Tyson woke to the scent of charred venom and wet moss. His body ached and his head felt like it would burst. His clothes were drenched with blood and covered in small tears.
He would have to get new clothes as soon as they found a town to hide in.
He suddenly remembered the giant spider. He looked up quickly, finding Oriana kneeling in front of the massive lump of dead spider. Her back was toward him and her hands were moving.
"Good, you're awake." She said without turning.
He moved and his shoulder protested. He hissed as he touched his now poorly bandaged shoulder.
"I don't heal. It will have to do until you can find someone to heal it." She said. A flash of bright white came from her hand, and then a dark void sucked it back in. Her hand stopped moving. She lifted a sword and studied it, nodding to herself.
"This will do." She rose to her feet and headed toward Tyson.
"Here." She revealed a black and purple sword. It reeked of the venom from the spider. The sword itself wasn't impressive. The blade was sharpened and curved, purple streaks like cracks lined the entirety of the blade. The handle seemed to be carved from the chitin that protected the spider. It had been attached to the blade with some sort of magic, he couldn't tell what exactly.
"Thanks." He muttered as he reached for it.
"You nearly let me die." he looked closely at the sword avoiding her eyes.
"But you didn't." she said calmly.
He didn't have any words for that. He was closer to death than he was to being alive. The venom didn't seem to have any lasting effects, and he was thankful for that. He heard rustling from a few trees over and he jumped to his feet, his vision darkened as he stumbled.
'Won't be standing up like that again.'
he thought as he steadied himself. He looked toward the noise and saw Malric turning around.
His arms looked burned; a web-like design ran up both.
"Finally, we can move on from this disgusting place." He spoke.
"And what was that ability you used? There's no way that was your first ever ability."
Tyson nearly slapped himself. How could he forget about his new ability?
"How do I know what abilities I have?" he asked.
"Vision your core and think about what you want to do with the essence within, your mind will show you the rest." Oriana said.
Tyson looked within, he pictured his now larger core and thought about what he wanted to do. His mind opened and he saw himself slashing with a red and black streak.
Requiem Slash.
"It's called 'Requiem Slash,'" he said.
"That was powerful…" Malric muttered.
Oriana gathered the pack they had brought with them and tossed it over her shoulder.
"Let's get moving, I don't think they are far behind us."
The sun was nearing the horizon, as dawn crept in. They had been going through the thick marsh and dead trees for hours.
"Can we please stop." Malric moaned, his hands still tied, blisters forming on the red burned areas on his arms. "My arms are on fire, and I can't feel my legs."
"Weren't you just complaining about this 'disgusting place' and eager to leave?" Tyson asked with a smug look.
Oriana suddenly halted. Her entire body was tense.
"I will kill you." she spoke low and commanding.
A lone figure dropped from a tree just a few feet in front of them. It wore a brown robe and a hood that shadowed its features. Two green orbs could be seen within the shadow and the outline of a glowing rune above the two orbs.
"You kill in her domain." A deep voice took Tyson by surprise.
"Her… domain?" Tyson asked.
The green orbs focused on him.
"A soulbinder." It spoke. "You will bring death and despair to this world."
He was confused. He could barely fight off the 'pest' as Oriana had put it. How could he bring death and despair to anything?
"I think you are mistaken." He spoke.
The robed figure suddenly looked straight up to the sky.
"Interesting…. She wishes to speak to you." It turned around and started walking. "Follow."
They made their way through the marsh, coming to a small village. It was veiled behind massive walls of ivory, and the decay of the lowlands seemed to recoil at the touch of it.
Behind the veil it was like entering another world. The trees were alive and thriving, people walked dirt paths that went between the trees, homes and shops were nestled inside the trunks, trees having multiple homes within each other.
Tyson was in awe.
His awe lasted only for a moment, then every person insight scattered. Running into the closest tree, the bright light that had lit the village suddenly grew dim. And a pressure he had never felt before, hit him like a tidal wave.
He fell to his knees, his entire soul feeling like it would tear apart at any moment. Then a figure popped out of thin air. He tried to get up, but he couldn't move.
"Hand of death." A melodic female voice broke his concentration.
***Oriana***
"It seems Acubus cannot do a job properly." The woman in front of her said.
Oriana snarled at the mention of the God of Judgement.
"Why are you here?" Oriana's anger came through.
"Now, now, that's no way to speak to your betters, is it, Oriana?" Her voice irritated Oriana.
"I'll let it slide. I am here for you, of course."
Oriana was shocked. She knew a God would come for her, but she didn't think it would be this quick.
"Why?" she asked.
"I know what you want, and I'll help you, but first I need you to do something for me." Oriana listened. What could a God want from a former chosen that had lost all her power?
"What?"
The Goddess looked around and smiled, "how rude of me, I didn't introduce myself to your friends. Please, stand." Tyson and Malric visibly relaxed when the God's presence subsided. They slowly got up.
"I am Elyse, Goddess of nature." Her voice soothing, Oriana didn't buy it, but the two men seemed to fall in love instantly.
"Now why is this young man tied up? That won't do." She moved her hand in a swift motion and the rope fell from Malric's arms. He started rubbing his wrists as soon as they were freed.
Oriana was hitting her breaking point, she was pissed.
"What do you want, Goddess?"
Elyse studied Oriana with her emerald green eyes.
"Feisty, aren't we?" She let out a shallow laugh.
"I will show you the way out of this land and away from the town limits, if you give me a favor for a later time."
Oriana didn't even have to think about it.
"No."
Annoyance briefly showed but was replaced by calmness on the Goddess's face.
"Pity." She sighed.
"The king of the red fangs is on your trail and without my help, you won't make it far."
Her heart sank. She killed all the Red Fangs. How did the king live? And how did she not know? It had been nearly twelve hundred years.
"Oh, you didn't know? The ender of worlds missed someone. Shameful." A smirk betrayed her hidden joy.
"Malric knows about the tunnels, we can find it ourselves." She hissed.
"If you say so."
Moments later she vanished. Vines shot out of the trees and grabbed the three intruders, throwing them out of the village.
***Red Fang***
He knelt before the dead beast. The death essence radiating from the head… and…
something else.
Blood essence.
Of course, she would have someone with an outlawed rune with her. He stood up and looked around. His crystal mask gleamed in the moonlight.
"This is a bad idea, you know." A voice from behind. Melodic.
"She must die." He spoke. His voice was low and rough.
"Her soul being trapped here for so long has awaken the world." She stepped beside the masked assassin. "It is no longer dying, it is evolving."
He huffed.
"I can feel it. And seeing this C-grade beast told me everything I needed to know." He looked at the stars. "But why is everyone so weak?"
She looked up as well.
"it's fresh. It takes time for the flowers to grow, but when they do, they bloom beautifully."
He finally looked at his company. Her green eyes burning with hunger.
"Kill her if you must but leave the soulbinder. He is… unique…" she looked him in the eye.
"I offered her help, and she turned me down, I didn't expect anything else from the Hand of Death. But we need him."
"I won't be dragged into your divine politics. I am here on a mission, and I will do everything I can to complete it." He said, walking deeper into the lowlands. "You can try to stop me, but after I kill her, I'll finally be able to break through to my final core, and we won't be on different levels anymore." He looked back at the Goddess; she was staring at the dead spider.
"I will no longer be controlled by that King. And he will have his turn, but first, I will send her head back to Death, in pieces."