The Elder sighed, his body and mind ancient by both the universe's and his people's standards, as he thought about the events that happened a month ago. Heaven and Hell fought upon the Earth and with it - the Third Kingdom was lost.
'What happened?' A stray line of thought couldn't help but spawn in Eideard's mind. If the call for the End War had started, why wasn't the Third Kingdom ready? Nearly all of the Wardens, his people's creations, had gone to fight as the Maker's payment in the End-War and yet they never came back, it was then clear to the Maker's that something happened to them. They searched for information about what happened, and what they found horrified them.
The Wardens were all enslaved in service for a new demon, one that Eideard had heard about in the whispers from the roots of the Tree of Life. Though he could not scry the name of this new demon, Eideard knew that it was one that would become a force to be reckoned with.
And he was correct, for the Earth was shattered and humanity almost extinct.
Eideard's thoughts were taken from their trail when a sudden shift in the air, in the fabric of reality, was broken.
The Old Maker turned to his right, the clearing of rock and stone, shrine to a Maker that passed some time ago, so long that Eideard had forgotten his name, but in front of that statue, a swirl appeared, a tornado of chaotic energy - one that Eideard recognised as the unpredictable void of the Abyss.
From that typhoon, a shape was spat out. It was a strange form of a forever changing colour of darkness. Eideard tensed his body, it may be falling apart but the old bones still knew how to fight.
The form fell to the ground, its shapeless structure slowing down almost immediately as if a wall of rock stopped a river from flowing downstream before it started to shrink. The Old Maker continued to stand ready, his magic building up into his staff, a small blue glow slowly materialized around the shaft of wood, stone and metal. The darkness shrunk down and down until it was small, smaller than Eideard by several feet.
A moment passed and the nothingness condensed into a body. Eideard was taken aback at the sight - two legs, two arms, hands, feet, fingers and toes, a torso then finally a head. The limbs were thin only the stomach was the outlier as it protruded - akin to a slightly deflated ball. The Abyssal energy stopped, literally. Then faded, giving way to pale skin and hair with the colour of a dark brown on the head.
Blinking softly, Eideard stepped forward slowly, hoping that the body wasn't waiting for him to get close before attacking. The Maker was struck by a fierce sense of familiarity as he stared at the body. He saw more features, a nose, mouth and eyelids covering a pair of eyes - if the twitching movement underneath the lids had anything to say.
As the Elder was standing above it, he finally recognised why he felt familiar.
It was a man from the Third Kingdom. Potentially the last.
Eideard hummed to himself, giving his long white beard a thoughtful stroke. "Interesting, but impossible for anyone from the Third Kingdom to be alive at this point." And with that Eideard breathed deep before calling upon his magic again, this time for something different.
Lifting a single massive hand, a bright blue smoke-like mass emitted from his palm, flowing downwards before engulfing the potential human, like a blanket that protected someone from the elements.
"Impossible!" The Old Maker exclaimed.
His spell was confirmed for a second time.
The small being laying in the grass and mud was indeed human.
And he was injured. Scars, vicious and deep, were wrought into his mind and soul. Ones that would not heal quickly or gently.
"Let's go, little one." He said, carefully picking the human up with an arm. Making sure not to jostle the poor human too much.
The journey back was not long. The Tri-Stone was what the younger makers called it, a small settlement of a blacksmith and an alchemical garden. Tiny yes, but enough for them.
"Eideard, you found some game for us? Didn't know you had any fight left in those old bones?" Thane jested, only for the warrior to sputter when he spotted what the elder was carrying. "What the-? Eideard? What's a human doing here?"
Thane's voice carried over to the other makers, and like they were called to the Endwar all wandered over like excited students standing over a crafted masterpiece.
"Away with you," Eideard ordered softly, indicating to the human with his head. "This one needs to see Muria, he requires healing." And with nary a complaint, the makers parted quickly and Eideard continued to his target.
"Elder." Muria, an elderly maker with a strip of cloth covering her eyes, greeted. "And who is this? A human? How did he get here?"
"I do not know, Muria," Eideard responded, walking towards a table and, gently, placed the human on it. "All I know is that he has been inside the Abyss."
"By the Forge!" Muria gasped. "How did this human appear in the Abyss? And how did he even survive? The Abyss should have torn his body apart, body and soul!"
Muria quickly stepped over, her healing magic washing over the human. Eideard stayed as she attempted to heal him.
"Oh, this poor boy." Muria cried. "He...he has endured so much pain. I will do what I can, however, Eideard…" She trailed off, unsure on how to find the words. The elder waited patiently, letting the healer search for them. "The Abyss...it has changed him. I fear he shall be corrupted by the energies that now house in his body."
Eideard sighed mournfully. Yes, he fears that as well. No one came interacting with the Abyss unchanged. No angel, demon or human would.
"Even then, do what you can. The humans were not ready for the End-War and were slaughtered by it. Even now more and more are harvested for their sick rituals. Even if we save just one, then humanity has a chance."
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The world was burning. Skyscrapers that showcased the progress of humanity crumbled. Angels and demons alike brutalised each other, uncaring of the little humans that were being slaughtered in their war.
Landing in the group of humans and angels, I looked around as best as I could despite my injuries. A few bones ripped out of the skin, letting blood pour from me like water from a cliff, and I coughed violently and, again, my blood jumped from me. When I searched around me, I spotted human men, women and children, and just male and female angels. All injured, some dead. My heart felt for the families that lost loved ones.
We were forced into a circle, demons clawing symbols across the side of the circle. The sound was harsh in my ears, the children that weren't dead or passed out from the pain continued to wail. The sounds warred, seeing who could bring the most despair to us.
Eventually, they were done, all the preparations were complete, and the demons laughed. Every demon has their own unique happiness sound - like an orchestra and each instrument being a different sharp object against a chalkboard.
"Everything is complete!" One demon ordered. "Soon the Abyss creatures shall come!"
"Fools!" Cried an angel. "You would bring about those abominations?"
"Abyss?" I wheezed as my vision turned dark. The pain became too much as I wondered if everyone here, including myself, would be damned to Hell for eternity. The thought terrified me. I tried to be a good person, despite my memory issues. The last month was a trial unto itself. The faint scars on my arm tingled as I recalled the events.
Events that were swiftly overcome by a red glare and spiked hooks tearing into me. Into skin, muscle and bone. Several people screamed. I think I joined in, I could not remember. The one thing I could remember was the pain, my teeth dragged from the gums, eyes plucked from their sockets, hair torn from the roots.
The air turned cold and hot, cold and hot again. A sound, close to that of a jet engine, activated in my ears only for it to turn silent not a second later. The wet feeling of dripping water going down my cheeks told me that my hearing was taken.
I was in Hell. I must be, I thought. After all, your body being broken down to its very DNA, its core, its soul would break anyone.
Around me, I saw things - somehow with no eyes. Shadows crawled, slithered like slug-spider creatures made of a viscous, slimy liquid that shouldn't exist. It couldn't exist.
I wanted out.
"Let me out! Let me out! Out! Out! Out! Out!" I screamed and yelled, and cried. Tears pooled in the bottom of the sockets before leaking out, they hurt. My tears hurt me.
"And what do we have here?" A foul voice whispered and shouted in my ear and across from me. "Small little morsels, not enough meat on you though. Unlike those sweet, sweet angels."
I was distraught, my ears were gone except I could hear. He had also said morsels, then I froze. I was with the others. The other men, women and children. They were in that dark, shadowy place, and I did not realise.
The being that spoke was nowhere to be seen, and yet I saw two large wings. Bat-like and gigantic.
"Oh well, if the Dark Prince wants an allegiance. Then how can I say no to some new prey."
"Leave them alone!" I think I said. I didn't know what I was doing. Maybe it was delirium from the pain, maybe I thought this was all just a vivid nightmare. I don't know.
The bat creature didn't give me a response. I was beneath it. It was a creature of the Abyss, and I was just some fragile thing from a young race that barely got out of its diapers.
"Leave them alone!" I repeated, still clutching at my ears and my eyes, shuffling to where I thought the children were. "You can't have them," I muttered. "You can't have them. I'll kill you. You can't have them. I'll kill you. You can't have them. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. You...ou...ou...u."
I think I died then. Amidst my fellow humans in the dark place that somehow wasn't hell.
I gave up, just waiting for the abomination to kill me when something, someone, pulled me. I didn't know what. I didn't know how. Only that, for a moment, I was in the swirling mass of the Abyss, clutching at some semblance of protection over the innocent children - then the next, I was somewhere green and muddy.
It was warm. A warm place.
'It's a trick.' I thought, after all. The whispering, booming voice liked playing and boasting. It could've just tried to give me a false hope before ripping away for its sadistic pleasure.
Heavy footsteps alerted me to a presence nearby, a drowned out sound against the rushing noise in my head. A wind teased my skin, reminding me of a cool summer breeze in a field of pure green grass.
The presence spoke but I could not hear them. My eyes dropped, I fought to stay awake but the pain was too much and that void had taken much energy from me. The inevitable happened, and I blacked out, my final thoughts on wondering if I was to be eaten immediately or played with before my death.
I didn't know how long I was in the black. All I knew was that my eyes forced themselves closed, then I groaned. Scraping my arms against stone, my fingers exploring strange symbols and shapes etched into the rock.
"Be still, little one." A deep female voice, one that would lull a man to sleep, spoke to me.
I nearly did so. Except, remember, I thought I was being played with the abominations of the Abyss. Feeling the surge of rage fuel me, I rolled away and off the slab I was on. I tripped when my body left the stone table, landing hard on my side, the stabbing pain of my ribs that I expected but never came surprised me.
Rushing to my feet, and I roared. "Get away from me!"
"Be calm, little one." The woman spoke again, I looked up at her. She was a giant, far towering above me. The snow-white hair, a long single braid pulled from her back and between her eye-catching chest. Clothing of blue, brown and white covered her as if showcasing a fantasy character at a fan convention I saw back on Earth.
"No! Stay away from them!" I ranted, practically frothing at the mouth, desperately reaching for something without looking, I grabbed something hard and jagged and threw it.
The tall woman silently blocked the projectile with a wooden branch. The cloth around her eyes confirmed for me that this was an illusion, after all, what kind of blind woman can see a rock coming towards them?
"Little one, I would ask that you please calm down. You are safe here." She asked one more time, her words now stern.
"No!" I imagine that if someone saw me and the tall woman, it would look like a toddler acting like a petulant brat. "Let them go, abomination!"
"Now, tha's no way to talk to a lady." Another deep voice reprimanded. Looking towards it, I saw a huge behemoth of a man with clothes that barely covered his upper body, showing off a bright blue tattoo on his arm.
Of course, the proportions of the man gave credence to my traumatised mind. The top of his head was flat with thick eyebrows and beady eyes. A thick, almost animalistic nose above a large mouth.
"Ulthane, quiet!" The woman commanded. "Can't you see the human is traumatised?"
Scratching his head like an admonished child, the behemoth nodded and walked away.
"Now, please human, calm down. The Abyss shall not trouble you here." The woman once again said.
Still thinking that around me was just a form of torture, I took a step back, hitting a large flowerbed. Turning my head to see, I immediately found a deep chasm and scrambled on top of the flowerbed and vaulted. At least, I thought, I would kill myself and deprive them of any entertainment at my expense.
"No!" The voice yelled.
Strange green energy suddenly dragged me from my immediate death, a feeling of my breath escaping me forced me to cough.
"I apologise, little one." The deep-voiced woman said. Before I felt her hand engulf my head, the green glow graced me one more time.
And then darkness greeted me.