A figure walked into the vast hallways, which gave an uneasy feeling of coldness. It was an unfamiliar place, but the sounds he heard from far outside made him sure that he was still on the battlefield.
Wren was sure that he was in the heart of the enemy stronghold.
Suddenly, a feeling of uneasiness bloomed in his heart before he jumped back as vicious claws came for him.
A being walked out from the shadows. It was at least 6 metres tall, with 6 hands enarmored with sharp claws.
Its eyes resembled two liquid pools of darkness, and its face was fierce, embodying death itself. The creature had a dark grey skin tone and sported six sharp horns. It also possessed sharp fangs and a long tail that could be used as a weapon, thanks to its nimble body.
"It's just you and me now." Wren said, watching the shadowspawn. The shadowspawn didn't laugh, but the sickening grin was still on its face.
The shadowspawn then said:
"Since we are here, I want you to play a game." Its guttural voice carried a strange emotion, something Wren couldn't understand.
Wren's own body moved, but the shadowspawn remained still, and for the first time a calm expression appeared on the mad, disgusting face.
And then the shadowspawn whispered:
"Take it as a lesson, if you survive that is...It takes two to play a game." Just then, a surge of killing intent came at him from behind. Before he could even process a thought, a blade pierced his heart. But it didn't stop there; the blade burned with starlit flames.
Blood escaped from his mouth, tainting the battle robe, and there was a moment of stillness before the pain flooded his mind. In agony, he swung his sword at the man behind him.
That's when he saw him—auburn hair that resembled living flames, eyes like the deep ocean, and a sword that burned with starlit flames.
He knew that man. It was Ascended Orion of the divine legion, the very one who had thrust his blade into Wren's heart.
Wren was taken aback; he had never expected this. The excruciating pain in his heart sharpened his thoughts. For some reason, he couldn't heal himself, and he felt no darkness within him, as if it had all vanished.
The enemies didn't give him time either. The two ascended attacked him simultaneously. Wren raised his sword, blocking the sharp claws and the burning blade that seemed to be the reason why he couldn't feel the darkness anymore.
The white flames ate away the darkness.
Light was the enemy of darkness, and the harbinger of shadows. The shadowspawn whipped its tail around Wren's foot, then pulled him with dangerous force, yanking him into the air before smashing him down.
Wren's body crashed into the ground; the floor cracked and splintered.
The shadowspawn used its other arms, and the cruel claws were reaching for his throat, wanting to rip it apart and taint itself with Wren's blood.
And Orion wasn't going to let this chance to end this go. The blade burning with starlit flames was there again for him, this time to end it all.
In the split second, Wren used the only option he had.
Shifting his body, he moved forward, forcing against the grip of the shadowspawn's tail; his right hand moved in front of the sword's path.
Wren looked up at the two of them through bloodshot eyes. They were locked in a brutal deadlock. Orion's sword was caught in his mangled right hand, and the monster was overextended. He was the one who was going to break it.
Forcing his failing body to move, Wren squeezed out the absolute last, hidden ember of his power. He raised his left fist, coating it in a layer of pure darkness, and smashed it into the stone floor.
The darkness detonated outward, flooding into the deep fissures beneath them and instantly collapsing the entire floor into a bottomless abyss.
The three of them were separated, each landing on a massive piece of falling stone. Wren gritted his teeth as he pulled the sword out of his hand. The darkness that lingered within him spread to his heart, but what remained of it fueled his body with power.
Despite surviving the deathly situation, he wasn't out of danger. Through the rushing wind and shadows, Orion and the shadowspawn were already recovering. Using the falling debris as stepping stones, the two Ascended leapt from rock to rock, rapidly closing the distance to finish him off.
Wren jumped off the falling stone before it crumbled under the force of the shadowspawn's attack, and before he could take a stand on his ground, he jumped again and watched the other massive piece of stone cleaved in half as a crescent of white flames cut it.
He felt the heat of the vicious flames beneath him. Leaping at smaller pieces of stone, he reached upward, but the tail of the shadowspawn reached him before.
The tail smashed Wren's rib, shattering the bones. Dark crimson blood escaped from his mouth once again, tainting his silver-grey battlerobes. He watched the above as he fell; the haze of pain clouded his mind, but he couldn't give up.
Biting his own tongue, he stimulated his mind with pain. The haze cleared a little, and he moved his body before taking a foothold on one of the fragments.
He was hurt. He felt pain beyond what he could even think of, but he couldn't give up; he couldn't let the hands of death reach him.
Wren struggled to stand, but his body refused to obey his will. Just then, Orion reappeared in front of him. Although he was barehanded, that didn't diminish the threat posed by the ascended.
Wren braced himself for an attack, prepared to either confront it or endure yet another serious injury. But instead of striking, Orion simply whispered a single word:
"Burn."
In an instant, the blade in Wren's hand ignited with starlit flames. To his horror, the fire spread across his body. Unable to control his pain, Wren screamed as he was consumed by the intense heat.
The shadowspawn used the opportunity, and it clawed Wren's gut, slitting it before the flames spread into his internal organs.
The two of them leapt at the stones before finding a platform, and watched Wren's motionless body fall like a burning star, before disappearing in the veil of darkness.
"It's over..." Orion muttered and looked away from the bottomless abyss. The shadowspawn grinned ear to ear and chuckled.
"I have been waiting for you a long time, brother. For you to join the army of those wicked gods and act as one of them, I must say you even tricked me."
Orion shrugged his shoulders.
"I did my duty perfectly then; to even trick a treacherous shadow like you, I am deeply honoured." He shot the shadowspawn a small grin.
The two of them walked side by side before the shadowspawn asked:
"I don't understand our Lady's intention. From what she said, that mortal was a being of darkness even though it was dormant. Throwing his body in that place, wouldn't it help him?"
Orion shook his head.
"A being of darkness is weak to attack on the heart. My last attack destroyed the heart, and a being without a heart is dead; there is no need to worry about it anymore." Orion spoke as he glanced behind him, feeling a slight unease for some unknown reason.
'It isn't possible.' He shrugged the feeling off.
Far below, in the dwelling of darkness, something was falling at great speed. It was a corpse, a charred corpse, burned to the point where even the skin had turned to ash, but it was a living corpse.
The darkness was endless, and it heard the pain of its apparition.
Then, a melodious voice resounded in utter darkness, or rather, it was heard in the broken mind of the living, burned corpse.
[You have offered yourself as a sacrifice to a god.]
[Your soul bears the curse of divinity.]
[Abyss God is looking at you.]
[The darkness is looking at you.]
[You have met the conditions.]
[The contract of Void is revealing itself.]
[Prince of Darkness, receive your blessings.]
Darkness slowed down his descent, surrounding his charred body in its presence. His burnt skin shed off, revealing pristine white skin. Blood returned to his veins, and his heart began to beat again.
White hair grew back on his head, and then the corpse opened its eyes, revealing two black suns that devoured light. Darkness wrapped around his body, taking the form of armor.
A calm expression was on his face. The darkness became a step for him to start, as Wren looked above.
Darkness continued to move toward him, toward his heart and nestled there. Then, it moved to his hand, taking the shape of a sword.
Just then, the spell whispered in his ear.
[Abyss God is looking at you.]
[This will be the last time.]
Wren stared at the message for one last time before two wings of darkness appeared behind his back.
And like a dark star, he flew above, drifting through the bottomless abyss, to the end... of this—of his nightmare.
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So yeah, the end of the nightmare is near. I kinda rushed this chapter, but I guess it's doable. Orion's betrayal was pre-set, not like something I came up in the middle of the chapters, but I guess it didn't happen the way I really wanted. Fun fact: Orion was supposed to appear more unhinged(He is, blud really gave his subordinate as a thing to be used by shadowspawn).
I don't know how many of you are aware that this is a remake of my work, but Wren was actually far worse and mad like now; he actually ripped Nephis's arm with his bare teeth in Forgotten Shore, but I have toned it down in this remake. Though I can't really say, we might see something similar to it in the next chapter.
Also, the next one might probably be the second-to-last or last chapter of the first nightmare, and a few things will be revealed in it. I have also left Melina out of the next chapters, as her story will be covered in the later parts(if I write that much, gods, I wish I could).
Till then...
See Ya!