Asvard walked through the diminished cries. His boots all worn and torn covered in ashes and blood. He has been walking for who knows how long, minutes? Hours? It was as if time didn't mean anything here as if it ever did.
He felt stronger as he breathed in the air , a new power forming in him , he could feel it now as if a chump of energy gathered in him. As he walked on , his mind replayed the fight. He didn't feel good about it but it was the right thing.
The air started thickening and it felt as if it was leaning against his nape, whispering to him , as if something was asking for his attention far away.
He walked on untill he saw a type of structure half of it submerged under the surface , it was shaped like a mouth with teeth carved in like a gateway. He moved closer and checked it out.
Strange symbols were carved onto the stones as if a message was being passed down, the whispers got louder.
While he was standing on edge, a laughter from behind , not cruel nor loud, a laughter as if only they understood the joke.
"Look at you, still moving, still alive, that's something."
Asvard turned fast
The voice was of a figure crouched near the pillar , long nails , half human half demon , pale white eyed.
"Surprise attack or sweet talk to death?" Asvard asked
It chuckled "humans usually scream or cry when they see me, that's if they see me. You , you burn. You already decided this place belongs to you".
"I didn't decide anything, but I won't give up nor die here." Asvard replied
"Close enough boy" said the figure while standing up. "This place , is called the Maw, it eats the mind, breaks them. you go in , you don't come out the same , that is if you come out".
Asvard stood there looking inside , "what's inside?."
"Whatever you crave
Power.Madness"
"The elites and the demons fear it , you should too."
Asvard hesitates for a moment, "Let's see if I come back changed, that is if I come back." He says this while giving it the look.
It said "very well, Krelith,I am Krelith, if you come back, search for me" Krelith smiled. "Burn little flame, let's see if that flame of yours will burn through or burn out."
Asvard walks in after taking a final look at Krelith.
The air inside thickens. The Maw, it's as if they're watching him, countless voices whispering in the void.
"Let go.Let us in.Become"
His head starts hurting and memories flashing, family, the fall, fights.
"You're not enough, you could be." The voices whispered.
Then pain, his chest pounded heavily and his nails darkned, without him realising both his eyes pupils are now darkned with a complete formation of red ring on them.
The voices overwhelmed him, he didn't panick or scream or cry. He stood there as if something deep within him understood everything
He said "yes"
While Klerith planned on leaving, His desire to see the outcome forced him to wait it out because it's been painfully long since someone dared to enter the maw.
"He entered as a man, let's see what walks out, that's if he come's back." Krelith chuckled.
His pale fingers tapped against the stone. His smile faded slightly, just for a second.
"Things weren't always like this," he muttered, almost to himself. "Before the silence, when the throne roared."
A hot wind passed over the ruins. The whispers went quiet for a moment, like even they remembered something.
"There used to be a king," Krelith said, his voice low now. "A real one, not the beasts who call themselves the lord's now. He ruled with law, justice,order, Even wrath had meaning then."
He looked at the mouth of the Maw.
"But then the throne cracked, the crown vanished,Hell, Hell forgot itself."
He chuckled "now some call themselves the claw , the next flame , the heir, the elites survive on the weak ,the weak depend on the elites, as if nothing else matter's."
"None dares to sit where he once sat still, the war for the crown, which once was beautiful to bear on , is thornful, now."
He leaned back "let's see how far you go, how far you heard"
He looked at the darkned red sky "let the boy learn. Let the Maw speak. What if he learns what even the elites fear..."
Krelith looking at the sky again "will you burn little flame? For them? Or them all?."
(To be continued...)