CHAPTER IV: THE AWAKENING
Glowing with an eerie blue aura and radiating an infernal chill, a skeleton comprised of sapphire and ice roamed the plains of Hell, hunting down the souls of the damned and claiming them as his eternal servants.
Silence and darkness. They had dominated the sealed vault for millennia, keeping it hidden and forgotten by all, except for the one who had built this place ages ago. The network of tunnels and chambers reached into the very depths of the small moon, keeping their secrets buried in oblivion. The chamber's walls were made of fine stone, decorated with a few metallic plates, covered with ancient runes. The floor of the chamber was covered with water – still and clean, as it had not been disturbed in ages. On a small pedestal of blue stone rested an enormous sapphire, shaped as a human skull. It had remained in the vault since the day it was built. And the time had come for it to disturb the brooding silence.
A low hum was heard and vibrations rippled the calm surface of the water. The skull sparkled and glowed eerily as loud hissing was heard and the water began to freeze. Frost covered the stone walls, and mist started to fill the chamber. Within it, a cracking sound was heard as the sapphire skull started to break into pieces. Seconds afterwards, a loud bang echoed through the abandoned corridors as pieces from the skull flew in every direction. The frost began to thaw, the water was calm once again, the whole place was quiet once again... Yet there was something different. The sapphire skull was gone and its place stood a nightmarish creature.
A tall skeleton made up entirely of pure ice and sapphire had arisen, its eyes glowing with the eternal cold of the Underworld, its grin able to paralyze with fear, its fingers yearning for the soft flesh of the living. The Ice Revenant stepped out of its resting chamber, knowing that the time for awakening had come – the ancient prophecy was fulfilled. He had to check and be sure. First, he turned his attention to the other side, as his gaze pierced the veil and looked into Hell. What he saw confirmed his assessment. Then, he turned his attention towards the third planet from the Sun. What he sensed was, again, according to the expectations. Finally, he turned his attention to the small moon itself. The tremendous source of power that he sensed within a compound of human buildings surprised him at first, yet was regarded as a final confirmation of the situation.
Still, he had not quite expected to sense the presence of that on this forsaken moon. Perhaps the plan had changed? He decided to wait and observe carefully what was going on. He would not awaken the others for now.
He went deeper into the crypts, looking for the sealed chamber where the tomes of infernal wisdom were kept. He would need to check a few things, so that he would make the right decision when the time came.
And for now – he would hide and wait patiently for something to happen.