Chapter 17: Worries
Kassandra cautiously approached the remains of the beast, her usually hard expression marked by an unusual flicker of concern. She dropped to one knee, brushing her fingertips over what remained of the creature's once dense coat. A wave of residual mana sent a shiver down her spine, a dark, oppressive energy that still seemed to ooze from the charred bits of flesh.
- This is no ordinary beast,' she said, breaking the silence. This mana... it's corrupted. Something has transformed it.
- Corrupted?' repeated Nysaa, approaching in her turn. Corrupted by what? A curse?
- Perhaps,' replied Kassandra, her tone distant, almost meditative. But it goes beyond anything I know. This thing wasn't acting on instinct. It was driven... forced by something greater.
Nyssa frowned, probing the creature's remains warily.
- Let me see that!
She took out different coloured vials, and poured a drop of each onto the remains of the beast. Strangely, each drop sizzled and evaporated instantly.
- WTF! Corruption or something of this level! I WANT TO STUDY IT!
Tharon had to hold her back for fear she'd take the carcass home and study it to the bone!
Kassandra sat up abruptly, her gaze fixed on Nyssa.
- We're bringing the carcass back. The Queen must see it. She'll know what to do.
Nyssa hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
- Very well, then. But be careful. This thing is dark, very dark, even when it's dead, we don't know what it might do to us.
Foster, watching from a distance, remained silent, his thoughts locked in cold logic. He had recognised this corruption before them, but would not speak of it now.
The journey to the sylvan palace was long and heavy. The carcass continued to pulsate with an oppressive darkness. Kassandra could feel it in her bones, a dull nausea seizing her every time she glanced at what was left of the beast.
When they finally arrived at the gates of the palace, the tension only increased. The living wooden structure that formed the palace was visibly reacting to the evil energy of the carcass. The trees seemed to tremble, their leaves shivering as if an invisible storm were passing through them.
In the great throne room, Queen Aralya was waiting for them. Her imposing presence, a blend of grace and authority and her oppressive magical power, immediately silenced all those who approached her. Kassandra and her unit bowed respectfully before Kassandra, alone, stepped forward.
- Why did you request an urgent audience, Captain Kassandra?
- Majesty,' she said, pointing at the carcass. On our last mission, we came face to face with this creature. It carried a corruption that we have never seen before.
At a gesture from the Queen, the carcass was lifted into the air.
- Let me see that
The queen murmured syllables in a low voice, an ancient melody filled with power, as from time to time crackles of mana suddenly burst forth.
Foster looked at the queen, whom he hadn't seen since that last night.
'Why have you suddenly disappeared? What happened to you?' thought Foster, knowing full well that it would remain a mystery until he got to Fotiya.
Queen Aralya approached slowly, her initially neutral expression turning into one of palpable gravity. Her slender fingers brushed the air above the remains, as if probing the residual traces of mana.
The Queen intensified her ritual, and the dark mana oozing from the corpse seemed to react. The shadows in the room lengthened, twisting like snakes in the dying light. A pungent smell of decomposition filled the air.
- This isn't right...' murmured Kael, his eyes riveted on the carcass.
Aralya paid no attention, her face taut with concentration. But just as she seemed to be reaching the heart of the corruption, a guttural, sinister scream echoed throughout the room. It was not a human or animal cry, but something ancestral, monstrous, a howl that seemed to echo from the depths of the world.
The golden glyphs shattered into a thousand pieces, and an invisible shockwave swept through the room. Aralya took a step back, gasping for breath, her eyes wide.
- No... this can't be...
The knights drew their weapons, but they trembled in their hands. A mass of shadows suddenly appeared above the carcass, swirling like a furious storm. A colossal figure took shape, its head almost touching the ceiling of the room.
The creature had no real form, only a shifting aura of darkness. Yet its glowing red eyes stared at everyone present, piercing them with primal terror. A gaping maw of razor-sharp teeth loomed in the shadows, though no sound came from the grotesque maw.
There was silence for a moment, then the thing spoke.
- Wretched insects...
Foster's face lost even more colour than when he saw the beast earlier.
Its voice was a mixture of growl and hiss, an echo that seemed to come from all directions at once. It resonated in the bones, in the soul, making the terror impossible to ignore.
- You play with what is beyond you. You dare to defy the abyss? You dare touch our creations?
Aralya, with all the aura of her power fully deployed, took a step forward.
- Who are you?' she thundered, unafraid.
The shadow chuckled, a hoarse, cruel sound that made the knights' teeth gnash.
- I am the night that will come. I am a lord of the Apocalypse. Do you think your insignificant lights will be enough to stave off the inevitable? You are blind. You are weak. And soon, you will be nothing.
Borin tried to step forward, brandishing his sword, but the shadow made only an imperceptible gesture. The man was thrown backwards with unheard-of violence, crashing into a pillar with a crunch. His body fell back, inert.
Kassandra felt her throat tighten. She had seen monsters, fought horrors in the woods, but nothing, nothing compared to this entity.
- You don't understand. This world already belongs to us. What you have seen is only a fragment, a seed. When we arrive in full, your forests, your cities, your kingdoms... everything will be consumed.
The shadow leaned slightly towards Aralya, its glowing eyes staring at the queen.
- And you, pathetic queen... Your power, however interesting, will be of no use to you
Aralya raised her hands, a golden light shooting out in an attempt to repel the creature. The light struck the shadow, but immediately collapsed, devoured by the darkness.
- So weak... so futile... when I'm just an image, a message, imagine yourself in front of the real me HAHAHAH.
Then, with a cruel, deafening laugh, the entity dissipated, as if it had never been there. The silence that followed was worse than the presence of the shadow itself.
Aralya's face was marked by a gravity that no knight had ever seen in her. As for Kassandra, she remained frozen, her thoughts spinning in total chaos.
The carcass in front of them was now black, completely drained of its essence. But the evil it bore seemed to have left an indelible mark on the room and on those who found themselves in it.
- What was it?' murmured Syra in a low voice.
Aralya slowly raised her eyes, her gaze distant, haunted.
- It wasn't a monster... or even a spirit. It was something else. Someone much older, much more dangerous.
She clenched her fists, her voice growing firmer.
- Lord of the Apocalypse, we're going to have to get ready. For they are coming.
Foster and on unit nodded and the queen turned away, dismissing them.
'I'm going to have to go and get that fucking world tree seed from Fotiya! But how can I be away for so long and have the Queen's ring, without which the sealed door will never open' thought Foster as he walked darkly towards the exit of the throne room.