Sanctuaries were the only respite to the corruption of the abyss, and the only gift given by the lords of the material plane, which ant the gods in this land were influenced by the realm of Demons.
And don’t think the world of Demons was anything like the hell from the scriptures, the world of the dead and the demon realm differed on one aspect only.
"Demons are fallen humans that were corrupted by a devil." They in a way are undying, no matter how many tis you kill the demons, they will be reborn back into the river that flows through the heart of the Abyss. For their lives had been connected to the realm of Demons, they are slaves to the will of the devils that rule over them.
As for who or what the Devil is? Few understood them, but one thing was certain, they are the dark side of the human mind given form. They were born of the hatred and negativity of the beings on the material plane, which is why they hold so much sway over them in return.
It’s also one of the reasons why Lord Emotion, a God, actually uses the accursed Devil as his Angel. For only a Devil won’t fall for the Eldritch strength that Lord Emotion possessed. Being one of the few Primordial Gods born on this world, his strength is nothing to scoff at.
And that man is now my enemy, well... he was one since the start. "What... how do you deal with the demons?" Demons were the lost souls that were claid by the Abyss, and they were very strong. "Nothing, they are Demons, but not animals, they follow a certain rule. And as long as we are aware of it, it’s easier to stay away from them." It’s not hard, even if they are far stronger than my current self.
"I know a bunch, so believe ," I spoke, while flashing my body with the one working hand I had, which did make it seem I was not so dependable while looking like that. But ignoring my state, I was still a Totem, one with the knowledge that Wajih might never fathom or understand, so he chose to believe .
While asking, "Do you know where he is?" He is probably the Third son of that Alahrun family, well, "I don’t... but we will et him, even if he dies." I spoke. Probably aware of what was going on in this man’s mind.
His talent was sothing interesting, and from the little inkling of it I had seen, it was obviously not made for combat, but this man had forced his ability to mold and mutate into this ugly self. One can only imagine what the original talent of his bloodline was, and what he at the mont intends to do with the Third Son.
But curiosity had been killing . I couldn’t look into his head for the mont, so I directly asked, "What is your true ability?" I spoke, looking at him who followed , washing himself with the cold water that still reflected the real sky. It’s not like any of us can see that. All we felt was familiarity, which was absent outside.
"Don’t ask that." I got a reply, which was a surprise considering I never considered any. "You think so?... from the little I have gleaned of your history, your family died at the hands of another family, which ant they were either weak... or they were never fighters, to begin with," I spoke, causing the man next to to hold my neck suddenly, coming close to squeezing it, but stopping after hearing no sound or struggle on my end.
Then with a scoff, he let go of and said. "Stop prying."
"As you wish." It wasn’t long before we started our journey again. It wasn’t hard to know the direction even in this darkness and suppression of senses, for there was only a path forward, although one can get lost due to the certain odd environnt this place ford.
Illusions, auditory, visual, and even mory-based, affected us both, and the longer we walked, the stronger these illusions turned. "How... How long?" Wajih asked, feeling feeble, the aura of abyss encroaching over his body.
"Just ten minutes," I said with so sarcasm. Although the body and mind in this place suffered a whole long day, my true body in the realm of Nightmares that stayed in the distance could visualize how long it had been.
Just 10 mins.
This place will play with the minds, weak or strong.
But as long as you know the Mantra of "What I touch is true." One can keep going without a pause. This was easier to say than done, for even in blindness, the visual illusions affected us the sa, although the corruption didn’t increase too much it did affect us.
"Stop," I spoke, looking toward the distance and finding a figure walking around like a monkey, jumping from one bizarre plant to the other, mutating under the effects of the abyss, their wood turning into flesh and their sap into lava. Such odd fauna was not easily used as a springboard for whatever it was.
’An imp?’ I wondered, turning in the direction of this figure, while Wajih turned silent, curious of what it was until his dust particles made up of Blood Iron touched the figure and he spoke sothing. "Clothes?" Clothes, but never human, for there was a thin tail and long arms of this figure, with a small horn growing out of its head.
Or so Wajih defined it. "Stay away?" The description matched that of an Imp Demon, they were fast and hard to kill, but they were also pretty weak and easily killed if your attract struck them. They were generally born out of corrupted children that fell to the Abyss energy, and from the looks of it, this youngster might be a recent claim of the Abyss.
"Nothing can be done." We ignored it, using the little bit of illusory powers I had, I masked our existence and hid from this Imp, walking further away and sowhat learning what was going on.
"Soone or sothing had been sending people into this place," I recalled the ropes, even if the Third son brought people, he wouldn’t need to use them with his strength, at most he will use them to bring down the coolies he brought or Master ranked individuals, but the number of Ropes that were tightly kept there amounted to a bit too much.
"Explains the oddness and the being we t at the entrance, it was probably waiting for its food... it was expected of soone." That soone just happened to be him and the n in front of the Alahrun family. Things might not be as simple as the Totem had told Wajih, not like he trusted this man to begin with. But in this place, the third son was his target.
If he can drain his blood and create even a single bead of blood with the branch family mbers he had been carrying around. It might be enough for him to go after stronger mbers of the Alahrun family.
"Let’s keep moving," I spoke, walking ahead and coming across what seed to be remains of people.
The living.
From bones to even clothes. Though barely any of them seed to be armor, a sign of an adventurer. ’Most might not know the way to the sanctuary.’ There were only a few and far between permanent sanctuaries, once the water dries down they die. Leaving only a few that survive till permanence. ’But I found none in the one before.’ I spoke, recalling the signs and then looking at my feeble arm again.
’Are the sanctuaries not safe?’ I wondered, unaware that at this mont, not too far from , soone already found the answer to this.
*****
"The clothes, the skin fairer than normal, the accent. Are you people from the North? The People of Azad?" Spoke a beautiful woman who appeared to the rag-tag group of the Third Son, who at this mont felt lethargic under the influence of the Abyss, unlike Jester, they didn’t know of any permanent sanctuary, while the ones ntioned in their map had long dried up, leaving them in such a "parched" state.
But that didn’t an they were foolish and jumped at any sign of survival. The group had t a few demons before; not all were as dangerous as the one at the Entrance, but they still left the Third Son fearful and frustrated with this place. His suspicions grew, knowing that things were not normal, that sothing odd was going on.
While this lady, from her clothes and the pointed hat, she seems to be.
"A mage."
"So Azad it is, it’s been a while since your kind ca here." She spoke, as if aware that the intrusions of foreigners in this place were not as rare.
"What are you doing here..., why are there demons walking about?’ The Third Son spoke, already knowing he was in a passive state and the opponent at the mont might have a ho advantage, which can be gleaned from her calmness matched with her clean clothes. It’s proof she had complete control of the situation, otherwise she wouldn’t have exposed herself to the Third Son so easily.
The Third Son would have never expected to get an answer, an answer that would make him understand the gravity of the situation. "They are kept there for defense, but I see you have sacrificed a few people to co this deep." It was unilateral acceptance of her involvent in the demon matter, along with a show that she had control over those demons, including that horrific one at the entrance.
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