The Beast the Abyss Fears

The path narrowed again.

Not into a gentle spiral or careful corridor — this time, it shrank underfoot like retreating water, forcing them onto a single strip of rough stone that hung over nothing. Below lay only black churn, occasionally stirred by slow, massive shapes.

Raen moved first, steps careful but certain. Ember Vow followed with her usual grace, though her grip on his hand never slackened. Hollowfang stayed just ahead, claws clicking against the stone, ears swiveling constantly. Despair Maw brought up the rear, forced to move almost serpentine, its vast form coiling around narrow bends with unsettling fluidity.

They traveled this way for long minutes. The air was heavy, pressing in close — not with poison or illusions this time, but with the simple, profound weight of expectation. As if even the Abyss was holding its breath.

Eventually, the narrow strip broadened. They stepped out onto a wide shelf of dark stone, slick as though freshly carved. Strange markings coiled across it in tangled arcs, symbols Raen didn't recognize. Some almost looked like stylized crowns. Others were just open mouths, teeth drawn with obsessive detail.

At the far end of the shelf stood a gate.Not a door. Not an arch. A gate — towering, formed of hundreds of interlocked ribs, each slick with faint moisture. Between them stretched membranes thin as paper, pulsing with faint internal light. It looked alive. It smelled alive.

Hollowfang stopped dead, fur bristling so violently it stood out in uneven spikes. Despair Maw let out a long, low moan, jaws working in an uneasy churn. Even Ember Vow pressed closer to Raen's side, her breath catching.

Raen's hand tightened on Memoryweaver's hilt. "It's not going to let us through quietly."

"No," Ember said. Her eyes were locked on the gate, pupils wide. "And it's not the Abyss testing us anymore. This feels… older. Like something it woke up because we've gotten too close to whatever it's hiding."

The gate quivered. Then split down the center. Slowly, painfully, it peeled open, revealing only more dark beyond.

And from that dark came a sound — a wet, rattling breath that echoed with a hollow depth. Something moved behind the thin veil of shadow, so massive it made even Despair Maw look slight. A claw emerged first, talons like curved scythes scraping grooves into the stone. Then a snout, long and eyeless, lined with dozens of tiny, twitching feelers.

[System Notice: Abyssal Guardian Manifesting]

[Entity Class: Primordial Warden]

[Primary Directive: Seal Core Depths]

Raen's breath hitched. His heart didn't race — it just dropped, settling somewhere cold and heavy. This was no mind game. No illusion to shatter with memory. This was flesh and hunger and ancient duty.

The Warden stepped fully into view. Its body was a tangle of overlapping plates, slick with a sheen that caught stray glimmers of faint light. Veins pulsed between them, pumping thick streams of dark fluid. Each step it took left a small pool that hissed and smoked.

Ember Vow drew closer. Her hand lifted, runes along her wrist glowing faint red. "I don't think it wants to test us. It just wants to end us."

"Then it's going to be disappointed."

Raen lifted his blade. Memoryweaver surged — not with bright, triumphant power, but with a steady, simmering resolve that sent fine aches through his ribs.

Hollowfang growled, claws scoring the stone. Despair Maw stretched up, jaws opening in a long, eerie laugh that bounced oddly across the shelf.

The Warden struck first.

It moved faster than something that size should. One of its claws lashed out, aiming to swipe Raen clear off the ledge. But Hollowfang was already there — it slammed into the claw shoulder-first, jaws locking onto one of the smaller writhing feelers. The force nearly sent Hollowfang skidding back, claws scraping sparks.

Raen didn't hesitate. He lunged in under the claw, Memoryweaver cutting a deep line across the Warden's joint. A gout of dark fluid spilled out, hissing where it struck the stone. The creature let out a deafening bellow, so deep it rattled Raen's teeth.

Ember Vow swept her hand out. Sigils ignited in the air, then slammed into the Warden's side like coiling chains of heat. Flesh split and bubbled, a long strip peeling away to reveal twitching muscle.

But the Warden barely staggered. Instead, it twisted with horrific agility, another claw whipping around. It caught Hollowfang broadside, sending the beast flying. Hollowfang crashed against the far edge of the shelf, tumbling in a heap.

"NO—"

Raen's shout broke into a snarl. Memoryweaver pulsed so hard it felt like something cracking inside him. He charged, driving the blade into the Warden's exposed side. It sank deep, all the way to the hilt. The Warden shrieked, one of its back legs buckling.

Despair Maw lunged then. Its vast jaws closed around the Warden's midsection, teeth plunging in. A shudder rolled through the Warden's entire body. It twisted, its claws tearing deep gouges into Despair Maw's shoulder, but the shadow beast didn't let go. Instead, it bit down harder, until a sickening snap echoed out.

The Warden wrenched backward, ripping itself free of Despair Maw's jaws, leaving behind a long trail of shredded flesh. It turned, lunging for Ember Vow — two claws out, jaws opening wide to reveal dozens of twitching inner mouths.

Raen moved without thought. He threw himself into the space between them, blade coming up in a high arc. Memoryweaver burst with light — brighter than it had in any illusion. The strike took the Warden across its eyeless snout, carving deep. Black ichor sprayed, steaming where it fell.

The creature recoiled with a high, grating scream. Ember Vow's hands clamped over Raen's shoulders from behind, and he felt a surge of raw heat flood through him. Her runes flared, their lines wrapping around his arms and sinking into Memoryweaver's hilt.

"Together," she hissed in his ear.

They struck again.

Raen drove the blade forward, Ember's power pouring through him in a rush that nearly buckled his knees. The Warden tried to rear back — too late. Memoryweaver plunged deep into its chest. Threads of gold light exploded outward, racing along the Warden's plates, splitting them like cracked glass.

The Warden let out one final, strangled sound — a broken moan that ended in silence. It collapsed in on itself, body folding in unnatural directions, limbs snapping. Then it simply… flattened, sinking into the stone like hot tar seeping into a thirsty cloth.

Silence fell.

Hollowfang staggered over, ribs heaving, blood matting its shoulder. It pressed its massive head against Raen's hip with a low groan. Despair Maw slithered close, half its side torn and oozing, but it curled protectively around them all the same.

Raen stood there, Ember still clinging to him, both of them shaking. His breath came in slow, stunned gulps.

[System Notice: Primordial Guardian Destroyed]

[New Authority: Pathbreaker — Grants Passage Beyond Abyssal Seals]

[Bond Integrity Reinforced: Companion Loyalty Elevated]

He let out a strangled laugh. "It's going to have to do better than that."

Ember Vow exhaled against his shoulder, her voice raw but fierce. "It will."

He turned just enough to press his brow to hers. "Then let it come."

They stayed that way a while longer, beasts huddled close, the faint scent of scorched ichor drifting on the air. The Abyss had tried illusions, poisons, temptations. Now it tried sheer force.

Raen almost felt sorry for it. Because the harder it pressed, the more it proved how badly it wanted them to stop.

And that meant pushing forward was exactly what they needed to do.