ULTRAMagic Prelude - Chapter 24
Dragoslava was aware of these rumors, but some had been dispelled as time went on. One of the few other Descendants to explore the forest was her friend, Brenna. While the notion of curses and monstrosities were most likely untrue, there were still many other mysteries. Brenna had even caught sight of a humanoid amongst the stones, but she was not able to find the rest after it had fled. Whoever resided there were most likely isolated and cautious of outsiders (a reasonable stance to take).
Navigating the hexagonal formations was not easy, and Leif felt the brunt of this. “Blast! I figured this would happen…” he complained as he failed to find a spot to land.
“It’s the columns, isn't it?” Blood-Wraith observed. He had gone back to his normal form once he had the chance.
“Indeed, Blood. Argh, I hate to do this to you all, but I need to take a shortcut. Keep going without me. Make your way to the Crimson Abyss and continue past that. I’ll meet you in the darkness beyond.” Leif roared, opening up a portal.
Desislav exhaled. “More primordial shennanigans?”
“Unfortunately. You have my apologies. Don’t worry, someone unexpected should be along to help you.”
As Leif entered the portal, Tusk vocalized his thoughts. “I’ve always wondered what the life of a primordial would be like. Now I can safely say that I do not envy them in the slightest. And if I was a primordial in my past life, I’ll eat my hat.”
The group pressed onwards, deeper into the rock formations. The forest was turning into a labyrinth that became more alien the further they went. The caverns that the basalt formed had strange carvings everywhere that looked disjointed due to the nature of the stone it was carved into. Even the rocks were starting to look off. They appeared to spiral inwards, most evident in slabs that had broken off from the columns. Things quickly grew pitch black, so Blood-Wraith led the way. His light illuminated the inky darkness, but it was quite scary for him. Fortunately Dragoslava had his back every step of the way.
After about an hour of walking, Blood-Wraith thought he had heard footsteps. They were not from the group, but were slightly ahead. He took a deep breath… then came the rustling of stones and shards. Panic was beginning to creep in. Was something following them? Dragoslava caught it too, but kept the group moving. Deimos would then feel something drip on his head. Looking up revealed nothing but a black, tar-like substance. It smelt faintly of blood. This put the whole group on edge. Something was definitely following them.
Blood-Wraith had it the worst. He was afraid, but not like when he fought the Lich. He had no idea what he was dealing with, nor how to defend himself from it. This was true fear and the tension was unbelievable. It felt like at any moment something could just reach out and grab him. More rustling caused him to quietly whine, so Dragoslava stopped the group for a break. With some deep breaths and encouragement, Blood-Wraith relaxed a bit. While everyone else rested, he took up Voidborne and looked around. The terrified soul brandished his staff around with the intent of catching whatever was following them. He heard the rustling once more and moved towards it…
Nothing. Blood-Wraith exhaled a sigh of relief. “Okay…” What he did not expect was a skinless, smiling face…
“HI THERE!”
Blood-Wraith screamed at the top of his lungs, bolted to Dragoslava, and held onto her tightly. “THE THING! THE THING! IT’S THE THING!!!” It was now walking up to them…
Desislav was terrified, but puffed out his chest. “I got this!” He barreled forward, grabbed the entity, and pinned him to the wall with a slam. “ALRIGHT BUDDY, WHY WERE YOU FOLLOWING US? ARE YOU WITH THE LICH OR THE CULT?”
“Ack! No, I… just wanted to say hi…” Closer inspection showed that the muscles were black, an odd sight indeed. The person’s skin and features materialized, revealing that he was a human. He appeared to be a youthful man with strange, pink hair and blood red eyes. His body was covered in a shiny, black substance that resembled dried blood that went up to his chin. “I’m currently lost here…”
Tusk knew that voice. “Wait, hold up… Vlastimir?”
“Hehe, hey Tusk. Long time no see…” His laughter was well meaning, yet unsettling.
“Okay, you can put him down, Desislav.”
He grunted and complied. Then a realization occurred to him. “Hey, wait a second… that’s… he’s the one we saw back in The Unending Forest?”
Tusk nodded. “I suppose a proper introduction is needed. This is Vlastimir Bartholomew Jorstad. Don’t quote me on that surname because he’s given me multiple others in the past. He’s… He’s a mad sellsword, but he has helped my people in the past, so I do trust him. I still have no idea how he keeps getting into the forest though…”
Vlastimir laughed, then handed Voidborne to Blood-Wraith. “You dropped this.”
“You scared me… really bad…” He stated as he let go of Dragoslava.
Following a round of introductions, Vlastimir explained his state of affairs. “You see, I’m a 16 year old boy who just graduated from the Hermetic Academy of Magic… wait, no, I’m 30… or am I 100? 300? 1000? No wait! I’m definitely 30… in a half… three quarters… four sevenths of a mile. You see, I turned into a black hole… or maybe it was a moon made of blood made of insanity-or maybe that was an anime I watched… Either way, I ended up in the Unlight and I have been wandering around ever since. And now I’m lost in this unending labyrinth.”
“Okay then… Do you want to come with us?” Dragoslava proposed. “We are going deeper, but it should get you out of here.”
“If you would be so kind, haha…”
Dragoslava turned to Deimos. “Any objections?”
“Nope. He seems capable enough. Strength in numbers after all. Do you vouch for him, Tusk?”
“Aye, I vouch. Just get your head on straight, Vlastimir.”
Deimos shook Vlastimir’s hand. “Welcome to the team.”
“Thank you, thank you. I swear on my honor as a Dracul that I will NOT let you down.”
Desislav nearly choked on his spit. “Wait! Excuse me?”
Vlastimir quickly realized where Desislav was from. “Nothing, nothing…” It was hard to tell, but he was sweating bullets.
While that was strange, the rest of the group paid no mind to the oddity. Desislav on the other hand could not let it go. Why did the newcomer even say that name? Was he that mad? Either way, the confused satyr had to drop it for now. They had to work together and the man had Tusk’s trust. The journey onwards was a bit odd, as if that were not already the norm. Vlastimir kept giggling and chuckling and there were signs of life in the depths of the labyrinth. Eventually the group found the gateway to the Crimson Abyss, but it was not much better.
Everyone entered into a colossal chamber that was illuminated by a creepy, red light. The floor had a light haze and cracks in the stone revealed what looked like living tissue. An odor in the vein of blood was everywhere. Carvings were there too, but it was like they were depicting the interior of a body. On top of all of this, it was hot and humid. The chamber would have been utterly miserable if it was not important. Deimos would presume that his other half most likely took another path since this was the intended way forward.
“So how do we open this giant door?” Dragoslava asked.
Deimos studied it. There was text on it that gave a warning to all that approached. “Hm… let me see. We need the blood of the metal oasis as it’s the key to the abyss.”
Well that’s no problem” Blood-Wraith pointed out. “Sister’s got us covered”
"Yes, but I believe the issue is how do we use it,” Desislav clarified.
As if something had heard him, a stone box rose from the floor. Opening up revealed it was full of organic matter. This gave Dragoslava an icky feeling. “Ew… don’t tell me I have to get in…”
“I think you do. Here, I’ll hold your coat…” Desislav said with sympathy in his voice.
“Let’s get this over with…”
Dragoslava metalized her skin and hopped in. First the biomass covered her entire body. She wriggled around as it engulfed her, as it felt so weird and grossed her out. Once she was secure, the box sealed itself shut. Some kind of mechanism moved the box back and up the circular stone door. Once it was embedded within the door, stone rings grinded loudly and slowly moved out of the way. This process shook the entire chamber. What beheld the group was beyond comprehension. They nervously stepped through the doorway into a tunnel of tissue and bone.
A fleshy tube came down from the ceiling and gently deposited Dragoslava next to the group. She was all slimy and covered in organic film, so a kind little organism came by and wiped her down. “Blood, firstly, that was disgusting. Secondly, the abyss is friends with the oasis.”
“Oh, you can talk to it?”
“For the most part… it’s kind of weird.”
Vlastimir laughed. “Nice…”
Deimos pondered what they had just witnessed for a second. “Bizarre. It makes me wonder if that was always intended or if someone tried to break in in the past.”
Desislav looked back at the doorway as it closed. “Well that would certainly throw most people off.”
The trek through the abyss was unbearable. Walking inside of a living organism presented a myriad of challenges. Some areas were bone and others were soft tissue. What seemed like a safe path led to Tusk and Vlastimir falling into a cramped flesh node. Desislav banged his head on a bone covered in tissue, then fell into another bone full of sticky marrow. Blood-Wraith had stumbled into a cluster of nerve cells, got shocked, then fell into a pool of blood that was covered by a scab. Interestingly the blood seemed to reinvigorate him. Eventually the abyss had to intervene, guiding the group to the deeper areas. Soon everyone entered a room where they were surrounded by clumps of sinew and walls made of black flesh that pulsed with veins of bioluminescent light.
Curious as to the nature of the sinew, Desislav stuck his hand out over a clump. It inspected his hand and fully wrapped it up. He tugged, but the sinew refused to let go until he gave it a good yank. Blood-Wraith, being naive, had the idea to step onto the clump. The strands began wrapping around him, causing everyone to panic. Blood-Wraith was fine though, as it felt like he was being inspected. The sinew went up to his neck, then stopped and unwrapped him. Once he was back on the path, the clump formed an armed and waved its finger at him.
Now the abyss could communicate with Blood-Wraith. While a little confused at first, he accepted it as it gave him insight as to what the abyss was thinking. Blood-Wraith then indicated for the group to wait while he chatted for a moment. It told him many things and mentioned how it was stalling the Lich, which Blood-Wraith thanked it for. The conversation went on for a bit until it mentioned Desislav and Tusk. Blood-Wraith looked at the two, who were incredibly confused. He nodded as the abyss explained what it wanted to do with them.
“I see, Abyss… yeah, you do have a good point… I don’t think they’re going to be enthusiastic about it though… hey guys? The Abyss wants to lend us a hand.”
Tusk had a bad feeling. “How so…?”
“Well it’s hard to explain… we’ll just have to show you. You’re not going to like this, but the abyss says things are a little complicated at the moment and I’ll make it up to you later…” Blood-Wraith then shoved Tusk into a huge clump of sinew. He panicked wildly as the tendrils quickly wrapped him up and began pulling him under.
“BLOOD-WRAITH! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?” Desislav shouted.
He then took on his Might Form. “Sorry, Desislav, but in you go too…” Blood-Wraith picked up Desislav and tossed him into the black tissue. He was rapidly absorbed and disappeared.
“NOT FUNNY, BLOOD!” Tusk protested as was pulled under.
Dragoslava then watched as Tusk sank out of sight and took a deep breath. “Blood, did the Abyss specifically ask for them?”
“Yes…”
“Alright, I’ll trust that you and the Abyss know something I don’t…”
“Interesting…” Deimos noted. “Perhaps the abyss wishes to either keep them safe or give them something…”
“Yeah, the gift part…” Blood-Wraith replied, feeling a little guilty.
“Ah, I see. I highly doubted that it was a retaliation. We wouldn’t have gotten this far in the first place. May I ask what this gift is?”
The abyss then spoke to Dragoslava. “Oh, okay… thank you… yeah, I see what you and Blood mean now.” She crossed her arms and turned back to the others. “They’ll be fine. For now we need to continue on. Don’t touch the walls or sinew. They’re very sensitive.”
The group pressed on, but Vlastimir had questions. “Why are they so sensitive though?”
“Apparently we’re near vital organs,” Dragoslava explained. “These are all security measures that would normally eliminate pathogens. The walls shock and dissolve while the sinew restrains and sends the intruder to a white blood cell… normally. Tusk and Desislav are getting the special treatment and sent elsewhere.”
“Sick…” Vlastimir cackled.
With a maniacal laugh, he jumped into a huge clump of sinew. It pushed him out. He jumped in again. This time it wrapped him up, squeezing him enough to be uncomfortable (but not hurt him). It then released him, formed an arm, and slapped him across the face. Hopefully Vlastimir would get the hint that the Abyss was not a toy. Naturally the Abyss’ blood ran cold when it saw that he was eying the walls next. Vlastimir then leapt for it, only to be intercepted by an amoeba and absorbed. He was very confused.
Deimos laughed and wheezed as the amoeba brought him over, fully compressed inside. It refused to let him go. “HA! I don’t think the Abyss trusts you enough not to hurt yourself or it.”
Dragoslava shook her head. “Mess around and find out…”
“Don’t worry, it’ll let you go once we get to where we're going” Blood-Wraith assured.
“Hmph…”
“He’s a wild card, isn’t he?” Deimos remarked. “I appreciate the tenacity, but that compulsiveness indicates a lack of discipline. Honestly, those bad behaviors remind me of The Conspirator of Old…”
“I cmm still hear myu…” Vlastimir tried to mutter.
Continuing on, the four encountered a giant hole. A dark sphere was a long way down at the deep, deep bottom. It was like it was beckoning them to jump. Blood-Wraith was scared and his head was spinning over the depths of the pit.
“Oh… oh my… sister? Do we have to?”
“Yeah, I think we have to take a leap of faith…” Dragoslava bemoaned. A gurgling sound disrupted the tension as two person shaped lumps slid down flesh tubes to the ground. “Oh hey, our boys are back… I guess they’re not getting out of this either, ha…”
Next: Chapter 25
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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