Chapter 22: "Drawning Inside The Infernal Core"

The wall of life twisted with bloody roots, and vines whipped violently while sharp leaves and carnivorous plants tangled between them.

“We have to get out of here, right now!” Zera yelled as she crossed the Abyss.

If we do that, we will enter Aurethis territory.

I doubted following her, but I had run out of options: it was impossible to defy that amorphous blob. Mushrooms multiplied like parasites, flowers sprouted in agony, shredding their petals and regenerating them in an infinite cry.

We ran for a while, with the wall collapsing over our backs. From the other side of the Abyss, on the ground, small cavities revealed themselves shyly.

Around the Abyss of the Forsaken Faiths exist extensive cave systems that must be some of their entries.

Without rest, the throbbing wall obliterated everything in its way, devouring and transforming what had been consumed into parts of itself.

“It’s a wandering torment. Did this happen because we have the Feather? Is it how nature reacts to its presence? It is… fantastic! Aren’t you impressed by the power this object has?” Zera said, running by my side without concealing her excitement.

I envy her positive attitude. How can she keep it up even in such twisted situations?

“It might be fabulous, but if it catches us, we won’t live to appreciate it.”

Escaping seems pointless; the wall seems to advance to infinity!

The cavities increased in size and depth. Step by step, we were approaching the principal entrance.

“We’ll reach a point in which we won’t advance without entering a cave. What should we do?” I asked Zera.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen a similar phenomenon.”

Is it a phenomenon? Isn’t it the doing of a creature? Or, even worse… the doing of a God? No, none of the Deities that rule over the living control an element capable of creating life and destroying it in such a way.

Geysers of black liquid sprouted from the corrupted blob. Behind us, vegetable tentacles with eyes and mouths whispered horrors that grazed our heels.

It’s hunting us.

Zera threw it a rock. It was swallowed and transformed into a small golem that immediately convulsed among mutant insects, frogs, and deformed birds that navigated over a sea of fangs, bones, and skulls.

Something similar happened in the Creation: life took a horrid and funest attitude. Could it be the same? Down there I met The Ruin. Could Genesis have escaped?

In front of us, the entrance of The Nether Hollows appeared: a fissure that split the earth and guided souls to their end. Its mighty poise made us shiver, reminding us how tiny we were, mere humans.

It gives off a pungent odor.

Hundreds of secondary accesses surrounded the entry. The ground between them was fragile and treacherous, ready to crumble at any step.

Surrounding it was unthinkable: a guaranteed suicide. But wouldn’t it be just as deadly to enter it?

“Darek, what do we do? We have the Feather on our side, don’t we? Couldn’t we use it to calm the waves?”

“We don’t know how! The useless Primordial Eclipse didn’t tell us a thing!”

He said that if we know the beginning and end of a story, we can rewrite it willingly. If so, how can it be of use in this situation?! What’s more, who or what determines which is the end of a story!? I don’t get it!

The maws behind us did not wait, forcing us to move forward.

“Supposedly, The Nether Hollows connects with Aurethys. If we manage to cross it before it reaches us, there won’t be anything to be afraid of.” I mumbled, unsure.

We entered its domains, jumping between rocks, stalagmites, and puddles of orange liquid.

“It smells terrible down here.” Zera complained, dodging the flora that grew behind us, blocking the entrance.

That smell must be sulfur. In that case, those puddles… It wouldn’t be nice to bathe in them.

On some levels below, an orange-toned light illuminated the cavern. When we arrived, we saw it clearly: a massive river of acid zigzagged between volcanic rock pillars.

A false step and we’d end up dead.

Small corrosive streams furrowed the walls. They flowed in every direction: those were the veins of The Nether Hollows.

“There are people here? Fantastic. Living here must push your body to the limit. It’s difficult to even breathe!” said Zera, pointing at some bridges over the river and lit windows inside the cave walls.

After this, the amalgam of life behind us exploded in an unprecedented display: it extended over the ground, engulfing our legs. We both struggled against the roots and shrubbery in order not to sink.

Disgusting: the roots devoured one another as they kept growing without limit. It was a bizarre, revolting scene.

Life inside that blob moved frenetically, but it didn’t manifest any hostility at all.

“You have something that doesn’t belong to you, humans.” Said a high-pitched voice that came from some amorphous carnivorous plants.

“Do you mean the Feather?” Zera asked, struggling to survive.

The entanglement calmed its movement.

“It holds a power that transcends your comprehension. Driven by their nature, you will let greed and pride corrupt you. Hand it over, or suffer the consequences.”

A part of the amalgam that covered the ceiling fell and descended slowly, gleeful, forming a hanging cocoon that throbbed grotesquely.

That must be its core, its main body, the weak point. I have to be rational: if it speaks, negotiation is an option. I could even avoid a confrontation.

“The Primordial Eclipse said it: creatures like yourselves would come and try to seize it.” Zera answered with determination.

Tiny acid droplets started to rain over us, as if The Nether Hollows wished to expel the creature that was suffocating it.

“The Feather of the Late Beginning was sealed alongside the Emissary, because even The Ruin and The Genesis feared its nature. The Feather’s fate is to remain buried for eternity.”

He knows we have been with the Primordial Eclipse. How? There wasn’t anyone when we descended into the Abyss. Could it be…?

“They are right.” Said Zera. “It was guarded by an entity whose punishment was to witness the world’s creation and destruction. Even so, why would that bring suffering to it?”

“Since the will of the Silence is to annul everything. That is its nature, and like the unrelenting passage of time, nothing can escape it,” explained the voice coming from inside the cocoon.

No — I refuse to falter before the first stranger that tries to claim it.

“Without the Feather I’ll lose my only advantage against Zenith.”

The problem is not The Primordial Eclipse or The Ruin. They are my allies.

“If you refuse to hand it over, I’ll take it myself; the weak shall perish under the weight of a glory that does not belong to them,” it bellowed, unleashing its fury.

With a mere movement, the tide made the cavern shake, reminding us how insignificant we were before its presence.

When I unsheathed my sword, Zera lunged at the creature’s core. In that moment I understood that, locked in its domains, we never stood a chance.

“Zera! Maneuvering over the tide is impossible!”

We started sinking into it: a sticky moss immobilized Zera and the roots pressed against my legs, trying to break them.

If I let he continue, I’ll end up buried.

With voracious movements, leaves and ivy imprisoned our bodies. Life around us sprouted and grew without measure, until reaching a point where it should have died…but it didn’t. Its throbbing corpse suffered the consequences of an existence it should never have reached, trapped in an eternal cycle.

That was what formed the amalgam.

It’s… perverse.

“I don’t even have room to swing my sword…” I said, hoping she could do something.

“I… can’t move either,” Zera answered as insects gripped her arms.

I’m losing my strength… Something’s draining it…

Unwillingly, I stopped fighting the undergrowth; it was overcoming me, as a fungus coiled around my neck, suffocating me.

Zera suffered the same fate, drowned among the roots.

“Leave your pride aside: abandon your human nature. It won’t be enough now. If I receive the Feather, you must pay for your audacity with your flesh.”

The shrubbery took my sword, pulling it out of my reach.

I can’t breathe…

We lost the battle as soon as it began.