by the Dimir, is what has allowed our peoples to prosper to such an extent. The essence of the world has allowed our strength to surpass our mortal limits, what exactly is this invention you ask? Well its rather simple in hindsight, the Dimir people simply studied the beasts. They grow stronger over time as they age, taking in the worlds ambient essence, that is true, but it is when they fight, kill and consume, there would be victims that they see an explosive growth in strength. For within all beasts, ourselves included, you will find the essence stone. A rather splendid stone, a shining emerald, green as fresh life, shimmering with the power of creation, paling with light as the essence strengthens. Many types of essence stone have been found over the centuries, all colours of the rainbow, all splendid in majesty, but green is the cornerstone of the world, the basic starting point of all lifeforms, it was the Dimir people that allowed us to change that, to break our shackles. They invented rune¡¯s, the crux of the Dimir peoples magic, to be carved into the essence stones themselves, the essence stones within us, and it worked, those glorious enchanters, these runesmiths, they did it. It allowed us to partake in the consumption, as the beasts do, to grow in power, faster, stronger, more resilient, an increase in all basic functions, the magics of our peoples grew too, as all of our magic is formed and powered from our own essence, so that was a matter of course. That was not all though, as our essence grew, as the colour finally started to change from the emerald splendor, to approach a pale-yellow luster, precious Topaz, so too did our peoples, they started to change too. Talents appeared, strange talents, some wonderful and amazing, some terrible and powerful, all different, I even hear tales of a knight within the bulwark, who could create mirror images of himself, a dangerous talent indeed upon the battlefield. Who knows what else could await us? how about when our essence stones reach the orange Carnelian stage? Well only our leaders have reached such a stage and they are not sharing, Still it leaves me wondering, how about the beasts in the world? What stage have the oldest reached? Here is a terrible thought, what of the monsters in the deep? I hope we never find out the answer to that particular question. Kazie Umbre 1st scholar of the Arcanium Consortium Tree branches snapped and scattered, flung violently away from a fiercely charging group of men and women, all a bristle with weaponry, desperately in pursuit of a missing comrade. Worry and anger plain to see upon their faces, a hulkingly armoured figure staunchly leading the way, his figure seemingly glowing with an unknown power, his metallic grey plate armour casting a strong green light to his surroundings. They all felt it now, the corruption, the rot, they were getting closer to the source of it, Cerus gritted his teeth, he had promised not to lose another member of his troop, especially the ranger Lena, he had failed, again. No! they would get her back goddammit! They would not leave her here in this hellhole, consigned to a fucked fate, she WILL be found! If he had to shove his axe into the monster that had taken her, handle, blade and all, then so be it. A buzzing voice came from over Cerus¡¯s shoulder, one of the mages releasing a quick spell, a bright yellow light shot into the air, hovering above the charging group like a miniature sun, following their mad dash through the dark skeletal forest, a simple light orb amongst the most novice of spells, but appropriate for shedding the veil on the arrived nightfall that blanketed their surroundings. Cerus gave a grunt in thanks to the mage, it would alert any of the enemies they were pursuing, but they could not see in the dark, so they would have to take the risk, they were making a hell of a lot of noise as it is anyway. The ambient essence of rot and decay in the area spiked dramatically as they noticed that the ground was becoming slightly rocky underfoot, a monolith of dark rock, unveiled under the illumination of the light orb above, loomed from the dark night, more a large hill of stone hidden under vast wooden guardians, mighty twisted black trees, gargantuan limbs spread in a dense network of bare branches hiding the hill beneath, lifeless grey stone peeking from under the roots. Cerus immediately halted his men, they formed up into a battle formation once again, dead twigs and grey fungus crunching underfoot as they shifted positions. The mages instantly started chanting spells of fire and destruction, their staffs shining with a forbidding light from the stones attached to their heads, prepared to unleash at a moment¡¯s notice, the heavily armed men encased in steel plate-mail swiftly pulling their kite shields into a semblance of a wall in front, protecting the mages behind, a small fortification of steel and muscle, sharp steel swords readied to slip through the gaps to puncture, slice and maim whatever broke upon them. Cerus himself started twisting the pommel of his great battle-axe, wherein was set a small stone somewhat like the large versions the mages possessed upon their staffs, runes started to be revealed upon the shaft of the axe spreading toward the large double headed blade, as if a spell of concealment was being released, finally a small click was heard softly, and the blades of the axe started to let out a faint hum. The essence stone of a hammerquake, a beast found far in the deserts of the east, which travelled and hunted within the dunes with deadly vibrations, to shatter and break the bones of unlucky victims unfortunate enough to fall prey to them, enchanted with Dimir spells and inlaid into the pommel of the great axe, it was a devastating weapon only granted to officers in the Valen army, grimacing slightly, Cerus hoped it was enough to face whatever was here. Cerus started to concentrate and the green light that seemed to flow from him strengthened to cover all of his men, sweat broke out upon his face and under his plate armour. Never easy doing this but well worth the trouble if it could save the life of one of my men, thought Cerus. The men around gave thankful nods toward the Sargent, the special abilities from those who had achieved the topaz essence stage were never anything to sneer at, especially Cerus¡¯s, as the men had found out in the past, it saving some of them more than once, the power of small wound mending and disease resistance was always welcomed. Taking up the lead of the group Cerus led them with slow gaits and bated breath around the monolith in search of Lena, eyes ever probing for whatever lied in wait. The essence was growing deeper again as they circled around, slight nausea felt by all as they were exposed to such a concentrated amount, through the shadow of the night they stalked, area aglow with the harsh light cast down by the miniature sun following them from above. That is when they saw it, The Maw, that void, darker than the night that surrounded them, like a great stone creature with jaws agape, stalagmites for fangs hanging from the ceiling, nothing but impenetrable inky shadow dwelling within. This is the epicentre Cerus knew, he could FEEL it inside himself, a fear gnawing away at his heart, unease running down his spine, a whispered voice taunting his very mind. The fear was palpable, the men behind Cerus squirming in discomfort, uneasily gazing into that abyss, it was here, a gateway to the deep, the worst-case scenario. Lena was lost, we failed. Guilt and anger consumed Cerus, it had happened again, right under his eyes AGAIN. He swung to his men, addressing the mages at the very back. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Collapse this fucking hellhole, your strongest destruction spells¡± his harsh voice loaded with wrath, jabbing at the abyss with the battle-axe. ¡°Yes Sargent!¡± the mages responded, they took a small moment, recovered some composure as they let their last spells fade, they touched staves, the inlaid stones side by side and began to chant once again in unison, their voices melded, words blending together as the chant climbed in intensity, their orbs beginning to release a gold and brown shimmer into the air, finally their voices reached a crescendo, staffs suddenly pointed toward The Maw, an ear splitting boom resounded shaking the very bedrock beneath their feet, two large javelins seemingly made of brown light with interspaced golden cracks, two meters length each, rocketed from the glowing orbs, almost instantly impacting with the back of the cave, the light blinding, as the soldiers huddled behind their shields to save their vision. A second resounding boom sounded out, sucking at the very air, The Maw instantly crumbled in on itself as if a giant had dropped from the sky and had crushed it into nothing more that shattered rock and debris, the entire rocky hill and its giant guardians crushed along with it, Cerus was dazed, as the officer of the group he had to have some knowledge of what mages where capable of utilising, but he had no idea that the mages assigned to his troop were so powerful, no that¡¯s not right, it¡¯s not that they happened to be particularly powerful, it¡¯s that they so familiar with one another that they could cast a spell that was beyond them individually, perks of being a long lived elf supposed Cerus, ample time to practice. Searching keenly over the rubble left behind for any opening left to the deep Cerus finally left formation and sifted through the rubble while his men watched his back, tumbling rocks and shifting through the broken roots he could find nothing. ¡°Well there is no sign of an abyss gateway, we are lucky I suppose, nothing has come out besides whatever took Lena,¡± Sadness was painted in the eyes of the Sargent as he gazed at the rubble hoping for evidence of Lena¡¯s survival, a sombre hope. Relieved sighs broke from behind his back as the men let go of clenched teeth and loosened stressed muscles taut with adrenaline. They really did have to turn back to the bulwark, losing two rangers of his troop were a disaster commiserated Cerus mournfully, they were effectively blind now, the wolf they were supposed to of been hunting was of no consequence, he would have to make a full report to his superiors, a passage to the deep appearing was grave news, who knows how long it had been open for and what had come through, even if they did collapse this one another might appear. They couldn¡¯t waste time, they had to return immediately. Cerus turned to one of his men that had walked to his side observing the rubble. ¡°Take five minutes to rest, we must head back to the bul-¡± Cerus¡¯s speech stalled as he finally glanced at the knight next to him, the mans visor was open, eyes wide in shock and fear as he glanced behind the Sargent, Cerus spun around, battle-axe coming to a guard position blocking the front in case of enemy attack, his own eyes behind his visor widening in shock. It was a bloodbath, the mages were gone, in their place a mess of shredded meat and blood splattered across the desolate floor, staffs splintered and essence stones missing. Shouts of distress and fear sounded from the men as they scrambled away, fleeing toward the Sargent in disarray. Cerus¡¯s own distressed face filled once again with wrath, muscles bulging under his plate mail, his eyes never stopped roving for the enemy, he finally unclenched his jaw as his own voice shouted above the shocked clamour of his men. ¡°SHUT THE FUCK UP! ENEMY ATTACK! FORMATION NOW! MOVE!¡± his voice sliced through their shock and their training kicked back in, their adrenaline running on high again as their own anger began to surface, their friends were dead, some fucking thing had eviscerated them, no way they wouldn¡¯t pay for that in their own blood. Cerus stood in front as his men formed a circle formation of shield and sword, battle-axe vibrating with power. A sickening laugh reverberated through the night, as pitch blackness began to fall again with the waning of the orb of light in the sky after the death of the mages, illumination coming from Cerus alone now, as his power of regeneration faintly lit the darkness around him and his men. Then Cerus saw it, watching in the darkness of the trees, behind them the whole time, a colossal shadow with two eyes of the blackest darkness, a cruel mirth and endless hunger seemed to shine from them. Its shadowed frame slowly stalked toward them, trees snapping like kindling under the grasp of this behemoth, as if not even obstacles to it. ¡°CONTACT!!¡± Cerus¡¯s shout screamed into the night, his men saw the colossus stalking toward them, anger overriding their obvious fear helped them shift smoothly into an arrow like formation with Cerus at the centre front, two shield bearers at his shoulders to help cover him, the other three in a reverse triangle bracing against them from behind, a standard tactic again much larger opponents that the Valen military had devised for their troops. The looming shadow finally breeched the perimeter of the luminance that Cerus¡¯s regeneration power was giving off into the surroundings, the glow just enough to reveal the dreaded appearance of the monster. Standing at five metres tall and a metre broad at the shoulders, a cloak of seemingly endless shadow flowing from its back, this was something that only the deep could produce. Two massive thighs wrapped in thick, jagged, plates of bone extended down to huge clawed feet, that cratered the ground with every heavy step, also wrapped in plate like black bone with jagged spikes, covering the full length of them, they would be devastating to even the thickest plates of steel, no groin was visible only smooth black bone covering the lack of that particular anatomy. The black plating continued up the front of its torso, segmented around the waist for ease of movement, covering its huge pectorals and continuing to its colossal shoulders, culminating in footlong spikes, its arms had rippling muscle as thick as Cerus himself was wide, encased in segmented black bone, huge talons affixed to the fingers on its right hand, its left arm also covered in segmented bone plating, but it had no normal forearm after the elbow, a terrifying heavy mass of dense bone replaced it, spiked and barbed across its entire length, a massive maul straight from a nightmare, all the cracks and joints across the length of its hulking form constantly oozed blood with every movement, leaving splatters of blood in its wake. It was the head though, that almost made Cerus and his men break ranks and flee, a head fully covered in solid bone, segmenting down into smaller scales by the scalp ,where a mass of knotted and thick clumped long hair drenched in blood cascaded down into the shadows flowing from its back. Two great horns pierced the bone upon its temples, curving out and tapering into sharp points behind its head, two impossibly dark void fissures, abhorrent eyes, glared with insanity from deep inside the armoured face through slits, forever weeping blood. The only opening was the mouth. A crack in the armour that suddenly opened as the nightmare released a heaven shaking roar, rows upon rows of teeth unsheathing, as its jaw impossibly lowered, revealing a meter-wide gaping maw that seemed to have no end within its depths. The shadow like fog behind the nightmare flared out like wings unfolding, the tortured voices of many living creatures screaming and wailing into the night began, the faces of many animals appearing within the darkness, pleading for release, for mercy in no tongue the sentient races would ever understand. A lone anguished voice reached the ears of Cerus and his men, a voice in so much pain, a screaming woman. Lena. Something inside Cerus broke, he gave one order to his men, his tone surprisingly calm. ¡°All of you go, warn the bulwark something has invaded from the deep, warn them all, do your duty¡±. Cerus pushed his men away urging them to go, he took one last look at his men. He would not see them again. He hoisted his axe threatening the monster, his calm veneer broken as rage consumed him; ¡°COME GET SOME YOU UGLY BITCH!!¡±. The nightmare seemed to smile. It could finally share the pain. We All Become Villains In The End The variety of beasts across Shalen, for those of a curious disposition are myriad in scope and fascinating, I for one, number amongst the many enthusiasts within the three kingdoms that enjoy cataloguing these wonderful specimens. We all have our favourites of course, my fellow scholar Gerin Maize has a certain fondness for Sky-Juks, small birds of surprising intelligence that skim across the surrounding lakes and rivers in search of algae, these white feathered birds have an amazing capacity to sense danger, giving rise to the thought of domesticating them in the past, to help keep our soldiers safe on the frontier, easier said than done when they can sense you coming from a mile away though. My own favourite has to be an unusual choice, the Dracanis-Berim, large water drakes that can make their home within any waterway in Shalen, amongst the most dangerous to be sure, it is fascinating to study their impact on the local eco systems, their cunning and intelligence un-matched within the water outside of the open oceans, unlike their draconic cousins on land or air they are not specifically hostile toward sentient races, a famous example being the great serpent that makes its home within the royal sapphire lake by the imperial fortress of Valen, possibly thousands of years old, it has managed to achieve speech, actively conversing with us on more than one occasion, there are many fascinating stories to be told of that ancient drake that have happened through the centuries. How a young girl around forty years ago, struck up a relationship with the Ancient serpent, somehow earning its favour, starting a friendship that lasts to this day, it is thanks to this that she manged to join our leadership, leading my fellow mages within the Valen army and her own power quickly skyrocketing to the Carnelian stage with the assistance of the drake, or even more impressively how ten years ago a surge of darkness swept over the great spinal mountain on our southern border, a great belch of teeth and ravening hunger that spilled over from the long lost kingdom of Faall¡¯eln, it decimated the small fortified towns at its base, somehow the great drake felt the danger approach and its colossal form rose from the depth of the Royal sapphire lake, two kilometres long and six meters wide in circumference, its massive frontal claws perched upon the lake banks, as its long sinuous neck stretched into the sky, dwarfing the city of Valen below it, its gargantuan head faced the mountains, its immense serpentine jaws stretched wide open as if to swallow the very moon in the sky and it released the most powerful amount of pure frost essence I have ever witnessed on Shalen, in a great pressurized stream it shot, straight to where the horde of the deep ravaged, freezing and shattering them all, like a great hammer shatters glass. Now you tell me, aren¡¯t they the greatest? certainly much more interesting than bloody Sky-Juks. Kazie Umbre 1st scholar of the Arcanium Consortium Screeching echoed into the air as a battle-axe impacted against a great claw, Cerus stumbled back a couple of steps, shock running up his arms at the impact, he was in trouble, the nightmare had approached extremely quickly as he finished issuing his earlier challenge, its speed and earlier ponderous footsteps obviously exaggerated, shadow seemed to wrap its feet as it moved, releasing no sound even as it crushed the ground beneath its weighted footfalls. A sudden shift in movement and the monster was before him again, this time that horrifying mace that seemed to be melded to its left arm came crashing down from above, the air whining, he couldn¡¯t block it, it was too strong, he had to dodge. Cerus used every bit of his strength to throw himself to the side, the ground erupting where he once stood, mud splattering across the full length of his body in a great deluge. With gritted teeth, he hoisted himself up from the ground with the haft of his axe, quickly attempting to go on the offensive while it was extracting its arm from the mud, with speed and strength greater than three normal men combined, he launched himself in to the air above the titan in a great leap, trying to squeeze every last drop he could muster from his own essence, a considerable amount with a topaz stone, he brought his vibrating axe slashing down upon its armored head. A great impact resounded, an arc of blood spurted into the air, ¡°Shit!!¡± gasped Cerus, a long talon tore through the armor upon his thigh, piercing through the muscle and exiting the back in a small shower of gore, his own axe had impacted the shoulder spike of the kneeling nightmare, a small grey scar marring the black bone the only evidence of his best effort to kill the fucking thing. The monster was facing him with a turned head, it was laughing, delight plain to see in the eyes behind the cage of armor, despair began to creep upon Cerus, it was playing with him. Forcing down the rising hopelessness, he swung his axe vertically to catch it off guard as it gloated, even as he wrenched his leg free of the talon, once again, he clashed with the bone armor, this time impacting the plated face, knocking the head back with a resounding bang, eliciting a deep bone rattling growl from the abomination. Cerus grimaced in pained triumph; ¡°Did that hurt, you damn cunt!¡± he shouted even as the terrifying maul erupted from the ground and smashed into his left hip, sending him sailing into the air only to impact against a tall black tree. Thunderous roars rattled the earth, anger and pain evident as it echoed across the desolate forest, terrifying a group of fleeing knights to redouble their efforts to escape the surrounding hellscape and the walking nightmare behind them. Cerus¡¯s broken silhouette stirred somewhat, agony wracking his whole body, as his chest rose and fell haltingly under a severely dented breastplate, his head was spinning uncontrollably, probably concussion he surmised, as his thought tried to pierce the layer of fatigued fog that clouded his mind. He was fucked he knew, utterly fucked, though the pain ravaging his body he couldn¡¯t feel his legs at all, with a supreme effort of will he tilted his head down to stare in horror at his lower half, one of his legs was twisted at an un-natural angle, the other missing entirely, the only reason he was still alive being that the utterly crushed plate mail that adorned his waist and hips had sealed the wound and stopped him bleeding out, his regeneration enough to keep him going through the shock and trauma. ¡®This is it¡¯ he thought with a weary acceptance, this is how I die, no way out, no shining hero to rescue my sorry self like all the young girls dreamed about, either this kills me or that abomination will, with his remaining will power he glanced around for his missing battle-axe, while his shattered body lent against the tree, a last attempt to end the terrible fate that he knew awaited him, on his own terms. Cerus spotted it finally, ¡®of course¡¯, he lamented, it would be next to that fucking thing as all hope of a swift end left him, staring with dead like eyes at the nightmare as it pounded the ground in abject fury, strange though he mused, although I managed to hit it in the face, he knew that he accomplished nothing, even the vibrating effect of the axe was worthless against that bone armor, ¡®why is it so upset then?¡¯ with a morbid curiosity he continued to watch the abomination as it roared at the ground, furious blows raining upon it for what seemed like hours, but could only of been mere minutes.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Suddenly it stood utterly erect, its massive frame standing tall in an instance, a dead silence pervaded the area, the only sounds being Cerus¡¯s breaths rattling in an out in an un-healthy way, obvious internal bleeding within his lungs at least. A deafening silence after the previous tirade, it loomed like that for a solid two minutes before it suddenly spun around to face Cerus, shadows flaring behind its back, once again forming that wall of inky blackness that shifted to consume the nightmares body, wrapping around it like a shifting cocoon. It suddenly started to slowly walk toward Cerus¡¯s broken body, its own colossal frame almost invisible in the night, only two orb like eyes that seemed to suck in the light to betray its presence, with each silent step, haunting in its grace that shouldn¡¯t be possible with its armor and size, it came closer, stalking toward him, closer still until this shadowy form towered above him, silently staring down. Rage, malice and hunger were evident within those eyes as usual, but strangely there was something new, something that was missing before, like a found missing jigsaw puzzle piece, something different, something that terrified Cerus even in his current state¡­.. intelligence, a cold calculating intelligence, a horrific mind was behind those eyes, not just an insane creature of the deep, no something had changed, changed as soon as Cerus¡¯s axe had connected with its head, something else was born at that moment. Cerus felt true fear, it permeated his very being, like he was a rabbit upon a chopping block, those eyes, THOSE FUCKING EYES! It stood there staring at him, not even twitching, a silent witness to the gruesome scene it had caused moments earlier, eyes boring into him, until something else was different. Sound, it started with a small barely noticeable breeze, like a sighing in the wind, that slowly grew to a steady moan, then slow creaking, slowly increasing in volume as all the charred looking trees all around started to writher and twist as if in torment, then suddenly massive pressure fell upon Cerus, like a mountain falling from the sky, it felt like it would crush his very body, his very mind. A voice unlike any other echoed within his mind, a voice cold with dread, a glacier like presence, the true voice of a nightmare. WHERE ARE THEY The dark will behind those words pierced into Cerus¡¯s very mind, his very soul, his own conciseness bending under its immense weight, his own eyeballs start to roll uncontrollably back into his skull, as if wanting to shy away from the monstrosity. WHERE ARE THEY! Cerus started to seizure as his mind began to crack under the strain, his body shutting down followed soon after, going into survival mode to try and save itself. The nightmare coldly took notice of this, a baleful plan taking hold as its left arm extended over Cerus¡¯s body, the maul held straight out, its clawed hand gripped itself above the elbow, the claw clenched, and the scythe like blades slowly cut into the armor plating, to the raw meat and bone behind it, sawing slowly through with great effort, with a great wrench it tore the last of the ligaments and strands of muscle from the maul and pitched it over its shoulder, creating a small explosion as it smashed apart a tree far behind it. It gripped the wrecked stump once again, this time massaging the end as its vital bloody essence gushed out, covering Cerus head to toe in gore, it did this with no change within its eyes and not even a whimper, as if it felt nothing at all. Soon the stump stopped gushing blood, the end of the wound slowly closing itself off and in its place a small slip of bone protruded, slowly sprouting, then picking up speed until it started growing at an alarming rate, a full skeletal arm had formed in mere minutes, soon muscle, ligaments and snaking veins began to stretch across the exposed bone, expanding in mass and strength until it was fully formed, its arm started to bleed once again but this time it did not spurt and gush upon the ground or Cerus, it just covered the exposed muscle like a great liquid glove, soon this began to dry just as quick as the rest of the arm had regenerated, it began to turn black, quickly thickening to a mushy blood like slurry that coated the limb, a dark and terrible essence seemed to flow from the nightmare, wrapping the slurry like glove of blood in pure shadow, tightening and compressing, the arm under huge pressure, until suddenly the shadows dispersed, revealing black bone like armor coating the once exposed muscle, an exact twin to the other hand, it stared at is finger tips, slowly blade like talons tore their way through, gleaming with fresh gore. It flexed its fingers, comparing with its twins on the other arm. ACCEPTABLE The nightmare once again looked at Cerus¡¯s gore splattered body lying against the tree unmoving but still alive. NOW FOR YOUR PART Its stretched both claws above Cerus¡¯s shattered form, essence darker than the surrounding night flowed from its back and across its arms, slowly drifting down in a cloud upon the still body, engulfing it within, an hour passed, the nightmare unmoving and silent the whole time, as it gazed steadily at the cloud of darkness, suddenly it retracted is arms and the dark essence withdrew, revealing Cerus¡¯s body below. Every inch of him was covered in the same black bone like armor as the nightmare, copying his former plate mail¡¯s design, but far more sturdy, his pelvis, waist and legs seemingly restored to how they were, it had even copied his Battle-Axe down to the last detail, except the runes appeared somewhat different. A cold menacing laughter devoid of life came from the nightmare as it bent down and grasped something from the floor, standing back up it held it out only to reveal it was a strange grey fungus. essence once again flowed from the nightmare into the fungus, turning it from its original grey color to a dark red, finished it looked to Cerus and reached down to open his bone vizor revealing his pale face, devoid of blood, it forced open his slack jaw with a claw tip and pushed the fungus within his open mouth, sealing the mouth with its claw it waited for Cerus to involuntarily swallow, as soon as it happened it closed his visor shut, its malicious mirth leaking out again. Soon the change would begin as the fungus took root within him, soon it would serve, it placed the Battle-Axe within his gauntleted hands and stepped away, the nightmare turned away and began walking into the night, a horrendous cacophony of screaming began behind it from Cerus, trapped within the onyx like armor enduring a pain so strong as to wake him from a coma, but it was just the beginning for him, the nightmare started smiling as it walked. Then it wondered about the Idiotic knight that had challenged it, or more specifically about the knights that had followed him to only flee when it revealed itself¡­. Well it can¡¯t have that, now can it? It would spoil all the fun it was going to bring to Valen¡­. And spoil the revenge it was going to bring its betrayers, for it knew now how it was born, how it came into this world and how it left it, it knew the laughing faces, supposed friends and allies, lovers and comrades, the shards of fractured memory complete and it was wrathful, it will bring a pain not seen before in this world, it would create a sea of blood that will wash this land clean, their end will not be swift nor merciful, their friends, their family¡¯s, anyone they have ever met will suffer. It knew why it was cruelly killed and how far the betrayal went, the body count will be massive. It started to hum a discordant tune as it hunted down every errant knight that tried to flee before its presence. THE NIGHTMARE WILL COME FOR YOU ALL!!! Some Things Are Better Forgotten - Part 1 Was is it that binds our peoples together? Is it just survival? Possibly love? Maybe we just can¡¯t handle the loneliness, I don¡¯t think this question will ever be answered. I truly wish that whatever the next trial to face us is, we can stand as one, as we always have, as I hope we always will. For Valen! For The People! Melanie Destrie, 2nd Scholar of the Arcanium Consortium Sunlight shone down upon a vast forest, alive with all the trappings of life, a deep river cut through cleaving the land in two, the water shimmered like precious jewels in the morning light. Along the river, rocky outcroppings littered its sandy banks, a large edifice stood proudly along the way, a large thick crack running at its base which opened into a cave, naturally formed over the long passages of time. Within a hulking shadowy form rested, staring out into shimmering river through the bright morning light, no expression showed upon its black slate like face, its eyes expressing no emotion. None would know to look at it but the nightmare was feeling an emotion that it had not felt since its last incarnation, its past human life. It was feeling alone, it had started to remember, flashes of images had started to invade its mind, unlocked after the impact to the head, shattered memories of its past life. ¡®A face smiling, not in mockery but a calm happiness, long curly brown hair framing a plain face, nothing remarkable but for the emerald eyes like fresh grass that lit up the surroundings¡¯, The nightmare did not understand why this human women kept appearing in its thoughts, it wasn¡¯t the same as the betrayers, it felt no animosity towards her, but every time it did, he felt pain unlike any other, like a blade was piercing its very soul. ¡®Her hands laid together as if in prayer, under a sleeping face, hair veiling her petit features, a hand weathered by time reaches out, slowly peeling back the brown silky hair, a finger softly caressing her cheek, eyelashes fluttered open, revealing eyes as bright as meadows in spring, a tired smile emerging upon her face like the waxing moon¡¯. Talons pierced into the nightmares armored thighs, the physical pain the only reprieve from the assaulting memories, its jaws gritted, trying to stop the sadness that began to envelop its mind. ¡®Sunlight shined down upon her, resting in a chair that cast a small shadow, my hand gripping her shoulder lightly from behind, I glance down, a light blue swaddling covered a baby, cradled within her arms, their breathing synchronized¡¯. The sadness become almost unbearable, a gaping chasm within, black bone began to fall to the floor as claws shredded at its own head, trying everything to stop it. ¡®A great tower retreating into the distance, houses passing by, a great guarded wall, all flashing by a travelling ornate carriage, as a child¡¯s laughter drifted from the interior, a woman¡¯s answering in kind, a hand waving it on into the distance in farewell, a flash of regret¡¯. A voice was screaming out in despair, shaking with emotion so unlike the nightmare¡¯s, almost a man¡¯s. ¡®Sprinting footsteps; a horse galloping to exhaustion, panic reverberating in a male voice hurrying it along¡¯. Bloody tears began to run down its riven face, its own mind close to breaking, the memories becoming disjointed. ¡®A carriage in ruins, a women¡¯s voice screaming in the distance; a horse collapsing as it breathed its last, pell-mell running; anger and despair; Bloody blue swaddling¡¯. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Giant claws reached out as if grasping, as if reaching for the most precious thing in the world, grasping but never succeeding. ¡®Despair, self-blame, failure; a woman cradling a long dead baby, green spring eyes turning glassy, her life ebbing away, frantic attempts to stem leaking from gashes along her wrists, cries for help unheeded; knees impacting the floor, arms embracing their cooling bodies¡¯. The nightmare kneeling upon the dirt floor, arms embracing the air, an emptiness consuming it. ¡®A spell turning the long surrounding wheat to cinders, tears and anger fueling a great wave of fire, I am standing sentinel over two still forms, a fleeing creature bursting from the undergrowth, fearing the fire; Weathered hands launching great gouts of flame at it, the child¡¯s blood still on its beak, unrelenting attacks fall upon it as I become manic, tears falling even as the creature turned to ash¡¯. A smoldering cinder began to burn deep within the nightmares chest, pulsing like a heart. ¡®I punch a man, screaming words of accusation, I try to kill him with my bare hands; I am dragged away by men in armor; chained within a dank barred room; a long time passes, years; Someone comes to see me, words are spoken and I am released, I¡¯m given a staff and forced to join other men lined up in ranks¡¯. The cinder within its chest grows in intensity, spiking to a fever pitch. ¡®The sounds of metal jangling, the footsteps of hundreds rattling the very ground, an army moving through the wilderness; My gloved hands wielding a great staff swirling with power, flame falling from the sky, monstrosities burning under its might, hundreds of spells and blades impacting twisted hides, the death knells of abominations deafening as they fell, a familiar cave, a pit spewing darkness and corruption, a never ending tide of evil clawing their way up, an army being pushed back; My gloved hands wielding the staff once again, invisible blades of wind tearing the creatures apart, my footsteps closing in on the pit, the blades of wind flashing out again, my gloved hands taking a crystal from a pouch and throwing it into the darkness, an explosion, fire gushing from the pits opening as it crumbles shut.¡¯ The smoldering cinder now a small inferno, a furious anger burning through the nightmares veins. ¡®My weary hands rested upon the great staff, staring at the remaining sunken pit as the last remnant abominations fell; Silent footfalls sounding from behind me, a comrade; Sudden sharp pain, a poisoned blade entering my lower back, an uncontrollable collapse into the pit, paralysis, more footsteps approaching, hands rummaging through my pouches, a dazzling purple essence stone taken, laughter and jeering raining down, a voice speaking a message; Realization hitting me, followed by an unspeakable rage; A chained abomination was dragged in and heaved into the pit; Agony as the monstrosity starts biting in to my body; Promises of vengeance unspoken on my lips as the army leave me to my fate, I channel all of my remaining essence and throw it at the abomination, its body shatters upon the pits walls; I await my end, only rage and pain to keep me company; a new feeling presses on me as I start to finally fade, my essence starting to comeback, flowing stronger than ever before; a putrid essence from the pit invades my empty cracked essence stone; I don¡¯t care.¡¯ The inferno erupts, black shadow thunders from the nightmares back, slicing and pounding upon the very walls, its rage unchecked, a deep roar echo¡¯s out from the cave, saturated with anger and hate, it causes the very wind outside to still, the beasts of the surrounding forest all come to a sudden standstill, terrified of being noticed by the monster amongst them. The nightmare had started to remember everything, its past, its family, its betrayers, all of it. It remembered who it used to be, a soldier of Valen, loyal and devout to its peoples, a mage of the Arcanium Consortium, revered amongst its order. It remembered sharing knowledge with its people, inventing new magic¡¯s, research upon many different topics, always helping its fellow man, elf, human and dimir alike. It remembered its long gone child, killed by an abomination that should not have been there, its wife taking her own life in grief. It remembered the failings of its people, their greed, their lust, their pursuit of power over the broken bodies of his peers. It remembered its betrayal, the knife in the dark, all over a rare essence stone and the petty jealousies of his fellow man. It remembered the last message it ever heard. ¡°She was mine and mine alone, I brought her into this world and I took her out of it, she was always mine Kazie Umbre¡± It remembered its name.