Vol.1.C5 - Eclipsed Souls

Eclipsed Souls (v1c5)

He had to hold back. 

He can't lose.

Not this time. He can never.

The faces were glimmering in the shard, whispering secrets that were dying along with the wind.

Ryker was dizzy, his head was spinning.

His eyes were making it tough for him to see, it made him hold a nearby pillar for support.

The figures in the mirror were getting louder and louder every second; he clutched His other hand to his ear.

He was tempted to smash it; but he would only fail in this test.

“I know… I will not be winning this easily, but trust me I will.”

Ryker murmured, keeping his eye on the light warrior.

He stood right in front of the light warrior, the fiery determination in his eyes did not go ununnoticed.

The light warrior was ever so slightly impressed, but he refused to acknowledge it on his face.

He watched Ryker debate with his inner demons whether he likes it or not, his eyes hovering over Ryker’s ever so slightly quivering body.

“Your innermost soul is getting crushed to accept your Fate, isn't it?”

The light warrior decided to put him to a test that Would allow him to see Ryker’s resilience.

“The fire that burns within you is slowly getting extinguished, am i right?”

The warrior further pressed him, waiting to see Ryker’s reply.

The boy's head in the question was down, but not with shame; it was with resistance.

“I don't believe whatever you're saying. Who are you to tell me what my worth is?”

Ryker questioned him, his eyes that were totally Fired up meeting the light warrior's eyes.

It was like Ryker was challenging him.

The warrior watched Ryker’s every Move, every breath, every direction his eyeballs moved, so much that he saw something odd about him. His resistance was strangely too powerful.

“Listen to me,” Ryker began, taking A slow, deliberate step forward.

“Whatever you judge of me, I could care less about that. I know I've never had a perfect life in my nineteen Years of living, and I'll probably not in the future. It shouldn't even bother you in any way.” He said, as his eyes narrowed and glared at the light warrior.

“You're far more determined than I initially thought. Maybe I should give you a chance.”

The light warrior said, tilting its head and observing Ryker’s body language.

“I might be alone now, without my friends, but I can still defeat you!”

He said, his head high, and eye to eye with the light warrior.

The light warrior tilted its head.

“Fine. Let's see you try.”

He said, a gleam of challenge In his eye.

With that, Ryker slided back, and his glass shard was Behind his back.

He stepped forward, one by one, step, step, step.

He walked slowly like that until he was straight up Facing the light warrior, his face so close to the light warrior he could feel the warrior's breath.

“Alright. Let's watch you try to defeat me.”

The light warrior said for the last time, his eyes looking deep right in Ryker’s eyes, who had such a fiery determination that even the light warrior could not deny That, in fact he was impressed, but he did not want to show.

Ryker, with all his might, took the glass shard, and attacked the crystalline light warrior.

But as soon as he attacked the light warrior, the warrior's crystalline body ripples and distorts, each shift and shimmer displaying elements of Ryker’s forgotten remnants of his history, each one more painful than the last.

His eyes were open wide, he wanted to tear away from the scene, but his eyes were refusing to revert.

The warrior then shifted its form to a blurring maze, the kind of maze that sticks to your mind long after you've passed it.

The air whirred with a loud BOOM! as the warrior kept shifting and distorting its reality, almost as if finding a way to call the spirits of the room. 

The loud sound was not ordinary, and it was even stranger, it was a tv static noise. 

Ryker unconsciously Stepped back.

“What … Is happening.. …?” He mumbled, his eyes trying to keep Up with the ever Shifting nature of the warrior.

“Is that… a maze.. or maybe not?”

He pondered aloud, squinting his eyes and trying to make sense of the scene.

The visibility Was unclear, he couldn’t get an idea of what was in front of him.

But he was sure he could spot something dangling down the earthy Ceiling, he flinched Seeing the tiny, sharp creatures, as there was no sight of the light warrior anymore.

Is that a new challenge? Might be. Or he could be lucky enough that they are just bats, the birds that love the dark.

But he swears they are not what they seem like to be. They look different. Almost predatory. 

The spiraling and blurring of the light warrior stopped to a halt at once, and the earth made a loud, weird, static sound.

Ryker bent to his knees, Clutching his ears, the sound was too loud for his sensitive ears.

After the Sound faded away, there was silence.

Utter, complete Silence. 

The one Ryker was Sure he had not heard before.

The Scenery was strange. Stranger than the sky suddenly Turning green without an explanation.

There was no sight Of the light warrior.

Ryker felt his breath hitching, And his heart heavy, as he felt his larynx Shaking, he couldn't speak anything; his mind went blank and his palms and forehead were sticky with Sweat.

Where did the light warrior go? 

The question lingered in his mind for a longer time.

While he was distracted, he did not notice what was going to happen to him right now.

He had let his guard down, and that was his biggest mistake.

He paused. For a moment. 

He Took a step Back, and another, then another.

But the tiny, sharp creatures that hung on the ceilings upside down just like the mortal birds, bats, sent a chill down his spine, his legs were getting weaker, and it was difficult to keep himself from shivering so much that one would think he's got the common flu. But the shivering is not from the common flu. It's much worse.

Their eyes were glowing red. The feathers of the creatures were glitching like a tv static, and they made funny noises. Their bodies were stuck to the ceiling, the sight was grotesque, they were mingled with the darkness that engulfed the cave; making them invisible if it wasn't for their glowing red eyes.

And it was better that way.

You don't want them to attack you. Trust me, you certainly do not.

The tiny creatures were glaring at Ryker, as if he had committed a grave sin that was unforgiven.

But That was not the problem.

It was horrendous.

SWAA…! SWOOSH …!!

The creatures flew down, their wings flapping tremendously, with such a quick span of time, creating a thunderous noise in the earthy enclave, with an aura of impending doom, and something was creepier about them that made Ryker almost blackout with ever Increasing fear.

As the creatures flew down with a haunting grace That leaves a hypnotic impression, there was something almost occult-like about their faces.

It was the faces of Ryker’s past selves, each one coming from different aspect Of his life.

“I must be dreaming… yes … that must be it… this is a living nightmare!”

He grumbled with despair, his eyes starting To get watery.

Wiping his wet eyes, he gathered whatever crumbs of dignity he had left, he stood straight, and got the glass shard ready. That was going to be his only weapon in his journey of defeating These dangerous barriers of light.

As the creatures One by one, with their ever increasing speed, they began attacking Ryker their sharp Claws scratching his skin ever so slightly, leaving a mark with A shape of what looked like a tree with fangs.

 The tree was so weird he could barely make out whether this was even a tree with…. something That looks like a fang of a vampire that he had seen in the films.

The pain was excruciating, blood had splattered all over his arms and face, making him scream with the unbearing pain.

The creatures were flapping their wings and making white noise and hooting noises as if to mock Ryker.

Rykee ignored the pain and slashed the Creature that scratched His arm that badly.

With that, he slowly found his momentum and kept slashing those tiny, small harmless looking creatures, their black colored fluid that seemed like blood contaminating the chamber, and it emitted a foul smell Similar to a garbage dump with a mix of thioacetone.

The smell Was unbearable for Ryker, but he kept slashing those Faces of his past; he did NOT want to see it, his past flawed selves, ever again.

He had moved on, and he knew no one Was interested in his sob story.

But whenever he thought about it, it made him look like a sore loser.

He knew he was the brightest in high School, everyone loved him, he had a good friend group that cared about him, and He even Had a girlfriend; Despite all that he felt lonely. That feeling Of loneliness, he could not shake off no matter what.

His face, when he thinks about a cure, a cure that would forever make his loneliness disappear, it agonizes him.

That was how he felt when slashing the face of his own emotional crisis, on The creature.

It was brutal, gruesome.

Another face showed up; this time it was when he was being a terrible Leader.

He always thought he was a great leader, but there was something missing about the Whole ordeal.

He always ended up struggling making bad decisions, and letting His teammates or friends suffer because of him.

That face, he absolutely despised it.

He wanted to stab it as hard and Quickly as possible.

And he did. He never felt so relieved, seeing the creature that bore his face As a failed leader dead.

More came; more from the Depths of his worst fears.

His face when his mother died; yes it was there too.The crying, desperate face; the one that begged for the Heavens to spare his mother; it was there, mocking right in front of him.

It was driving him crazy and mad.

“GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!! ARGHHH!!”

He yelled, he had enough of this. He killed this last one creature that had left, its black liquid Splattered Across the ground, Dirtying it.

For a brief moment, suddenly, a blinding light had beamed.

He thought he would get astigmatism with his intensity Of light.

“You Did better than I expected. You managed to Kill all the Soullickers.”

It was the light warrior.