A master's despair

Elder Tian knelt at the edge of the Endless Abyss, his fingers clutching the jagged rock. His golden aura flickered weakly around him, its once-brilliant light now dimmed by the oppressive presence of the abyss. The air was heavy, laden with a suffocating silence that pressed down on him.

"Li!" he shouted again, his voice raw, echoing into the void. But no answer came. Only the abyss stared back, its unyielding darkness swallowing his cries.

He slammed his fist into the ground, cracking the stone beneath him. "Curse it!" he hissed, his voice trembling with a rare mix of fury and grief. For all his power and wisdom, he had been powerless to stop the abyss from taking his pupil.

Straightening, he steadied his breathing and focused his thoughts. Panicking would not bring Li back. Think, Tian, he told himself. The boy is strong. If anyone could survive, it would be him.

But survival in the abyss was not a guarantee of return. Stronger and older cultivators have been known to perish in the Abyss.

"What do I tell the sect master when he returns? How do I explain Li's disappearance and my inability to save him? Elder Li asked himself in despair. He rose to his feet, his expression hardening. "If the abyss will not yield him willingly, then I will force its hand."

Elder Tian closed his eyes and spread his arms, summoning the ancient teachings of the sect. His aura brightened, golden threads of qi weaving into a lattice around him. He began chanting in an ancient tongue, his voice resonating with the weight of centuries.

The air around the chasm quivered. The runes carved into the rocks at its edge began to glow faintly, pulsing in time with Tian's incantation. He was calling upon the Seeker's Bind, a technique forbidden even among the sect elders.

The Bind would allow him to reach into the abyss, tethering his spirit to Li's essence. But it came at a cost, for the longer he remained tethered, the greater the risk of his own soul being pulled into the abyss.

Tian's brow furrowed as he concentrated. "Come on, Li. Show me where you are."

The lattice of qi extended into the abyss, tendrils of golden light sinking into the darkness like fishing lines into deep waters. Tian felt the weight of the abyss pressing against his mind, a malevolent force resisting his intrusion.

Then, faintly, he felt it—a spark.

"Li!" he exclaimed, his voice breaking with relief. He focused on the spark, shaping the Bind to lock onto it. But as he did, the abyss retaliated.

A wave of dark energy surged up from the chasm, slamming into Tian. He staggered back, barely maintaining his footing. His Bind trembled, the golden tendrils fraying under the assault.

"Damn you!" Tian growled, reinforcing the lattice with more of his qi. "You won't take him from me!"

The spark flared brighter, and for a moment, Tian caught a glimpse of Li. The boy's form was faint and shadowy, surrounded by swirling darkness. But he was alive.

"Hold on, Li," Tian murmured. "I'm coming."

The ground beneath Tian shook violently, cracks spidering out from the edge of the chasm. A deafening roar erupted from the depths, and a massive shadowy figure began to rise. Its form was indistinct, ever-shifting, but its eyes burned with crimson light.

"Abyssal Warden," Tian said under his breath. "Of course."

The guardian of the abyss loomed before elder Tian, its presence suffused with primal power. It lashed out with a tendril of darkness, and Tian barely had time to erect a barrier of light. The force of the impact sent him skidding backward, his shoes grinding against the stone.

The cavern trembled as the shadowy form of the Abyss Warden emerged from the swirling pool. Its amorphous body rippled with raw, chaotic energy, tendrils of darkness lashing out in all directions. Eyes like molten embers glared at Elder Tian, radiating a hatred that seemed to seep into the air itself.

Elder Tian stood firm, his golden aura blazing against the oppressive gloom. His staff materialized in his hand, glowing with runes of radiant light.

"You stand in my way," Tian said, his voice steady but laced with urgency. "And I do not have time for you."

The Warden hissed, a guttural sound that reverberated through the cavern walls. It surged forward, a mass of writhing shadows, its tendrils extending to engulf Tian.

With a sharp movement of his staff, Tian summoned a barrier of light. The tendrils struck the barrier with a deafening crack, recoiling as sparks of golden energy scattered. Tian seized the opening, leaping forward and striking with his staff.

 The blow landed squarely, and the Warden howled, its body fracturing into shards of darkness that reformed almost instantly.

The Bind wavered dangerously. If it broke, Tian would lose his connection to Li and the boy's chances of survival would be greatly reduced.

"I don't have time for this!" Tian snapped, his aura flaring as he stepped forward to meet the Warden. He couldn't defeat it outright, its power was too deeply rooted in the abyss, but he could buy time.

Summoning his staff, Tian spun it in a wide arc, releasing a burst of golden energy. The Warden recoiled, its form distorting, but it quickly reconstituted and attacked again.

Tian moved with precision, his attacks measured and deliberate. He couldn't afford to expend too much energy; the Bind required constant reinforcement, and his reserves were already running low. Elder Tian channelled more energy into his staff and a spark of light pulsed out directly striking the shadow that was the warden. The light seemed to penetrate the darkness that was the warden and tore it to shreds. An eerily unearthly scream emanating from the warden as the light touched it, pierced Tian's ears, causing him to drop the staff and hold his ears.

But in less that a second, the torn shadow seemed to assembled again and assaulted the elder causing him to stumble backwards again after almost standing up. The fight went back and forth with no one seeming to have an edge over the other. But each clash with the Warden pushed elder Tian closer to the edge of his limits. Sweat poured down his face, and his breathing grew laboured. His cloths tattered from the many hits he had received from the Warden. But elder Tian held on tightly, knowing that letting go meant almost certain death for Li.

The spark of Li's essence flickered, as if the boy was slipping further into the abyss. Tian's heart clenched. He knew what it meant. If he didn't act now, the abyss would claim Li completely.

"I have no choice," Tian muttered.

Channelling every bit of his strength, he poured his qi into the Bind. The lattice of golden light blazed brightly, illuminating the darkness around him. The Warden shrieked, recoiling into deeper darkness as the light pierced its form.

Tian reached for the spark, his voice echoing with desperation. "Li, hear me! You must fight! Find your way back to me!"

The spark flared once more, and for a fleeting moment, Tian felt Li's presence more clearly than ever. But the abyss's pull was relentless.

A tendril of shadow shot out, striking Tian directly in the chest. He gasped as the darkness seared through his defences, its malevolent energy burning into his soul. He couldn't hold on any longer as his grip on the Bind faltered, and the lattice began to unravel.

The Warden responded by splitting into multiple forms, each one a shadowy replica of itself. They surrounded Tian, closing in with unnatural speed.

With a swift chant, he planted his staff into the ground. A burst of light erupted outward, obliterating two of the shadows. But the real Warden was faster, darting above him and striking down with a blade-like appendage.

Tian barely dodged, the edge of the attack grazing his shoulder. Pain seared through him, but he didn't falter. He retaliated with a sweeping strike of his staff, channeling his qi into the weapon. The energy surged outward, cutting through the darkness and forcing the Warden back.

"No!" Tian roared, forcing the Bind to hold. But the strain was too great, and the darkness had seeped into his chest, lessening his power. With a final, violent surge, the abyss severed the connection entirely.

Tian collapsed to his knees, his staff clattering to the ground beside him. His chest heaved, and his vision blurred with exhaustion and pain.

For a long moment, he knelt there, defeated. The Warden had retreated, and the chasm was silent once more.

But the spark was gone.

"Li…" Tian whispered, his voice hoarse. "Forgive me."

As Tian rose unsteadily to his feet, his eyes fell on a small, faint glow at the edge of the abyss. It was barely visible, a flicker of light almost lost in the vast darkness.

Hope stirred within him. "You're still there," he murmured.

Tian turned and began walking away from the chasm. He couldn't save Li alone. Not like this. He would need help, ancient knowledge, perhaps even forbidden techniques, and he would need it quickly.

As he vanished into the mist, the faint glow persisted, a fragile beacon in the endless abyss.