• Fall Of Hope

'Do not go out, young Bearer... go through.'

Parable speakers, pfft. Spheris despised them. How easy it would have been for him if those crones had just given him a simple and straightforward direction of where to go or what to do. Instead, he was struggling with the meaning of the sentence.

'Do not go out, go through.'

With a jaded sigh, he gingerly pulled down his trousers to inspect the wound on his thigh. 'Ugh!' he groaned in his thoughts. 'That is not good.'

A wave of nausea washed over him. His skin had an angry redness and decaying swollen pigments surrounded the puncture. It was quite unsettling for him to see, and not just him, Talon as well looked equally revolted at the abhorrent injury.

"Don't worry," Spheris said to the raven. "I'll be fine."

With a grimace, he forced himself to concentrate. He took off his scarf and gazed down at it indecisively, then with a grave, hurt expression on his face, he tore a small strip of cloth from the garment and wrapped it tightly around the wound, hoping to stem the spread of the poison. It was most likely already too late by now, but it was better to be safe.

Once his makeshift bandage was secure, Spheris turned his attention to his surroundings. The umbrage shrouded cave was back to how he remembered it, not the strange configuration his dream had given it last night. A streak of light came down from the opening above as usual and the rocks were as cold as stones in a blizzard. Another strange thing he had noticed about the realm — the humidity.

Hunger made his stomach grumble, but at least that was one problem he could easily solve. His eyes moved to the dead horde of magma-scorpions, and then the Queen. Yes, that will do.

"No insects for today, Talon." he said to the bird who had already started to scavenge the rocks. "We shall feast on a Queen Scorpion."

With practiced hands, he dragged the lifeless body of the beast and began to prepare it for roasting over the fire he had made. Once it started to sizzle, Spheris heard the creature let out a faint, silent cry and then shudder a few of its legs before finally giving out and succumbing into the fire.

He gaped in befuddlement. The crackling of the flames mingling with the sizzling of cooking flesh was all that interrupted the silence.

'What the Hell was that?'

Instantly, his glyph whirred. Still bedazzled, Spheris pulled it out of a safe pocket and an interface projected.

[Beastslayer Bonus granted]

[Bearer, you have slain the beast, Queen Scorvulcan]

[Secret Assignment has been completed]

[You have been granted 25ip]

[Power Growth has been discerned]

[Power Level increased]

[Power Level is now at 125ip]

Spheris gazed at the projection, lost for words. Beastslayer Bonus? Why hadn't anyone told him that he could increase his Power Level by slaying beasts? Even more surprising, he realized that the Queen Scorpion had still been alive all these while.

But wait... why hadn't he gotten a Beastslayer Bonus for killing those Grimms back in the terrain of onslaught? What? Were they not valuable enough to grant him a few points?

Intrigued with the realization that there was still a lot he did not know, Spheris turned his attention to his glyph. And while the Queen Scorvulcan roasted, he continued to explore the mysteries inside the magical device.

The glyph was a very complicated device. All the information it contained were stored in red crystals and arranged in strange formations. He had to carefully maneuver his way through things like History of The Five Dukes of The Continents or Harvesting The Element of Spellforce.

But at last, his efforts were rewarded as he arrived upon information on Expanded Realms. There were some crystals on that interface, quite intriguing ones as well. There was [Knightmare], an Expanded Realm owned by Morgander [Weaver Of Dreams], there was [Stellara] owned by Qurshock [Star Beyond The Realm], and a more intriguing one, [Eternium] owned by Epoch [Providence Of Time].

Saving them for a later time, Spheris selected the corresponding crystal and watched as the interface on the Paradoxical Expanded Realm came to life. As soon as the glyph began to onload its information, he took a fair chunk of carapace meat from the roasting Scorvulcan. He then cut some for his companion and relaxed against the rock.

Taking a bite, Spheris squeezed his face. It wasn't the tastiest, that was certain, but it had been an incredibly long time since he had meat. "Not bad," he said to Talon. The bird didn't respond, it was obviously enjoying the Scorvulcan meat more than Spheris.

Spheris shrugged and returned to the glyph.

—

By the time he was done exploring the device, Spheris felt extremely smarter than he was thirty minutes ago. He knew why the Scorvulcans and their Queen had attacked his abode last night.

It was the Darkest Night. The same as the night when they had first arrived at the Abyss. A night once every seven days when the few stars vanished from the sky and darkness reigned supreme. Scorvulcans lived in hollows such as the one he was in, and his fire was the only light in the entire darkness. Little wonder why they attacked.

This information had led Spheris to probe deeper into the creatures inside The Abyss, causing him to gain a lot more insight on Grimms, Gorgoliths, Gehennaracs as well and even other Hellbender Evolved Creatures such as the Scorvulcans.

And most importantly, after much maneuvering through countless crystals of information, Spheris finally arrived at the [Women Around The Furnace]. The projection showed three dwarfish old women in threadbare garments — just like the ones he'd seen in his dream.

They were called Kobolds — runtish, small women-like creatures who were the supposedly Guardians of a Bearer's thoughts, choices, emotions and actions. They were to serve as guides and counsels to the Bearer when they are in need of help. And the only way a Bearer could communicate with them was through dreams or self-meditation.

Spheris bit his lip in repudiation. This information suddenly made the entire message of "Do not go out, go through," become even more important.

If it was his Guardians giving him such advice, then surely it must be quite helpful. He grabbed another piece of meat from the Scorvulcan and rose to his feet. His eyes scanned around the hollow, wondering to himself what their words meant.

'Do not go out, go through.'

'Go... through.'

Finishing the roast carapace in his hand, he looked up at the opening above once again. 'Go through.' Perhaps this was it. Maybe he had to go right through the shaft, right through the dimension of the waterfall mirror and then climb his way out of the cave. Maybe this was the answer, rather than trying to go out of the passageways.

Of course it was far-fetched, especially considering the fact that Talon had flown up that shaft and had returned through the same passageway. But what if he was the one who had to climb? What if it was some kind of trial to test his resilience and strength?

He looked at his palm. He was even more pale than ever. His mouth felt dry, his fingernails were hideous and his sight was a little blurry. 'Thirst,' he thought, 'Thirst is what is doing this to me.'

Not a drop of water in the last seven days, and Spheris knew that if he had to spend one more day in the chasm studying the glyph, he would go mad.

And so, he resolved to scale his way up the cave shaft and out into the open air.

- ☯ -

Gritting his teeth against the searing pain in his leg and the weakness that threatened to engulf him, Spheris began his ascent, Talon stuffed inside his scarf. He was a skilled climber, so scaling up the shaft wasn't going to be an issue. The only question was how long was this climb going to be?

Hand over hand, foot over foot, he clawed his way up the rough walls of the cave, his muscles burning with exertion and his breath coming in ragged gasps. With the help of his injured thigh, each move was a struggle. Every foothold was precarious, at times he would slip as he fought against the relentless pull of gravity and the debilitating effects of the poison coursing through his veins that very moment.

But then he would regain his bearing, groaning in pain, licking the lines of tears that fell from his eyes in hopes of quenching his thirst.

As he scaled higher, the light grew brighter, the air thicker and stronger. Spheris pushed himself to the brink of exhaustion and beyond, his body trembled with the effort of each painstaking movement. But the cave wasn't making it easy for him at all.

Right before his eyes, the shaft stretched endlessly, seemingly insurmountable and looming over him like an imposing specter. It told him to let go, he could not reach the opening even if he tried for an eternity.

Yet, Spheris refused to give up. With a surge of adrenaline, he propelled himself upward, grabbing onto a jagged protrusion and clawing toward the red blinding light of day. And suddenly he was sucked into the dimension.

Everything turned to blurs. He saw his reflection right before him, staring straight to his face with the same hopeless gaze of trepidation that he bore. Spheris looked up above and his heart sank. The opening was still too far above him, the distance too great for him to bridge.

He cried out in anguish and reached for the rock protrusion ahead, trying to continue his ascent. But the wave of energy from the dimension tore into his skin, pulling him down and fighting against his strength. Spheris wasn't a very strong person.

Eventually, his arm gave up, his wounded thigh succumbed to the strain, and Spheris slipped away from the rocks.

After a diabolical fall to the ground, he collapsed back against the cave floor, his body wracking with pain and despair. And for a moment, he laid there, battered and broken, his spirit crushed beneath the weight of what he believed were his own limitations.

Talon squeezed out of his scarf and wrapped his wings on Spheris's face, trying to console the crying boy.

But Spheris wasn't just crying. He was weeping. Tears were pouring out of his eyes, and he yelled out in pain and affliction.

"I tried," he roared. "Argh! I tried, Talon! I'm just too weak. I could unlock all the Influences in the world, but I would still be a weak bloody Heathian!" He dragged himself in agony to the wall. "This place hates me, and I hate it just as much! I'm going to die inside here. I've escaped death my whole life... just to have it snare me in a cave, and now I am a slave to its mercy."

He groaned louder as he finally arrived at the wall, dragging his feet. "Just as Jion had said, I was always just a shadow walker. A weak, worthless, Heathian shadow walker. And now that death has me, I am going to die as one."

It seemed that although Spheris had feared his end ever since he started to battle against it, he was quite accepting of it now.

But as he looked up above his head to the cave wall, he saw a deep puncture — the one the Queen Scorvulcan's pedipalp had made. The aperture ran deep, and it was then, looking at the hole that Spheris's dispiritedness suddenly disappeared and was lightened with a spark of hope.

'Do not go out, young Bearer... go through.'