Chapter 8

The party is bathed in particles falling from the air after defeating the hydra-like entity. Everyone has a look of exhaustion on them. They regroup in the middle of the room and sit down together.

“Good work everyone.” says Rugger.

As they finally can breathe a sudden cold chill runs through the entire party. All of them are shaking uncontrollably.

They look around trying to detect what has caused the sudden shift in the room. That’s when they noticed a script starting to scroll around the walls of the cathedral.

Slowly, as more ancient script appears the walls begin to shatter. Brick by brick they shatter like glass leaving nothing but black in their place. Eventually all that’s left is mostly black void, scrolling and glowing ancient script, and the stained glass windows.

“This isn’t looking good. Do you all sense the entity?” Rugger yells to the group.

Aila speaks up, “I’m sorry to say this but I recommend we all say a prayer to our deities. This entity may even be at a cataclysm level.”

Quickly Kaylin turns to Silas and embraces him while crying. “I’m so sorry Silas. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” She chokes out the words then pulls back with a new resolve. “If I do anything at all I will not let you die Silas.”

Then as if responding to her words as a challenge, massive dark gray tendrils begin to spring out of the voids surrounding them.

The party begins their desperate fight against their fate.

Rugger begins tearing through the tendrils with his battle axe and insane speeds.

“Stay near me Silas.” Yells out Kaylin. Soon Kaylin and Silas are joining Rugger in tearing through the tendrils.

As the tendrils keep falling more and more take their place.

Until eventually Biggs is overwhelmed and dragged into the void with a scream then silence.

Soon the body of the entity appears from out of the void. Its form is distorted and beyond comprehension. A screeching sound can be heard crying from it.

The party would mourn the death of their companion however the tendrils assault is getting more intense until finally Aila is grabbed.

Silas looks on in shock and dashes towards her “Aila!”

Kaylin follows suit to keep him protected.

Before they could even reach Aila she is thrown into the ground and beaten to death by the tendril then chucked into the void just like Biggs was.

Silas overcome with grief and rage quickly turns his moment towards the entity's main body. In the process he takes out a series of tendrils only to be deflected by one and flung back. He comes sliding across the ground towards Kaylin. In the process of saving himself from the tendrils his sword is shattered.

He is overwhelmed with despair when his eyes catch the sword sticking up in the ground still. It sits near the entity itself.

Before Kaylin can even process what happened with his sword he flings himself using a sword art and all his might towards the sword.

He nears it by at least ten feet when his momentum is completely killed as he is ran through by a tendril and slammed into the ground.

Kaylin looks on in horror and Silas lifeless body lays near the sword. In that moment of grief and pain she screams “SIlas!”

*****

Kaylin comes crashing into his body with screams and tears.

“No! No! No! You can’t die. What about your brother and Astrid!” Then much quieter she asks, “What about me?”

As she clings to his lifeless body a tendril attempts to stab her through as well but is deflected by a flash of light that engulfs Kaylin and Silas’s body.

As it’s deflected it disintegrates into particles and the light subsides. Kaylin has laid Silas’s body on the ground and slowly rises holding onto a sword glowing brighter than anything in the space.

“You bastard! I’ll kill you!” Kaylin screams at the entity and begins her assault towards it. Slowly disintegrating every tendril that it flings towards her.

“Holy shit that’s a spectral weapon.” Rugger looks at the weapon then back at Silas. He notices as well that the sword stabbed in the ground was still there. “She created that weapon!”

In a flash she is in the air in front of the entity ready to slash at it. “Bring him back! Bring Silas back to me!”

She slashes at it with the new glowing sword however it deflects her and the attack with a barrier of purple light.

*****

In a dark void Silas floats on his back. He slowly opens his eyes and floats from his back to his feet. He looks around with a sleep filled expression.

“I guess I died.” His sleepy expression shifts to one of desperation and rage. “No! I can’t die like this. I have to find some way of getting out of here!”

He attempts to move his body however it doesn’t seem to respond to his demands. “Crap this can’t be happening. Nikolai, Astrid, Kaylin, Aila, Rugger… I need to get back to them somehow. Let me go!”

Suddenly he is able to lurch forward.

“Wow, impressive. I knew I picked the right vessel.”

He looks around and finds a woman with long blonde hair and a regal looking long purple dress standing before him as if she suddenly appeared from thin air.

“Who are you! What did you do to me!”

The woman laughs “You think I did this to you?” She points at him with her index finger and her other hand tucked under her extended arm.

“You were the imbecile that decided to rush towards the enemy.” She cackles then gives him a big knowing grin.

“This is just perfect. Honestly, you dying was the best possible outcome to escalate my plans.”

Silas looks worried, “So I did die?”

“Ding, ding, ding. You got it, but don’t worry.” The woman begins to walk towards him and once she reaches him she tenderly touches his chest while getting uncomfortably close. “I pulled your spirit away from the afterlife before it could pass on.”

“Now for the deal. In return for giving you the ability to return to the mortal world I want you to take me along with you. I will live inside you and you may use my powers as a means to defeat this enemy and escape.”

“What will it cost me, demon?”

“I AM NOT A DEMON!” She shrieked so loud that both of their forms distorted.

“I was trapped in the Cavern for far too long. I was once a human. As for cost I only ask that you help me with my one true wish.” She steps back letting go of his chest. The look on her face is that of someone hopeful and saddened by their past.

“I wish for freedom. To be set free. Be it in a body or even through the embrace of death.”

Suddenly the black void is wiped away in an array of colors. “So what say you my dearest?”

As he words and the deal settles in his mind images of his party member, Astrid, Kaylin, and Nikolai coming rushing to him. He remembers the promises that he, Astrid and Nikolai made together when they were younger. To be a family they never had to be happy together.

“What should I call you?” Silas asks with a warm smile.

The woman chuckles and returns his smile with a tender gaze. “I have forgotten my name long ago. Being stuck in the darkness for so long. I know, just call me Monika.”

“Understood. Then Monika I accept the terms of your contract.”