The Waking Abyss

The air around Kaiza was oppressive, a deadly oppression that clung to his skin, trying to choke the air from him. The cold numbed everything: even his senses, which began trying to cooperate when he attempted to move.

His body weighed heavier than ever. He felt like he was sinking into the abyss. He was blind; everything was black, a void that swallowed him whole.

Mina. He had to find Mina.

A stinging, burning pain sliced through his side, jolting him from the choking blackness. His brain fought to concentrate, the adrenaline of combat still pumping through his system.

The metallic flavor of blood stung his mouth as he coughed faintly, his hand automatically clutching at his side where the beast's claws had cut into his skin. He could taste the stickiness of his own blood, cold and warm against his skin.

Kaiza. Kaiza!

Mina's faraway, plaintive voice piercing the blackness like a flashlight, calling to him from above. His own heart leaped at the sound, his shaking hand plunging into the blackness, flailing for some substance. His heart was booming in his ribcage when her voice struck again, clearer, nearer. 

"Kaiza! Wake up, please!"

With one last desperate struggle, his eyes creaked open, met once again with the same darkness, the crushing shroud of shadow that stretched out forever. But through the haze of his sight, he glimpsed her Mina.

She was kneeling at his side, shaking his shoulders, her own eyes wide with terror and determination. He felt her there, anchoring him through the chill and the anarchy. She was there. She was alive.

"Mina." Kaiza's voice was raspy, a roughness that hardly escaped his throat.

Her expression relaxed into relief, although the fear did not leave her eyes. "You're awake," she breathed, her voice breaking. "We need to leave here. It's not safe."

Kaiza's brain was still confused and did not coalesce about anything that transpired. The creature. The darkness.

He could sense the weight of it all beating him down, seeking to crush him beneath its force. But within it, far deep down, there was a glimmer of hope, a small possibility, that prompted him to move, to rise.

He attempted to sit up, but dizziness assailed him, his view of things spinning. His body protested at the wave of pain that broke over him once again, but he clenched his teeth and forced it back.

The struggle was not over. It could not be. He could not let Mina down now.

"Mina, where are we?" he inquired with another rasping breath, his voice carrying the strained feelings. "What did happen to the creature?"

Mina's expression grew somber. "It was too strong. I don't know what occurred. It's as if everything just halted. The creature it vanished, but I believe something worse has filled its place."

Kaiza attempted to push against the ground, but his legs gave way beneath him, stricken by the agony of his wound. Mina steadied him with her arms in an instant as she whispered, "Stay down. You aren't in any kind of shape to fight at all right now."

Kaiza shook his head, feeling himself leaning against her support. "We can't waste time. If something worse is present, we need to go now.".

Skepticism glimmered in Mina's eyes, but she didn't argue. She instead stood and assisted him to his feet, and the two of them departed into the darkness of the cavern.

The tunnel was a thin one, and the rock that lay beneath them was greasy with the byproduct of conflict. Each step felt a mile, the gravity of their task bearing down upon them with every passing instant.

The further they progressed, the more oppressive the air grew. Whispers crept back again, softly at first, like a memory of a lost tongue.

But with their further progress, the voices grew louder more demanding and haunting. It was as if the cavern walls themselves throbbed with an energy that vibrated in Kaiza's bones, the low thrum that filled the air with foreboding.

There's something wrong," Mina whispered, her voice trembling. Her gaze shifted nervously to the walls, to the flickering shadows that danced just beyond their reach.

Kaiza's hold on the obsidian shard tightened, his fingers greasy with sweat. "I feel it too.

Abruptly, a high shriek pierced the darkness of the cavern, breaking the tense silence. It was harsh, unnatural something that could not have possibly existed here.

Kaiza whirled, his eyes narrowing, his senses attempting to pick up on the location of the sound. The darkness up ahead appeared to ripple, moving as dark smoke would, solidifying into a huge form.

But it was not the same creature. This was darker, worse. The creature that emerged out of the darkness was vaguely human, but its face was twisted beyond recognition eyes that glowed hot like red embers, teeth that were jagged and venomous, and limbs that seemed to curl and twist with each motion.

It was a monster from their nightmares, born of the abyss itself they had descended into.

Kaiza's heart pounded against his chest. The creature was not a guardian but a guardian, a representation of the maze, the curse brought to life. It was what they had been waiting for the entire time.

Mina blocked his way. Dagger now in hand, but her posture trembled in fear. "Kaiza, we can't fight this. It's too strong.".

Kaiza did not reply. His eyes were locked onto the creature, his body straining as the obsidian chip in his palm started to emanate a more intense light, its energy linking with the evil aura that beset them.

"We don't have a choice," Kaiza replied, speaking in a low, resolute tone. "We put this to an end now."

Without uttering a word, he attacked, his actions propelled by the desperation that had driven him for centuries of agony.

The beast shrieked in fury as it raised its knife-sharp claws and charged at him with an unnatural velocity. The earth trembled beneath their feet as the two powers collided.

Kaiza threw the shard of obsidian with every ounce of strength he had, but the beast retaliated with claws of ear-shattering noise as the two clashed in the cave, creating a shockwave that sent Kaiza flying back onto the ground and stumbling to catch his balance.

The monster, unfazed, continued its assault once again, tearing through the air with claws of gargantuan steel.

Mina's voice echoed through the air as she screamed frantically and fearfully, "Kaiza, it's too strong!"

But Kaiza didn't falter. The darkness that had enveloped him for so long was rebelling, but he wasn't alone this time. Mina's presence on his side gave him the strength he hadn't experienced in centuries.

He couldn't let her down. Not now.

He stood, shoving past agony, his gaze locked on that beast. And in that moment, something deep, something primal within him awakened.

Obsidian blazed with searing light; the energy seemed to burst out in a wave that ripped through shadows. The beast emitted a scream of blood and terror as the light engulfed it, destroying it into nothing with an eruption of darkness.

As the sound of his last scream faded, Kaiza's breath caught in his throat.

From the bowels of the cavern, another noise—so faint, so quiet, that it barely registered started to emerge.

A whisper.

A voice.

A call.

It was the voice of Mina. But not. Different. Distant.

The very air itself seemed to distort, warping reality, and Kaiza's heart fell.

"No," he breathed, looking into the crawling darkness.

And in the darkness up ahead, the altar started to glow again.

A new threat. A new threat. And it was speaking in their ears.