Twisted Goddess part 3

Some of the locusts Satifa had sent returned. As satifa looked at what they had brought, with them, she was shocked. They brought back a few locusts, who were unlucky. Their bodies were twisted, mutilated, but still alive. Like a child had twisted clay or warm rubber, but here it was of something alive. 

Soon steps were heard. 

"How many?" Satifa asked. 

"One, but it is big," Gadaric said as he listened. 

Satifa summoned thousands of locusts to her side. They crawled around the edges of the cave, forming from the dirt and sand. 

The creature made its entrance. It was massive, its form twisted and grotesque. Its limbs were of different lengths, its body bent and twisted, and its eyes, large and bulging, not a single one the same size as the other. 

Satifa controlled the locusts to attack, swarming the beast. The monster didn't care but it slowly started to fall apart, crumbling down. As it crumbled down, its small pieces turned into small versions of itself and walked forward. 

Gadaric stepped forward, snapped his fingers, and created a loud blast of sound. 

The deafening roar echoed throughout the cave, vibrating the walls and causing small rocks to tumble down from the ceiling. The miniaturized versions of the creature stopped in their tracks, momentarily stunned by the overpowering sound. Though it was hard to tell, the monsters seemed to be in pain, with the dephening sound making it feel like their head was about to explode.

Satifa, seizing the opportunity, commanded her locusts to intensify their attack, swarming over the smaller creatures and engulfing them. The locusts moved around and started to gnaw on the flesh, disintegrating the creatures until there was nothing left but dust.

Gadaric, panting slightly from the exertion, looked over at Satifa. "More are coming now."

They heard the weird howling and whining of the monsters as they had heard the sounds. 

"Break the cave entrance!" Hafral yelled. 

Satifa didn't need to be told twice. She focused her energy, directing the locusts to the cave entrance. They swarmed, and under her command, they started to pull and push at the rocks and dirt, working rapidly to collapse the entrance and block their pursuers out.

The sounds of the creatures grew louder, more frenzied as they sensed their prey attempting to escape. But the locusts worked quickly, and soon, with a final push, the entrance to the cave gave way, collapsing in on itself and sealing them inside.

The noises from outside grew muffled, then silent. They went silent and heard how a few of these monsters whined and wheezed, sounding like they had a hard time breathing. As their curiosity fell, the monsters moved away, giving the three a breather. 

The tension in the air was palpable as they huddled together in the cave. The threat outside was imminent and unrelenting. Gadaric broke the silence with a tone of grim certainty, "We can't stay here indefinitely. Those creatures will return, and we might not have the same stroke of luck next time."

"The outside is swarming with hundreds of them. These lands are infested," he added, his voice heavy with concern.

Hafral, who had been submerged in silence since the cave entrance's collapse, finally found his voice, "Those are Lak Ahm's creations... they are relentless. They will persist until their objective is met."

Satifa, her brow furrowed in inquiry, pressed, "And what exactly is their objective?"

Hafral's response was chilling in its simplicity, "To expel intruders, or to annihilate them. For them, either outcome is acceptable."

As they conversed, the unsettling sounds of the creatures attempting to infiltrate the cave filled the air. They could hear them wheezing, desperately seeking gaps in the rubble. Gadaric listened intently, his face turning to one of shock. To an untrained ear, the sounds were mere exhalations, but to him, they were articulated pleas: "I am guilty, I admit it, Please. Free me."

Satifa, catching the disturbed look on Gadaric's face, asked urgently, "What did they just say?"

Gadaric's reply was hesitant, laden with disbelief, "They're pleading for release, confessing guilt. It's not just one voice; it's many. Each creature carries a chorus of different souls, each confessing different sins."

Hafral, surprised, inquired, "You can discern their words?"

Gadaric, his fear evident, sought answers, "What are these creatures?"

Hafral's explanation revealed a disturbing history, "They are Lak Ahm's creations. Before her descent into madness, Xerxes controlled her, keeping her isolated and subdued. After Cyrus's death, Xerxes unleashed Lak Ahm, allowing her true nature to surface."

Gadaric, seeking clarification, asked, "Weren't these lands and people under her dominion from the beginning?"

Hafral's response was laced with bitterness, "The gods have never truly cared for their people, least of all Lak Ahm. Only Cyrus showed genuine concern for us..."

Satifa observed a pattern in Hafral's fragmented memory, "Your recollections are inconsistent, but your memory of Cyrus is vivid and constant."

Hafral's tone softened, a glint of something akin to hope flickering in his eyes, "Cyrus sacrificed himself for us, creating our sanctuary, shaping everything we know here."

Gadaric, his patience waning, rebuked Hafral sharply, "And yet, here you are, hiding away, letting dementia consume your mind."

Satifa stared at Gadaric. 

~~

That night, within the cave's cold and unwelcoming embrace, they found a precarious haven. The wind outside howled mournfully, punctuated occasionally by the eerie laughter of a child drifting across the barren plains, sending involuntary shivers through their spines.

Come morning, they moved the rock barricading the cave entrance, only to discover an oddity; trees had sprung up overnight, their forms as peculiar and twisted as those they had encountered before. The light that greeted them was a sickly yellow, casting an unnatural pallor over everything it touched.

Gadaric and Satifa, with a sense of foreboding, commenced their trek towards the heart of these warped lands.

"Wait up!" The voice of Hafral, urgent and unexpectedly lively, echoed behind them.

They turned to see the elderly sassan, once resigned to the cave's shadows, now hurrying towards them, his beard fluttering wildly in the brisk morning air.

"If you're venturing into the core of this madness, then count me in!" Hafral declared, his eyes alight with a curious mix of determination and recklessness.

Satifa arched an eyebrow in mild surprise. "What sparked this sudden resolve?"

Hafral paused, panting slightly from his exertion. "Languishing in that cave, haunted by ghosts of the past, serves no purpose. If you're set on confronting Lak Ahm, then it seems only right that I offer my guidance. It's been far too long since I last felt the world under my feet."

Gadaric and Satifa exchanged a glance, their skepticism evident. They were uncertain of Hafral's stability, yet his knowledge of the land could be invaluable.

"You realize this journey might be your last..." Satifa cautioned him, her tone laced with concern.

Hafral offered a wry smile, tinged with a hint of melancholy. "I've lived in the shadow of death for too long. Perhaps this journey will grant me the release I've been seeking."

With Hafral now part of their party, they delved deeper into the labyrinth of anomalies. The landscape around them contorted into even more bizarre formations. Trees defied gravity, growing upside-down with their roots reaching skyward like gnarled fingers. Rocks hovered in mid-air, suspended as if by invisible threads, and rivers flowed backward, their waters defying the laws of nature. The world around them had become a canvas of distortions, a testament to the chaos that reigned in the heart of Lak Ahm's realm.

~~

Days had passed since their fateful encounter with Hafral. In that time, they had managed to evade the watchful eyes of the terrorys, taking refuge in the skeletal remains of once-bustling villages and towns, now nothing more than silent graveyards of civilization. As they traversed this desolate landscape, they would occasionally come upon cities where gravity-defying towers and walls twisted skyward, surrounded by the macabre remnants of destroyed puppets.

Navigating through the remnants of one such city, Gadaric suddenly brought their party to a halt.

"Shhhh..." he whispered a sense of urgency in his voice.

Satifa tensed, sensing it too—a palpable, divine aura, tinged with an unmistakable thirst for blood.

From the heights of the contorted ramparts above, a figure descended with lethal grace—a swordsman, launching a swift attack. In an instant, Satifa summoned a swarm of locusts, directing them towards the assailant in a defensive flurry. Simultaneously, four puppets, previously hidden amidst the ruins, sprang to life, charging menacingly toward Gadaric.

With deft use of his sound-based abilities, Gadaric repelled the puppets, sending them staggering backward. The swordsman, however, was undeterred, effortlessly regaining his stance to prepare for another attack.

Gadaric moved in, intent on engaging the swordsman in close combat. But as he drew nearer, a flicker of recognition dawned in his eyes, halting him in his tracks.

"Joan...?"